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Transparent City
Transparent City | Ondjaki
6 posts | 3 read | 7 to read
A VANITY FAIR HOT TYPE BOOK FOR APRIL 2018 A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF 2018 A LIT HUB FAVOURITE BOOK OF THE YEAR A WORLD LITERATURE TODAY NOTABLE TRANSLATION OF 2018 In a crumbling apartment block in the Angolan city of Luanda, families work, laugh, scheme, and get by. In the middle of it all is the melancholic Odonato, nostalgic for the country of his youth and searching for his lost son. As his hope drains away and as the city outside his doors changes beyond all recognition, Odonatos flesh becomes transparent and his body increasingly weightless. A captivating blend of magical realism, scathing political satire, tender comedy, and literary experimentation, Transparent City offers a gripping and joyful portrait of urban Africa quite unlike any before yet published in English, and places Ondjaki, indisputably, among the continents most accomplished writers.
LibraryThing
review
bromeliad
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Pickpick

Whoa. What a twisty, bizarre, powerful book. Ondjaki has serious literary teeth. It started strong and got better as it went. #Angola #readaroundtheworld #readharder

charl08 Sounds good! 5y
bromeliad @charl08 I definitely thought so! I've never read anything quite like it! 5y
44 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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bromeliad
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I see descriptions like this often enough that it's got me thinking about starting up a literary cooking hobby... 🤔

Andrea4 When I was, say, 13 or so, I thought it was cool to try the foods or snacks I read about it books. Pretzels and mustard were a hit! Molasses in warmed milk was decidedly NOT. 🤣 5y
bromeliad @Andrea4 😂 classic! 5y
Andrea4 @bromeliad I didn't even like milk so why did I think I'd like molasses in it...especially when I didn't like those Halloween molasses candies!!?? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 5y
19 likes3 comments
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bromeliad
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Super interesting and surprisingly madcap book about/by an author from #Angola #readaroundtheworld #readingintranslation #readharder

BookwormAHN Welcome to Litsy 😺 5y
bromeliad @BookwormAHN thank you! ☄️ 5y
rretzler Welcome to Litsy! 📖 #litsywelcomewagon 5y
See All 8 Comments
bromeliad @rretzler thank you! 5y
SW-T Welcome to Litsy 😊 @LitsyWelcomeWagon 5y
bromeliad @SW-T thank you ☺️ 5y
rather_be_reading welcome to litsy 📚☕📚 5y
18 likes1 stack add8 comments
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translationspod
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This month we are heading to Angola. We are joined by Laura (Reading in Bed) to talk about the BTBA 2019 longlisted book Transparent City by Ondjaki (translated by Stephen Henighan)

review
shawnmooney
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Bailedbailed

I read half of this, and while there were things I admired, I felt no strong emotions about any of the characters. So I have decided not to continue. I will try another, later novel by the same writer some day.

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shawnmooney
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