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Kingdom of This World
Kingdom of This World | Alejo Carpentier
7 posts | 16 read | 10 to read
A masterful new translation of a haunting novel of nineteenth-century HaitiA few years after its liberation from harsh French colonial rule in 1803, Haiti endured a period of great brutality under the reign of King Henri Christophe, who was born a slave but rose to become the first black king in the Western Hemisphere. In this unnerving novel from one of Cuba's most celebrated authors, Henri Christophe's oppressive rule is observed through the eyes of the elderly slave Ti Nol, who suffers abuse from masters both white and black. As he ranges across the country searching for true liberation, Ti Nol navigates bloody revolutions, maniacal rulers with false visions of grandeur, and the mysterious power of voodoo magic. First published in English translation in 1957, The Kingdom of This World is now widely recognized as a masterpiece of Cuban and Caribbean literature. Pablo Medina's remarkable new translation renders the dreamlike prose of Alejo Carpentier with nuance and felicity while delivering anew a powerful novel about the birth of modern Haiti. Visionary and singularly twisted, The Kingdom of This World emerges from the depths of the struggle for a country into a tale of race, erotomania, magic, and madness.
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rockpools
The Kingdom of This World: A Novel | Alejo Carpentier, Harriet de Ons
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Thank you @BookwormM - it arrived safely this morning 😊. Really not sure how I‘ll get on with this one, but looking forward to giving it a try - and it‘s 112 pages short, which always helps 👍

batsy This is on my list! Planned to read for #litsyclassics last year but never happened. Love this edition 💙 6y
BookwormM Glad it arrived safely let us know how you get on 👍😃 6y
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Currey
The Kingdom of This World: A Novel | Alejo Carpentier, Harriet de Ons
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Pickpick

The history of the time prior to, during and immediately after the Haitian revolution of 1791 to 1804 as told through the intimate and immediate experiences of Ti Noël a slave. This first book using what came to be called magical realism gives one incredible insights into the scars that slavery has left on the whole of the Americas #haiti #readingaroundtheworld

16 likes1 comment
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lalatiburona
El reino de este mundo | Alejo Carpentier
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Reading for a class I'm auditing just for the chance to talk about books... The life of a book nerd.

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KBuchana
The Kingdom of This World: A Novel | Alejo Carpentier, Harriet de Ons
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I love books that inspire me to fill in knowledge gaps. This electric little tome deals with the slave uprisings in Haiti and the country's first black monarch, Henri Cistophe. Brutal and fascinating.

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BarbaraBB
The Kingdom of This World: A Novel | Alejo Carpentier, Harriet de Ons
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Panpan

I was looking for a book about Haïti, where I am right now for work with an international development organisation. I hoped to learn a bit about this unknown country, one of the poorest, neglected by most developed countries. Unfortunately I learned not much. Carpentier writes passionately about voodoo and wars and slavery and sex. And with lot of magical realism of course.... I lost it, I‘ve got no clue of what he tried to say. #1001books

batsy I've been meaning to learn about the Haitian revolution for some time. I have this on the TBR but I think it's an academic, dense work though it seems to be required reading based on reviews. 7y
DrSabrinaMoldenReads I am reading Edwidge Danticat and want more of her. She is from there. In the book, I am reading she is talking about the earthquake. @BarbaraBB (edited) 7y
BarbaraBB @Joyfulmimi @batsy Thank you both so much! 7y
42 likes3 comments
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BarbaraBB
The Kingdom of This World: A Novel | Alejo Carpentier, Harriet de Ons
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In a few weeks I am going to visit some development projects in Haïti for my work. To prepare I bought this book about Haïti, a book that I should read anyway because it is one of the #1001books to read before you die.

Also, it is by a Cuban writer, so it counts as well for #readaroundtheworld

Liz_M Haiti, wow! Have you read the tagged book? Is probably out-of-date, and yet unfortunately still relevant. 7y
BarbaraBB @Liz_M No, I haven‘t even heard of it. Is it good? Should I read it? 7y
Liz_M I think we read it for my bookclub many years ago, and it made an impact. I rarely finish nonfiction books, but this is a well written narrative about an unconventional doctor making a difference in Haiti and Cuba and other poor countries. 7y
BarbaraBB @Liz_M I am going to look it up. Thanks! 7y
42 likes4 comments