The Madman and the Medusa

by Tchicaya U Tchicaya U Tam'Si, Sonja Haussmann Smith (Translator), William Jay Smith (Translator), Eric Sellin (Introduction)

Overview

'Two men died the last week of June 1944.' 'Actually, three died...' 'But the third one didn't die, miraculously perhaps. Who knows? The three men were, of course, acquainted... When I say that the third one didn't die, I mean not the same week. How and why? If I told you now, you wouldn't understand this strange case any better....

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813912059
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	03/01/1989
Series:	CARAF Books
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Editorial Reviews

In this second of a tetralogy by a Congolese, answers are provided in proverbial, African style; questions are posed but not always elucidated. Tchicaya (1931-88), who grew up in Paris and whose work hints at the French New Novel, sets his story in Ponte Noire, in the Middle Congo. Reconstructed are the lives of three friendsElenga, a railroad engineer; Muendo, a sawmill employee; and Luambu, a clerktwo of whom die and one of whom falls into a coma of indeterminate severity and duration, all within a few days. Their jobs and the circumstances of their demises accurately reflect the wartime conditions of June 1944. Realism mixes with legend and hallucination, Christianity with paganism and, although Tchicaya considered himself a symbolist, he introduces the surreal as well. Eric Sellin's introduction provides informative details, and the translation retrieves a prose that, while oneiric, is not necessarily magical. At times sententious (``Who taught you to lie to yourselves? You lock your hearts against life''), the writing is also at times poetically attenuated. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This novel, originally published in Paris in 1982, is by one of the most celebrated writers of the French-speaking African countries. The plot is quite simple, yet the richness of the poetic imagery and the unusual construction of the story make for a beautiful and mysterious tale. The story, which takes place in Pointe-Noire (a coastal city in the Congo), revolves around three men who seem fated to meet, become friends, and then be destroyed by a dark and inexplicable force. Two die sudden and violent deaths within 24 hours of each other; shortly afterward the third is found in a coma, lying between the graves of his two friends. No one, neither family, friend, nor co-workers, can explain what happened--and ultimately, neither can the reader. Yet the open-endedness of this story, the many questions left unanswered, only add to its beauty and power. Highly recommended.-- Jessica Grim, NYPL

Library Journal