A Beautiful Lyrical Novel told in a stream of consciousness about an elderly slave's escape. The author does a wonderful job with the setting. Even though the book is short there is a lot here. It is not an easy or quick read. Enjoy

Powerful, lyrical prose, Although I found it hard to get into, I appreciated the subject matter and the message.

The slave old man, whose real name was lost long ago, has lived out his days on this sugar plantation in Martinique, apathetic and virtually invisible. One morning he does not report to his job because he has run off into the Great Woods to try to escape from slavery. He is pursued by his master who "clothes his absolute power in white linen, and a pith helmet gives him the allure of a conquistador fallen from a fold in time". He has a mastiff used to hunt down fugitive slaves. Ironically, the mastiff had undergone the same sea voyage and abuse as the slaves and now "... black flesh whetted the dog's appetite". My favorite part of the book was the end, when the mastiff and the slave old man finally face each other. However, the book was tough going for me before that point.

Martinique Creole and creolized French words were left intact in this translation. That's not really helpful to most readers if comprehensibility and readability were goals. There are endnotes that explain these terms, but it's disruptive to check them while you are reading the book. I kept thinking that I should like this book, but it was so hard to read that it really took too much effort. The author's writing style is incredibly dense, poetic and hallucinatory. I admit that I am not a fan of magical realism, but even for that genre, this book seemed way over the top. "[the slave] sees the vertigo of uneven swerves in the art of forgotten embroideresses, the thronging gaps of lights, the couplings of fulls and empties in the labyrinthic nuanced colors of ochres and saffron." Even the mastiff's head is full of strange images, like "chessboards of reveries". "[the dog] sees itself bound to this old man slave who gives off no vibration at all, nothing but the brute density of unplumbable matter, crammed with damps and slit-eyed suns." Too many pages of this book ran on like this. This was certainly an interesting subject and I realize that some reviewers think this author has exceptional gifts, but I wouldn't read another book by him if you paid me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Slave Old Man by Patrick Chamoiseau, translated from French and Creole by Linda Coverdale, is a novel rich in sublime language, highly evocative imagery, and a heart-in-mouth narrative. It is set in Martinique in self described 'slavery times,' and follows a 'slave old man' fleeing a sugar plantation on which he has spent his life. The plot itself is quick paced and immediately draws the reader in, but what bowled me over was the use of language. I would recommend reading the translator's note prior to starting the novel - not only is it fascinating but it also explains the use throughout the novel of Creole language particularly. So much of Chamoiseau's writing is an homage to the language itself, and at times I felt I was wading through its literary density, much as our title character was making his way through the unforgiving landscape on his run to freedom.  

I cannot speak about this book and not mention the other main perspective we 'hear' from - in pursuit of the man is a mastiff led by the plantation master. The mastiff is feverish and maniacal, and haunts the slaves on the plantation both with his presence watching over them each day but particularly in their stories of escape attempts. The mental interplay between the man and mastiff is responsible for as much of the tempo in this as the literal pursuit.  

I have not seen anything about this wonderful novel in my corner of the book community, and want to shout from the rooftops for people to pick it up! Thanks to NetGalley and The New Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s face it: The literary world is full of hyperbolic comparisons, most of which don’t bear too much scrutiny. But Slave Old Man by Patrick Chamoiseau is a rare exception.

When you read in the blurb that Milan Kundera described the author as the “heir of Joyce and Kafka,” you could be forgiven a little eye-rolling. But as you work your way through this novel about an old man escaping a slave plantation on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, you begin to understand what Kundera meant. Like Joyce, Chamoiseau reconfigures language to suit his own purposes, seamlessly melding the literary with the colloquial. Like Kafka, he creates a world in which the absurd and the grotesque seem real, in which dreams and nightmares coalesce.

It’s worth reading this novel simply to see the ways in which language can be made loose and supple, shaped by capable hands into new, unusual forms. Chamoiseau is known for championing the literary possibilities of the Creole language, in which French is infused with new vocabulary and grammar both from the Caribbean and from the many African languages spoken by those brought there as slaves.

In Slave Old Man, an additional layer of complexity is added: the translation of this unique voice into English. The translator, Linda Coverdale, has done a great job of making the references intelligible to English-speaking readers while conveying the stylistic complexity of the original. Often, she leaves the Creole phrases in italics, followed by English approximations (“yen-yen midges,” “ouélélé tumult,” etc.). Other words, like “flap,” meaning “suddenly,” are clear from their context (I jumped up flap, and fled at top speed). And then there are endnotes to disentangle the most obscure references.

Carl Bromley, editorial director at The New Press, says he was “utterly spellbound” when Anne-Solange Noble of Chamoiseau’s French publisher Gallimard first told him about the novel in Frankfurt a few years ago. He knew that translation would be difficult, but Coverdale convinced him to go ahead. “She wrote a memo about the novel and the challenge of translating it, and I think we all here at The New Press fell in love with her vision of the book,” Bromley says.

Readers who want a complex plot full of twists and turns will be disappointed. This is a novel whose complexity is of a different kind. The pleasure of reading it lies in tracing symbols and metaphors, following references and paying attention to the subtle use of language.

For example, a shifting narrative perspective sheds light on the main character’s story. The “slave old man” of the title starts out unnamed, anonymous, living a “faceless, locked-in life.” As he goes farther from the plantation, the descriptions shift: first to an “old slave man,” and then an “old man who had been a slave” and sometimes just an “old man” or “man.” Finally, after falling into a wellspring and almost drowning, he emerges into a first-person narrative, finally in control of his own story: “I opened my eyes wide …”

Despite receiving high praise in Europe (he also won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for his 1992 novel Texaco), Chamoiseau is still relatively unknown in the U.S. That may be set to change, however, with the recent English publication of Slave Old Man. If you want to read something fresh and different, this Martiniquan literary novel with its creative mishmash of languages, voices and styles won’t disappoint. Even if you don’t end up tracing all of its symbols, allusions and insights into Caribbean identity, you’ll still enjoy the timeless story of escape and reinvention that lies at its heart.

Slave Old Man is unlike anything I have ever read before. Set on a plantation in Martinique during the time of slavery, it chronicles the “marooning”, the running away, of one old, seemingly elderly, slave who has had enough. This man remembers the voyage from Africa, the horrors on the ship, the years of work. Now he will run.

And with that this short novel becomes a fever dream, a magical and horror filled journey into a primeval place, the Great Woods. The writing is not linear in the same way that this journey is not straight. It twists and turns, soars and plunges along with old man. It is also scattered throughout with words in French or Creole (and English approximations). There are also notes on some major terms at the end of the book, as well as a brief history of Martinique and information on the author, including his purpose and process in his writing.

This was a different and exciting reading experience for me. I know it’s not the type of book to be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy a touch of magical realism, encountering a genuine voice of Caribbean Creole culture with all the history that entails, and a poetic yet visceral narrative, then this could be for you. As for me, I intend to find more from this author.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A lush fable of a tense pursuit of the old previously docile slave who escapes from the Martinique plantation where he has spent his life. Translated from the French and Creole, it is a visual, tactile and olfactory experience permeated by the horrors of the pursuing mastiff and danger of the wild but sheltering jungle. This book is appropriately compact and intense.

Normally I don't jump at translations, however i found this story to be fully engrossing and riveting! I read it in one sitting. I was completely drawn in. This is a truly wonderful read!

A beautiful and poetically written story about an older slave who escapes his plantation on the island of Martinique. He escapes into the forest and is chased by the plantation master with his fierce dog. The story is short and brutal, but feels as if Chamoiseau, and his translator, have carefully chosen every word. I recommend reading the foreword to understand the translation and how the translator has chosen to translate, or not translate in some cases, the French and Creole languages.

What horrifying story. I felt for the old man and his attempt to escape. I don't want to say much more and spoil it for future readers. I can say this is a must read regarding the horrors of slavery. Man's inhumanity towards man...horrible. Thank you to Netgalley and Th New Press Publishing for the perusal. This is a book I will think about for many years..very sad, and very upsetting!

Translated from French, Slave Old Man details the story of an escaped Caribbean slave running from his master. He is being hunted by the master’s hound who is hot on his heels. Told using vivid language and sometimes hallucinatory prose this elderly man’s journey will keep you engaged until the last page.
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I can understand why some people will love this book, but it just wasn’t for me. I prefer to read books that tell a laid out story rather than using poetry as prose. It was translated from French and I feel that the structure didn’t quite work for me. However, if you like reading books like this you will love this story! I did enjoy the man’s journey and some of the language, but overall I’m not the target audience.
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Thank you to The New Press and Patrick Chamoiseau for providing me a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Slave Old Man will be released on May 1st.

I was slow to warm up to Slave Old Man but it really delivered this fertile and virile torrent of beautiful description attempting to encompass the horror and glory of deep unknowable forests. A glorious exploration of memory without being obvious about it.

This novel goes on that mythic shelf of books haunting and undefinable, a shelf that would include Lincoln in the Bardo, His Bloody Project, possibly the trio from Rachel Cusk. Books that defy description and can not be quantified by any existing measure. Read as if someone were reading it to you with creole inflections, the beauty and horror of the images flow together with equal power. Thanks to Netgalley for trusting my opinion.

This was a rich, dense, and beautifully translated story about a man whose life was crushed by the plantation economy. The lyrical description of life in Martinique and of what it means to be free make this well worth reading.

Slender in length but gigantic in content, this is a fable, a myth, an expression of political engagement, a masterful encapsulation of race and slavery and colonial perspective that harks back to early history and cultural hierarchy. Is it easy reading? No. But it’s an intense, poetic, intellectually provocative and thunderous piece of writing. I feel a little educated at the end of it, as if I have emerged with a glimpse of an alternate view of the Caribbean. Bracing stuff.

Slave Old Man not only blends languages and incorporates multilingual elements to illustrate colonialization, but to demonstrate the power of semantic shifts and creolization. Through these semasiological and etymological tools, Chamoiseau rejects linguistic terrorism and creates a masterpiece. However, my rating does not consider any of this; rather,Slave Old Man has the most arresting prose in a fictional piece I have read in years. For this reason alone, it was nearly impossible to put the book down.

And, now, I am in the search for the English edition of Ecrire en pays dominé (Writing in a dominated land), which sets out the theory to Chamoiseau's praxis in this book.

Note: I received an ARC of the English edition, and would recommend buying a physical copy of this book, rather than a Kindle eBook. There are a lot of footnotes for the translations, which does not have hyperlinks, so it was a clusterf*ck to flip back and forth electronically.

Descriptive, powerful, enchanting. The prose of Chamoiseau was transporting. This tale follows the story of an elderly slave escaping his master into the forest in hot pursuit by the hound kept as a guard dog by the slave owner. A short read, but endlessly powerful and sure to become a quick classic, this is a must-read. I was taken to another plane by the beautiful and descriptive imagery by Chamoiseau. Kudos must also go to the translator, Linda Coverdale who brought this beautiful story to life from the original French and Creole and made it shine in English as well. I would not be surprised to travel a few years into the future and find this story to be required reading for some English classes, it is just that good. Pick it up!

There's quite a lot to the advance praise this book received, perhaps the greatest aspect is that the writing style is both poetic as it is mythical. This makes the insight into humanity both brutal, honest and it gives the story a rare uniqueness- a kind of raw, or stripped to the bone kind of quality.
Hey, I got to read this and share my take on it courtesy of NetGalley. If you ask me, read it because of the writing quality, and because it will challenge you to explore the whole good/evil and nature of man spectrum

A difficult read without a hard copy because of the 'words in italics. On the iPad I was constantly looking up meanings. But. the tory is amazing and written for readers interested in the early slaves lives.

All in all, I liked the story. It gave you the perspective of the runaway slave that most stories involving slavery don't. For example, the cultural "boogymen" that the slave fears after he ran away.

This book left me with a lot of questions. For example: at one point in the story, the "Master" mentions that the slave had been with him since he was born, and the slave taught him things and spent time with him. It seemed to portray a companion type relationship. So why all of a sudden, did the slave decide to run away? (not condoning slavery just it would have been nice info to have to set the tone of the story).

At times, the author is so overly descriptive that it becomes distracting. Other times, there is enough description that you can get the feeling of being there. The story starts out in a third person POV then switches to the first person POV. It was easy to distinguish who was narrating until the end. I still have no idea which character closed out the story. Was it the author? was it the slave owner? was it some other person? I am not sure.