a charming portrait of Pointe Noire/Congo after Ngouabi's death told from the viewpoint of a child. Michel is cute but a bit too precocious to be believed but also does tell the facts straight so this is a great insight into Congolese life.

Alain Mabanckou, probably the best-known Congolese author working today, delivers a captivating portrait of the atmosphere following the assassination of President Marien Ngouabi in 1977. Rendered from the perspective of Michel, a teenager trying to find his dog who, miraculously, ran off after hearing of the murder on the radio, we experience the overall political situation in a nutshell as the young protagonist deals with his family who is directly affected by the political turmoil: Michel’s uncle, Captain Kimbouala-Nkaya, has also been killed and is now blamed for the coup.

The text incorporates extensive ruminations about historical developments concerning colonialism, regional tensions and tribalism, which is highly beneficial for international readers (like me) who are largely unaware of what happened in Congo in the 70s (before I was even born). By his surroundings, Michel is often perceived as daydreaming, but it seems like he is constantly trying to wrap his head around the condition of his home country, his family and his own role in this confusing world. Michel supports the Socialist revolution, but he is also deeply influenced by his stepfather's view of the world, a man who works in an international hotel. At the same time, Mabanckou illustrates the fact that people are torn between the domestic journalistic voices and foreign descriptions of their nation that they hear on the radio.

A great piece of postcolonial African literature that features a wonderfully strange narrator.

This was a fascinating read on an area of the world i had read little of before. I came to know these characters deeply and became intrenched in their story. This was so inspiring and an overall incredible book i wholly recommend.

A clever novel told from the perspective of a teen boy during the 1977 assassination of the Congo’s president. Told in what feels like a linear series of vignettes, we see the consequences of such an act interspersed with the comical side of being a teenage boy.

An entertaining and original way of covering post-colonial Republic of the Congo. The narrator is Michel, a young teenage boy an only child of Pauline, the second wife of a hotel receptionist. Pauline is a resourceful and lady with a reasonably profitable business selling bananas from her home village.
It's March 1977 and the socialist world of the Congo has successfully brain washed the populace on the glory of the nation when the President is assassinated. Michel loved the President but for Michel and especially his mother life is about to get dangerous as anyone loyal to the old President and their relatives are apt to disappear, be killed or sent to jail.
The book is full of black humour, while containing a litany of African coups and assassinations, French interference into their old colonies and the new presence of allies from other Socialist or Communist nations. Enjoyed it immensely.

THE DEATH OF COMRADE PRESIDENT by Alain Mabanckou was quite funny! This novel is translated from the French and takes place in Congo 1977 and follows Michel, a teenage boy, and his family dealing with the aftermath of the death of Comrade President Marien Ngouabi. I really enjoyed the writing style that reinforced jokes through repetition. It was really interesting to read about the Congolese culture. There were quite a few parts in this book that really made me laugh out loud!

Now that I have read this in English I need to get my hands on a copy of the original French version! It wasn’t until I read the first few pages that I realized that it must have originally been written in French, and I started hearing Michel’s voice in French… I wish it weren’t so difficult to get French novels here in the US.

Anyway! This book is just gorgeous, and if it doesn’t make your heart ache then I think you may need to get it checked. The Death of Comrade President takes place over several days in 1977 in the city of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. The narrator, Michel, is a young boy of the age of 12, and everything that happens during those few days comes directly from what he sees, what he knows, and how he interprets everything. On the surface the book reads like a play by play of several days in Michel’s life, the sentences following his train of thought, and his tendency to daydream. But the plot is a lot more than that: through Michel the author provides a detailed overview of the independence of the Republic of Congo, of the different coups and political events that have happened before 1977, and then of the assassination of Comrade President Marien Ngouabi, amongst other worldwide events.

This assassination affects Michel’s family in ways that he would never have thought, and as he navigates through different revelations he realizes that he has to change the way he has been taught to act and to think about things in order for his life to go back to normal.

The Death of Comrade President is hilarious in parts, terrifying in others, and Alain Mabanckou writes in such a way that you can’t help laughing out loud in places, and admiring how brilliant his prose is. There is the surface, and there is Michel’s interpretation, and there is what the author is trying to tell you, and altogether it is just brilliant. I burst into tears at the end and wished there was more, because I had become so fond of Michel and his daydreaming that I wasn’t ready for him to have to grow up so fast.

I thoroughly enjoyed how the author weaves internal country politics with those from other countries, as well as events in other places happening around the same time. It made for a super interesting and educational read. I’m going to look for more of Alain Mabanckou’s work now because The Death of Comrade President is just wonderful!

Thanks to The New Press and Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

An extremely hilarious novel about a slightly absurd but incredibly poignant and thought-provoking character. A really wonderful read!

Having a child narrator is always a difficult trick to pull off and I wasn’t convinced the author managed it here. Michel, a 13 year old boy, has the task of describing the turbulent events of his native Congo in 1977 when Marien Ngouabi, the 3rd President of what he has renamed the People’s Republic of the Congo is assassinated in Brazzaville. The implications for our narrator Michel and his family are serious as his mother is the sister of the man who has been blamed for the assassination and the coup – and who has also been killed. Michel doesn’t always understand the world around him or the complex politics of his country, not surprising for a young boy, but he relates the conversations between his step-father and uncles as they discuss the situation, and he also hears, and relates verbatim various radio broadcasts. This is unrealistic – there are pages of these conversations and no one could remember all that is said and retell them so clearly, let alone an ingenuous boy. So I just couldn’t believe in Michel, and although there is something almost charming in the details of his daily life and the problems he faces in his own small world, overall I couldn’t really relate to him or his family.

This is really well done story that made me feel stupid over how much I don't know about African geography and history.

The story follows a 12 year old boy in 1977's Congo who's head is the clouds. When Comrade President Marien Ngouabi is assassinated, the fallout affects his family.

Michel is an interesting character full of child innocence. He gives the history of his and neighbor countries with a child's voice. It's very interesting.

The ending, though, made it feel like this was part one of a book. It felt very abrupt.

This review is based on an advanced copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

Weirdly funny, this novel cleverly uses the perspective of a 13 year old boy to serve as an observer and unwitting commentator on politics.