Description:
The first novel of the Haitian novelist Jacques Stephen Alexis, General Sun, My Brother appears here for the first time in English. Its depiction of the nightmarish journey of the unskilled laborer Hilarion and his wife from the slums of Port-au-Prince to the cane fields of the Dominican Republic has brought comparisons to the work of Emile Zola, André Malraux, Richard Wright, and Ernest Hemingway.
Alexis, whose mother was a descendant of the Revolutionary General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, was already a mature thinker when he published General Sun, My Brother (Compère Général Soleil) in France in 1955. A militant Marxist himself, Alexis championed a form of the "marvelous realism" developed by the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier, who called for a vision of historical reality from the standpoint of slaves for whom the supernatural was as much a part of everyday experience as were social and other existential realities.
General Sun, My Brother opens as Hilarion is arrested for stealing a wallet and imprisoned with an activist named Pierre Roumel―a fictional double for the novelist Jacques Roumain―who schools him in the Marxist view of history. On his release, Hilarion meets Claire-Heureuse and they settle down together. Hilarion labors in sisal processing and mahogany polishing while his partner sets up a small grocery store. After losing everything in a criminally set fire, the couple joins the desperate emigration to the Dominican Republic. Hilarion finds work as a sugarcane cutter, but the workers soon become embroiled in a strike that ends in the "Dominican Vespers," the 1937 massacre pf Haitian workers by the Dominican army. The novel personifies the sun as the ally, brother, and leader of the peasants. Mortally wounded in crossing the Massacre River back into Haiti, Hilarion urges Claire-Heureuse to remarry and to continue to work for a Haiti where people can live in dignity and peace.
Review
How extremely exciting to have Jacques Stephen Alexis' masterpiece Général Compère Soleil finally translated in English for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy, question, and admire. This is another chance for all of us to continue to celebrate this brave and timeless narrative and remember this most committed and enormously talented writer.
―Edwidge Danticat, author of The Farming of BonesReview
How extremely exciting to have Jacques Stephen Alexis' masterpiece Général Compère Soleil finally translated in English for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy, question, and admire. This is another chance for all of us to continue to celebrate this brave and timeless narrative and remember this most committed and enormously talented writer.
From the Publisher
"All of Jacques Stephen Alexis's tableaux come together to make [of his narrative] an astonishingly humane and true-to-life book in which the psychological detail and the emotional content go beyond literary subtleties."
--Magloire Saint-Aude, Optique
"This black man who writes in French weaves his language from inherited words and rhythms. A timeless Africa, a more recent Spain, a strong Caribbean tradition, and several North American sites have taken root in the language of Racine and Rimbaud."
--Gabriel Venaisssin, Temoignage Chretien
About the Author
Jacques Stephen Alexis had already gained international recognition for his fiction when he returned to Haiti from Cuba in 1961 as part of a small invasion force. He disappeared and presumably died at the hands of Duvalier's Tontons Macoutes at the age of thirty-nine.
Carrol F. Coates is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the State University of New York, Binghamton. He has translated numerous books, including The Festival of the Greasy Pole, by René Depestre, and Dignity, by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, both published by the University Press of Virginia.
Details:
Visit the University of Virginia Press Store
General Sun, My Brother (CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French)
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Visit the University of Virginia Press Store
General Sun, My Brother (CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French)
BHD1979
Quantity:
Order today to get by 7-14 business days
Delivery fee of BHD 2. Free for orders above BHD 20.
Imported From: United States
At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.
Every product in the BOLO catalogue is sourced through our Verified Global Supply Network of verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.
Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.
If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.
Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.
While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.
Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.
BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of Bahrain. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the Bahrain will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in Bahrain are listed on our website.
All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.
All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.
Description:
The first novel of the Haitian novelist Jacques Stephen Alexis, General Sun, My Brother appears here for the first time in English. Its depiction of the nightmarish journey of the unskilled laborer Hilarion and his wife from the slums of Port-au-Prince to the cane fields of the Dominican Republic has brought comparisons to the work of Emile Zola, André Malraux, Richard Wright, and Ernest Hemingway.
Alexis, whose mother was a descendant of the Revolutionary General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, was already a mature thinker when he published General Sun, My Brother (Compère Général Soleil) in France in 1955. A militant Marxist himself, Alexis championed a form of the "marvelous realism" developed by the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier, who called for a vision of historical reality from the standpoint of slaves for whom the supernatural was as much a part of everyday experience as were social and other existential realities.
General Sun, My Brother opens as Hilarion is arrested for stealing a wallet and imprisoned with an activist named Pierre Roumel―a fictional double for the novelist Jacques Roumain―who schools him in the Marxist view of history. On his release, Hilarion meets Claire-Heureuse and they settle down together. Hilarion labors in sisal processing and mahogany polishing while his partner sets up a small grocery store. After losing everything in a criminally set fire, the couple joins the desperate emigration to the Dominican Republic. Hilarion finds work as a sugarcane cutter, but the workers soon become embroiled in a strike that ends in the "Dominican Vespers," the 1937 massacre pf Haitian workers by the Dominican army. The novel personifies the sun as the ally, brother, and leader of the peasants. Mortally wounded in crossing the Massacre River back into Haiti, Hilarion urges Claire-Heureuse to remarry and to continue to work for a Haiti where people can live in dignity and peace.
Review
How extremely exciting to have Jacques Stephen Alexis' masterpiece Général Compère Soleil finally translated in English for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy, question, and admire. This is another chance for all of us to continue to celebrate this brave and timeless narrative and remember this most committed and enormously talented writer.
―Edwidge Danticat, author of The Farming of BonesReview
How extremely exciting to have Jacques Stephen Alexis' masterpiece Général Compère Soleil finally translated in English for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy, question, and admire. This is another chance for all of us to continue to celebrate this brave and timeless narrative and remember this most committed and enormously talented writer.
From the Publisher
"All of Jacques Stephen Alexis's tableaux come together to make [of his narrative] an astonishingly humane and true-to-life book in which the psychological detail and the emotional content go beyond literary subtleties."
--Magloire Saint-Aude, Optique
"This black man who writes in French weaves his language from inherited words and rhythms. A timeless Africa, a more recent Spain, a strong Caribbean tradition, and several North American sites have taken root in the language of Racine and Rimbaud."
--Gabriel Venaisssin, Temoignage Chretien
About the Author
Jacques Stephen Alexis had already gained international recognition for his fiction when he returned to Haiti from Cuba in 1961 as part of a small invasion force. He disappeared and presumably died at the hands of Duvalier's Tontons Macoutes at the age of thirty-nine.
Carrol F. Coates is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the State University of New York, Binghamton. He has translated numerous books, including The Festival of the Greasy Pole, by René Depestre, and Dignity, by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, both published by the University Press of Virginia.
Details:
More from this brand
Similar items from “Literary”
Share with
Or share with link
https://www.bolo.bh/products/U0813918901