Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.
Continuing his epic trilogy of the Haitian slave uprising, Madison Smartt Bell’s Master of the Crossroads delivers a stunning portrayal of Toussaint Louverture, nbsp;former slave, military geniusnbsp;andnbsp;liberator of Haiti, andnbsp;his struggle against the great European powers to free his peoplenbsp;in the only successful slave revolution in history. At the outset, Toussaint is a second-tier general in the Spanish army, which is supporting the rebel slaves’ fight against the French.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;But wnbsp;hen Toussaint is betrayed by his former allies and the commanders of the Spanish army, he reunites his army with the French, wresting vital territories and manpower from Spanish control. With his army one among several factions, Toussaint eventually rises as the ultimate victor as he wards off his enemies to take control of the French colony and establish a new constitution. Bell’s grand, multifaceted novel shows a nation, splintered by actions and in the throes of chaos, carried to liberation and justice through the undaunted tenacity of one incredible visionary.… (meer)
At the center of Madison Smartt Bell's Haiti trilogy, Master of the Crossroads covers the period embracing the acme of the power and achievements of Toussaint Louverture at the close of the eighteenth century. As with the first volume, however, there are many other characters whose stories make the narrative weave of the novel, and Toussaint himself remains deeply inscrutable.
The Tortugan gun smuggler Xavier Tocquet, who was one of my favorite characters in the first book, continued thus in this one. His mate Elise Thibodet takes on a great deal of additional depth. A character whom I came to like particularly here was Moustique, the son of the martyred priest Pere Bonne-Chance. In this arc of the story, he matures into a role as a "bush priest," drawing on both Catholic and Vodun spiritual sources. Riau, the fils Ginen (Hatian enslaved from Africa) who provides the first-person perspective in parts of All Soul's Rising continues that role in this volume, and also enjoys some prophetic dreams. I think I can foresee something of the destiny awaiting Riau, and it will be interesting to find if I am correct in the third book.
On the whole, the continued investment in such characters makes this book even more rewarding to read than its predecessor. And there are impressive figures introduced for the first time as well, of course, such as Madame Fortier, mother to the villainous Choufleur.
Although these books center on violent revolt and warfare, and they feature involved descriptions of carnage and atrocity, this novel comprehends perhaps a number of births of named characters to rival the number of such particularized deaths. The political flux transpiring here certainly doesn't inhibit procreation, and it provides a backdrop for some experiment in, for examples, the marriage of a concubine, polyandry, and interracial adoption!
The author's fidelity to historical detail is shown here not only by the auxiliary chronicle of Saint Domingue 1789-1805 (as it was in the first book), but the further appendix including the original French texts from Toussaint's correspondence that are quoted at length in English translation in the body of the novel.
The frame story established in the first volume has Toussaint in an Alpine prison in 1802, and Bell continues that here also. Its presence reminds the reader that the often thrilling events of the novel are contained by historical eventuality, and even so, it creates a narrative thread of its own that looks forward to an obscure resolution in the final volume of the trilogy.
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Sometimes, if you let a man live, he is less dangerous than if you kill him. If you kill him, You will never be rid of him. --Jean Bertrand Aristide as quoted by Amy Wilentz in The Rainy Season
Opdracht
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
For Pere Antoine Adrien, who has offered his life to this history
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Citizen Baille, commandant of the Fort de Joux, crossed the courtyard of the mountain fortress, climbed a set of twelve steps, and knocked on the outer door of the guardhouse.
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Some of them he knew by name and others were unknown to him except in the potency of their spirits, but to each alike he gave a musket, with the same words repeated, every time: Take this, hold it, keep it always--This! This is your liberty.
Continuing his epic trilogy of the Haitian slave uprising, Madison Smartt Bell’s Master of the Crossroads delivers a stunning portrayal of Toussaint Louverture, nbsp;former slave, military geniusnbsp;andnbsp;liberator of Haiti, andnbsp;his struggle against the great European powers to free his peoplenbsp;in the only successful slave revolution in history. At the outset, Toussaint is a second-tier general in the Spanish army, which is supporting the rebel slaves’ fight against the French.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;But wnbsp;hen Toussaint is betrayed by his former allies and the commanders of the Spanish army, he reunites his army with the French, wresting vital territories and manpower from Spanish control. With his army one among several factions, Toussaint eventually rises as the ultimate victor as he wards off his enemies to take control of the French colony and establish a new constitution. Bell’s grand, multifaceted novel shows a nation, splintered by actions and in the throes of chaos, carried to liberation and justice through the undaunted tenacity of one incredible visionary.
Google Books — Bezig met laden...
(4.08)
2
The Tortugan gun smuggler Xavier Tocquet, who was one of my favorite characters in the first book, continued thus in this one. His mate Elise Thibodet takes on a great deal of additional depth. A character whom I came to like particularly here was Moustique, the son of the martyred priest Pere Bonne-Chance. In this arc of the story, he matures into a role as a "bush priest," drawing on both Catholic and Vodun spiritual sources. Riau, the fils Ginen (Hatian enslaved from Africa) who provides the first-person perspective in parts of All Soul's Rising continues that role in this volume, and also enjoys some prophetic dreams. I think I can foresee something of the destiny awaiting Riau, and it will be interesting to find if I am correct in the third book.
On the whole, the continued investment in such characters makes this book even more rewarding to read than its predecessor. And there are impressive figures introduced for the first time as well, of course, such as Madame Fortier, mother to the villainous Choufleur.
Although these books center on violent revolt and warfare, and they feature involved descriptions of carnage and atrocity, this novel comprehends perhaps a number of births of named characters to rival the number of such particularized deaths. The political flux transpiring here certainly doesn't inhibit procreation, and it provides a backdrop for some experiment in, for examples, the marriage of a concubine, polyandry, and interracial adoption!
The author's fidelity to historical detail is shown here not only by the auxiliary chronicle of Saint Domingue 1789-1805 (as it was in the first book), but the further appendix including the original French texts from Toussaint's correspondence that are quoted at length in English translation in the body of the novel.
The frame story established in the first volume has Toussaint in an Alpine prison in 1802, and Bell continues that here also. Its presence reminds the reader that the often thrilling events of the novel are contained by historical eventuality, and even so, it creates a narrative thread of its own that looks forward to an obscure resolution in the final volume of the trilogy.