Not long after Haiti's liberation from French colonial rule, King Henri-Christophe reigned through an era of chaos, violence, superstition and socio-political upheaval.

Carpentier details the story of this era, and the eventual overthrowing of Henri-Christophe's black regime, through the narrative of slave Ti-Noel.

For me, the interesting thing about this book was the way in which Carpentier shows how the black regime failed on the same sort of grounds that caused the French regime to become corrupt, outwardly oppulent and inwardly self-destructive. I find it very reminiscent of the sort of dialogue popularized by Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" where he explains how, in an effort to overthrow an oppressive system of education (but this has to work, to some extent, for politics, culture, etc) the rebels end up instituting essentially the same sort of system---only with themselves at the top instead of bottom.

The novel also deals convincingly with issues of cultural patrimony, the occult, and obviously with historical and political scenario. As with many of his books, Carpentier combines a strong dedication to the factual or realistic history with allegory, metaphor and allusion.

The writing style is fairly dense and I did find it difficult to read the novel straight through. However, I found the read very rewarding and also enlightening.

THIS NOVEL IS A FRESH AND UNIQUE APPROACH TO ILLUMINATING THE TERROR OF CULTURAL AND PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION OF A PEOPLE BY COLONIALIST ENSLAVEMENT. THE SURREALSIT EDGE PROVIDES THIS ANGLE IN A VIBRANT AND SUBTLY MOVING MANNER; ONE IS SO ENTRANCED BY THE NOVEL'S NARRATIVE VOICE THAT AN UNCANNY AWARENESS-- AND EMPATHY-- FOR THE PLIGHT OF A PEOPLE, IS INEVITABLE.

The Kingdom of the World is truly extraordinary, exquisitely crafted and overwhelming in its human implications. In it historical fiction and magical realism come together to produce a masterful work of art and an unforgettable story about the triumph of human dignity in the midst of destruction and senseless horror. Using as a setting one of the most bizarre episodes in history (the Haitian independence and its aftermath), Carpentier tells a mesmerizing story that reveals human beings in all their complexity, contradictions and pervesity, but also in their extraordinary power of survival and redemption. A literary masterpiece of the highest order.

La prosa y la erudicion de Carpentier son increibles. No se olviden que el fue el creador del genero real-maravilloso en la literatura latinoamericana y lo considero el maximo exponente. Recomiendo todos sus libros y ensayos. Carpentier is an incredible writer and intellectual. He created the "real-imaginary" genre in the Latin American Literature. I recommend all his books and essays.

No hay palabras para expresar lo genial de esta novela donde lo real-imaginario, narrado en un contexto de telurismo latino americano, es tan rico y profundo.

silencio es palabra de mi vocabulario, habiendo trabajado la musica, la he usado mas que los hombres de otros oficios.Se como puede especularse con el silencio;como se le mide y encuadra.Pero ahora, sentado en esta piedra vivo el silencio;un silencio venido de tan lejos, espeso de tantos silencios, que en el cobraria la palabra un fragor de creacion.Si yo dijera algo, si yo hablaraa solas, como a menudo hago, me asustaria a mi mismo. p 108

esta obra tan hermosa, llena de tanta musica, de tanta poesia, de tanto lirismo, narra esa busqueda de las raices, que pudiese ser la busqueda interna de cualquira de nosotros y nos muestra una america latina viva bajo las selvas, llena de historias y vivencias. de ritos que tienen mas sentido que los de una sociedad que ha perdido la razon y que atada a un horario vive en perpetuo desenfreno atada a un reloj horario, como un preso atado a grilletes. esa libertad de nuestro narrador no nombrado pudiese ser la nuestra si nos decidiesemos a renunciar a nustras ataduras y a vivir plenamente la busqueda de nuestros objetivos sin miedos. en fin un libro exquisito por un gran escritor. muy recomendado. LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

Esta obra es un análisis de la vida de Cristóbal Colon, vista desde un punto de vista irónico y divertido a la vez. El autor hace uso del lenguaje barroco y la novela, aunque es corta, parece cargada. La traducción esta muy bien hecha y da un poco de trabajo por todas las palabras que usa Carpentier en el original. La vida de colon es vista desde la perspectiva presente, por un papa que favorece la santificación del marinero para crear una unión entre las iglesias Europeas y Americanas. El segundo capitulo muestra a un hombre movido por la ambición de un oro que parece eludirle en cada viaje y quien después de fallidos intentos ve en el negocio de esclavos el beneficio que tanto le elude. Hacia el final de su vida tenemos un hombre que no desconoce el valor de su gloria, pero se ve plagado, porque quizás no le reconocerán su gloria. Ya el capitulo final, muestra la derrota del personaje al serle negada la canonización. Es un excelente libro, escrito un año antes de la muerte de Alejo Carpentier y que deja ver claramente su estilo barroco y su uso de la lengua española. Es también una excelente traducción al ingles

Luis Mendez

Written towards the end of Alejo Carpentier's life, The Harp and the Shadow is both a historical analysis of the Conquest and a personal reflection on fame. Carpentier-the inventor of magical realism, according to Carlos Fuentes-reinterprets Columbus's voyages as driven by greed, not honor.

In the second section of book, we visit Columbus on his death bed. As Columbus awaits his confessor, he revisits his first voyages to the Americas, lamenting the fact that, in one section of his diary, he mentions "GOLD" more than two hundred times, while he mentions the Lord God only fourteen times. At the end of the novel, the ghost of Columbus visits his canonization hearing, at which members of the clergy argue for and against the sainthood of Christopher Columbus. As history tells us, the campaign to canonize Columbus failed, largely because he was responsible for initiating the slave trade from the Americas to Europe. Fittingly, the ghost of Columbus is condemned to wander the earth and contemplate his infamy for eternity.

This book was published in 1979 as Carpentier's cancer spread. One year later, Carpentier died. Perhaps Carpentier contemplated his own literary fame. His name often circulated as a possible recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Most likely, he never won because of his strong support for the Cuban Revolution. We can still remember Carpentier, however, as someone who helped us better understand the history of the Americas by humanizing Columbus.

This novel talks about three very important historical moments: the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War and the Cuban Revolution, and the way they affected the lifes of very interesting people. It is a nice and rich story, the plot is intelligently made. It made me think a lot about ideals, war, death, love.. and life. Maybe the lenguage the author uses is a little complicated to follow (the original spanish), but it worths the effort.

It is an excellent book...like a nice dream!

The Chase is a novel where the psychological plot line is equal to the narrative plot line - as the unnamed student tries to survive in a world of political intrique where he is the hunted not the hunter. Attention to detail - details that are constant varients on preceding detail - build the tension to a stunning climax.

Well written and worth your attention.

Esta obra es un análisis de la vida de Cristóbal Colon, vista desde un punto de vista irónico y divertido a la vez. El autor hace uso del lenguaje barroco y la novela, aunque es corta, parece cargada. La vida de colon es vista desde la perspectiva presente, por un papa que favorece la santificación del marinero para crear una unión entre las iglesias Europeas y Americanas. El segundo capitulo muestra a un hombre movido por la ambición de un oro que parece eludirle en cada viaje y quien después de fallidos intentos ve en el negocio de esclavos el beneficio que tanto le elude. Hacia el final de su vida tenemos un hombre que no desconoce el valor de su gloria, pero se ve plagado, porque quizás no le reconocerán su gloria. Ya el capitulo final, muestra la derrota del personaje al serle negada la canonización. Es un excelente libro, escrito un año antes de la muerte de Alejo Carpentier y que deja ver claramente su estilo barroco y su uso de la lengua española.

Luis Mendez

Carpentier's Siglo de las luces (The century of light) is the novel that can truly be called the key representative of magic realism. In the story of three brothers wandering all around the world the author crammed every little detail of the wonders of the eighteen century America (and of some parts of Europe). Thus he gave a sweeping portrait of the atmosphere of the age of the Enlightenment (hence the title), how the elevated ideals gradually drowned into blood and destruction. Carpentier originally studied music theory and we can say that in this book he found the closest equivalent in prose to a Beethoven symphony. In his literary essays he also talked about the existence of the eternal baroque, which roughly means that during literary history there are always periods when the rules of content and form are subverted. The finest example to the existence of the baroque in the twentieth century is precisely not only because of the luxuriant action but because of its carefully planned, winding sentences. Because of its difficult syntax and vocabulary, the lengthy sentences crammed with every possible little detail of the described scene, this book is not an easy read, especially originally in Spanish. Partly because the story is not set in our time, reading this book can be compared to the reading of a great Baroque classic, it conveys a strange eternal feel, similar to watching a flamboyant gilded altar of a XVII century church.

The Lost Steps takes the reader on a vivid and deep, mystical, magical journey. Whether read as an adventure story into the cultural roots of humanity in Latin America or as an adventure into rich, literary symbolism, Alejo Carpentier's masterpiece is a work that can be read again and again.

Carpentier's ability as a skilled craftsman in the art of writing comes through whether he describes a journey over the Andes, a revolution, or the barking of dogs in a Indian village.

Harriet de Onis has provided us with an incomparable translation from Spanish to English of this work of art. In my opinion it is the BEST work of fiction of the 20th Century. Test it for yourself.

The novel The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier is a beautifully told story of an anthropologist/composer who seeks to understand the often confusing world we live in. Fleeing an empty existence in New York City during the mid 1930's, Victor travels down to South America in search of primitive instruments and to discover their importance to the indigenous cultures he will encounter there. Venturing deeper and deeper into the jungle, Victor feels as though he is traveling farther and farther into history and farther away from his chaotic life of New York City. The simplistic and peaceful lives of the many tribes he finds deep in the jungle, and their beautiful musical instruments and primitive beats, cause for deep thought in Victor because of the almost overwhelming difference between the world he finds himself in and the world of the United States. This great contrast sets forth an amazing story both of adventure and deep intellectual thought of this time period.
The book will take one on a journey into the depths of the human mind, the streets of New York City, and into the dense South American jungle. Never boring, the book is a page turner and will entice each and everyone who reads the book to travel, think and understand what was going on in the United States during the 30's- both the good and the bad. The book also sets up great discussion between intellectuals who know and understand the study of primitive instruments. The book is beautifully written, beautifully told and is simply great. This is a must to read to let your mind go into the deep jungle and into the concrete streets.

Frankly I don't see the "connection" between this book and "Heart of Darkness"... Different time, different book, different language, different continent... only the ignorant could conflate them. The Lost Steps is not a hypocritical, pretentious condemnation of pretention. It is a condemnation of the sort of empty commercialized work that prevents one narrator from finding his voice as an artist. The Lost Steps is the story of a hispanic musician/intellectual who lives in the modern city (sounds like New York to me) and makes a living writing jingles for commercials. He has the opportunity to make a long journey to a very different place in Latin America. The journey liberates him creatively so that he is able to find his "voice" as a musical artist. Not a bad story. As for the complaint that the narrator's language is riddled with words and metaphors from music should not trouble us when we consider that the narrator is a highly trained musician. Artists frame the world around them in the language of their craft. There was a time - not more than 60 years ago, in fact)when everyone who was "educated" could at least read a little sheet music and play a little bit of piano and those funny Italian terms that today sound like a foreign language were once understood by most everyone. The ignorance of today's readers is no basis for condemning the author as "pretentious". What I liked most about this story were those moments of brilliant prose where the narrator's (and the author's) love for Latin America shines through. The narrator's journey portrays Latin America in terms of "Lo Real Maravilloso", the marvelous reality where 20,000 years of human history have been superimposed and condensed within a single geographic space, making that space a unique place distinct from all other geographic spaces. If you are fascinated by "Lo real maravilloso" of Latin America, its cultures, its history, and you like stories about narrators who seek and find their artisitic voice (an over-used plot, perhaps) this is an enjoyable read. And no, you don't need to be a classically trained musician to appreciate this book!

This book depicts the journey of a Mexican landowner to Europe in search of a better place than Mexico which he considers is beneath him because of its lack of refined culture. Throughout the story though he starts realizing that his home is Mexico, he realizes that the mix of blood that is in him is what makes him. His trip to Italy and Spain makes him realize that he is an American and that he should be proud of it because he is not beneath anyone no matter how historic the culture is. This underlying theme of identity is mixed with passages that overwhelm the senses with colors, light, and sound. That and a timeline that skips around with disregard for the real order of events (mixing Vivaldi, Haendal and Louis Armstrong) makes this short novel from the Cuban author one of the best Latin American short novels of the twentieth century.

I haven't read the book, but I have a copy of the movie - a rarity that I got my hands on while studying in Mérida, Venezuela, after a Cuban professor brought it to our Caribbean literature class and left it for our viewing. This film is amazing! Not one spoken word in the (approximately) two hour span of time! It's all sounds, images, music (a bit of singing, with Pablo Milanés and Silvio Rodríguez making guest appearances! ) It depicts the discovery of the Americas by the Europeans, and the blending of the three cultures -African slaves included- to form today's mestizaje. It takes you through the whole spectrum of Latin American history, from indígenas to caudillos, revolución, all the way to a somewhat recent celebration of what looks like Carnaval. This is the first work I've witnessed that has had the integrity and tactfulness to present the "Discovery of the Americas" (or better yet, the ENCOUNTER IN the Americas) from the perspective of ALL of the parties involved. There are no judgement calls, there is just a melving of everything latino that inundates the senses with color and sound. The short flamenco segment in the Muslim mosque even links this blend of cultures to Southern Spain, the Middle East, India, and Asia! This movie deserves recognition and wide-spread accessibility, especially in academia for those who are serious about the study of world cultures - art, music, religion, social structures, etc.

I'd love to read the book! From what I hear, it's even better!

Fortunately my Spanish is competent enough to have read this in the original. I might otherwise not have as much enjoyed the full yet controlled prose had I read the work in doubtless sincere translation. The fascinating theme of the Haitian revolution,Henri-Christophe and the Fortress Sans Souci, is complemented by evocative characterizations and colourful, well-balanced sentences without the purplish tendencies I had noticed in the other book of Carpentier's ("El Siglo de las Luces")that I had read.For anyone wishing to sample Spanish excellently written, I would recommend this work.

i don't know if this is the book i'm looking for, but how can i be sure