The Catastrophist : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: difficult to get through
Review: although i liked the setting - and the plot & characters were good, they writing style made it difficult for me to get through this book. it seemed to general where more detail was needed, too much detail where i wasn't interested and in general i put the book down after every few pages, chapters - where is this going, why is he telling me this...it was just difficult to get through. on the whole the story is good, but it wasn't fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Catastrophist
Review: Bennett's novel was a fascinating read immediately following Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible--the same setting, a completely different perspective, two excellent novels (read both). Bennett's casting of the end of a relationship, amid the destruction of a nation is a compelling story. The story of the protagonist's sorrow over the loss of his lover, and the story of the equally short and catastrophic independence of the Congo are superbly blended. The prose sings in this novel and although Bennett contends that, ...there is no such thing as a change in people... this is exactly contradicted by the story here. One wants to read this book and then talk about it--it is emotionally charged and goes to the heart of the issue of whether we ever really do connect with other people as the author portends his main character never had until middle aged and under extreme duress. One who found Cold Mountain intriguing, will also be captivated by The Catastrophist.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I read this book over two years ago, and I still think of it often. The story is spellbinding, and I was introduced to Africa and the Congo. It may be my personal favorite.

Rating:
Summary: One to remember
Review: I read this novel when it was released. It stayed with me like almost no other novel ever has, hence my decision to review it. Simply put, it was excellent. Ronan Bennett told his story with sensitivity for the political climate, and a keen insight into human relationships. I echo the sentiments of another reviewer in that this is a thinking person's novel. Bennett's writing style is awesome. Those not interested in the content but partial to spectacular penmanship should still read this novel. They will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A story of lives drawn to conflict in the Congo
Review: Ronan Bennett's "Catastrophist" grips you from the outset. Who are these characters stranded on the banks of the Sankuru river in December 1960 and what is their involvement in the life and arrest of Patrice Lamumba? Why is this "a story of failure"? Bennett sucks you into the lives of the main protagonists in a style that is crisp and direct. Gillespie's cynicism and and resignation is set in contrast to the idealism and dynamism of Inez. Both are flawed. And the Belgian Congo is flawed. I never felt I was being given a treatise on the political history of the Congo but ended up being as intrigued by the story of its conflict as by the the fate of Bennett's characters. He has managed a considerable achievement in marrying a story of deep personal sensitivity and searching with one of the Congo's despairing lurch for normal life. And maybe it's about all our lives. This is a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but...
Review: Since I was originally drawn to the book because it was set in the Congo in 1959, I was immediatly annoyed that so much attention was being paid to the relationship between Gillespie and Ines. But though originally tiresome, their relationship turned out to be much more multifaceted and less.., well, pathetic.

Ronan Bennett is no Ian McEwan, but this book is worth reading. By the end, it was thrilling and compelling despite the rocky first half.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but...
Review: Since I was originally drawn to the book because it was set in the Congo in 1959, I was immediatly annoyed that so much attention was being paid to the relationship between Gillespie and Ines. But though originally tiresome, their relationship turned out to be much more multifaceted and less.., well, pathetic.

Ronan Bennett is no Ian McEwan, but this book is worth reading. By the end, it was thrilling and compelling despite the rocky first half.

Rating:
Summary: Overthrown by Strangers is even better!
Review: The Catastrophist makes an interesting counterpoint to Giles Foden's The Last King of Scotland. Both books examine the deterioration of colonial rule and the ensuing chaos in central Africa from an outsider's perspective and with some studied distance in voice and tone. Bennett, however, mixes in an uncrossable gulf between love and ideology that makes The Catastrophist a more challenging, and more rewarding read. The main character's reaction to the situation in Africa is frequently compared to his dismissive tone about the turmoil in Ulster, and this connection led me to often stop reading and spend a few minutes pondering just what brought the character to such a flip attitude about his homeland and how that would alter his perception of Africa. The only criticism that I can level at this book is the reliance on a European voice-it seems that the African voice is almost entirely lost, and that is certainly a failing in a book at least half about the political turmoil in Belgian Congo.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful and intelligent page turner
Review: This is a beautiful book. Set against the political events leading to the independence of Congo, we are told of the story of a woman's political involvement and her partner's difficulty to grasp the emotional intensity of her commitment. A glance at the political intrigues surrounding the assasination of Lumumba is in itself a reason to read the book, but it is the tale of the reactions of the main characters to the political events which are storming in their lives that make it a truely beautiful story. One of my very recommended novels.