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3.0 

A Long Way from Douala

By Max Lobe & Ros Schwartz
A Long Way from Douala by Max Lobe & Ros Schwartz digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

Bursting with local color, this hilarious, heartwarming coming-of-age tale follows two friends on a raucous journey across Cameroon as they grapple with grief, sexuality, and dreams of leaving. 

After their father’s sudden death, Jean’s older brother Roger decides he’s had enough of their abusive mother and their city. He runs away to try his luck crossing illegally into Europe, in the hope of becoming a soccer star abroad. When no news of him reaches the family, and the police declare that finding some feckless brat isn’t worth their time, Jean feels he has to act. Aiming to catch up with Roger before he gets to the Nigerian border, Jean enlists the help of the older Simon, a close neighborhood friend, and the two set out on the road. 

Through a series of joyful, sparky vignettes, Cameroon life is revealed in all its ups and downs. Max Lobe insightfully touches on grave, complex issues, such as the violence Boko Haram has inflicted on the region, yet still recounts events with remarkable humor and levity.

12 Reviews

3.0
“read around the world cameroon; this is a story about a boy and his older friend who go on a long journey across cameroon to try and find his run away olderbrother. an exploration of life in cameroon including political turmoil and news and sociopolitical positions”
“an adventure told through the blunt narration of a cameroonian teenager (which was a bit uncomfortable but somewhat inevitable due to his christian west african background) i find some merit in this book, like the depictions of west african life and the gloom of terrorism, it's moments of humour and it's critiques of religion. i wanted there to be a romance unfortunately, that would be a wild wish as any signs of build up were whisked away, the story shows promise for something much better but colours itself an underwhelming journey by its last page.”
“I’ve never read a book that ended on the most unsatisfactory cliff hanger before this one. Being from Cameroon, I was really interested in reading from a Cameroonian author I had never heard of before. This book to me was a satirical way of exposing the ridiculousness of the Cameroonian way of living, as well as the exploitation and abuse Cameroonians turn to for remedy as opposed to fostering real change. The underlying nod at the rejection of any sexual orientation other than heterosexual was also very loud. Especially when it seems that the main characters may very well have similar longings and yet a deep hatred for those desires. I am giving this book a 3 stars because to me it did not add anything to the conversation about what is wrong with Cameroon. It seemed like a recollection of a wild story someone lived, but without any kind of interesting ending. This was more an overall critique of a regime than anything else. I know it’s supposed to be a fictional book, but it seemed to be very light on the fiction. I would have loved to get more of Roger’s side. What did he go through? Why did he convert? How were his few days in the North that seemed to be so different and at the antipodes of Douala? I think that would’ve added to the story a lot. I also believe that anyone picking this book up should get it in the French translation if possible, because I really think a lot of the authors “voice” was lost in translation. Overall, a very easy, one seating read!”

About Max Lobe

Max Lobe was born in Douala, Cameroon. At eighteen he moved to Switzerland, where he earned a BA in communication and journalism, and a master’s in public policy and administration. In 2017 his novel Confidences won the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize. A Long Way from Douala was published in 2018 to rave reviews in Switzerland and France. He is the founder of the Genev’Africa program, which promotes literary and cultural exchange between French-speaking Switzerland and Africa. He lives in Geneva.

Ros Schwartz is an award-winning translator of more than a hundred works of fiction and nonfiction, including the 2010 edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. Among the francophone authors she has translated are Tahar Ben Jelloun, Aziz Chouaki, Fatou Diome, Dominique Eddé, and Ousmane Sembène. In 2009 she was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2017 she was awarded the John Sykes Memorial Prize for Excellence by the UK-based Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

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