2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Enigma of the Return by Dany Laferrière.

Pages: 240 pages

Length: 1 month (May)

Participants: Lorraine, Valerie, Rebecca

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I will probably start this book by tomorrow or Saturday. I hope to finish it before May 6th, when we move to Madrid.

Ok it’ll be next week probably for me. It’s relatively short so you should finish easily. Enjoy the rest of your time in Sevilla.

I haven’t read a lot of Dany Laferrière. Probably because I was not impressed by is big success « Comment faire l’amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer ». So I did not know what to expect for this book. I have to say I am surprise by his choice of writing style. Not that I don’t like it, but I did not expected that. Well, it is nice to get out of our comfort zone, once in a while 😁 (view spoiler)[ I am touched by the way he talks about his family and his country. I feel he is honest with his reader on how he understand Haiti’s situation. I am curious to learn more about what he thinks now about it. I am at about 50% of the book. I find the ambiance he created in this book is the right one (might not be the right words) to help us feel the lost of a loved one and of a beloved country <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Started today and have finished part 1. The switching between the two types of writing style is certainly interesting. I have to slow down and concentrate when I read the poetry/prose parts or I find I don’t take it in
Mexico has taken in many political refugees over the years.
I recently had an interesting conversation about exile with a friend who’s father came to Mexico as a refugee from the Spanish civil war. After many years it became safe for him to return and he took his family back. They tried really hard but eventually and reluctantly returned to Mexico- they no longer recognised the Spain they had left and also those who had stayed really resented them. I’m wondering how the narrator will find things.
On a lighter note, I did smile at all the comments about the weather. Even though he’s back in the Mexican sunshine, my husband still refers to how much he suffered from the rain and cold during his 18 years in the UK. Probably a good job he didn’t marry a Canadian!

Ahahah I agree with you! Canada is minimum 10 times worst than UK.

I should add that the favorite topic of Quebecois is the weather! We always talk about it. And always means all the time! You know we can go from plus 10 celsius to minus 20 celsius in 24hours…so it’s not surprising we are very obsessed with it. This is where Laferriere shows he became a Quebecois

Finished. I thought his depiction of Haiti managed to very skilfully combine brutal honesty with a sort of poetic longing. It should be a place that fills you with despair but somehow doesn’t without sugar coating the truth. I do wonder (view spoiler)[ if his father’s village is the literal end of his journey and will be where he stays or if it’s the end of an inner, reflective journey which will allow him to return to Montreal in better shape than he left it. Either way it’s certainly an enigmatic ending (hide spoiler)]