Return to the Enchanted Island

The novel slips between the main character's present, his childhood and young adulthood, and Malagasi history and mythology. It's not always clear (to me at least) what parallels or meaning one is intended to draw between these parts, which sit somewhat separately above the surface, presumably joined beneath it. Which is to say, I suppose, that this is a book which requires some work of the reader, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Water, its ebb and flow, its concealing and guarding nature, and its ability to be both a barrier and a facilitator of journeying is something of a theme, particularly in the mythological sections, and which must (I again presume) have meaning in the main character's life story, named as he is, Ietsy, show more after the first created human.

What I took from it was that our birth culture shapes us, and that while we can rebel and turn from that, to recreate ourselves in our own imagined image, or in the image we absorb from the wider world, we will find more peace in accepting ourselves as formed from that earlier cultural matrix, that we can take responsibility for what it has given to and taken #from us and those around us with a guiltless acceptance. show less

The concept of the novel wasn’t entirely clear to me. I’ve never been drawn to stories where the main characters, thanks to inherited wealth, are spared the need to fight for their livelihood. These characters are often given endless room to “explore their complex psyches” over hundreds of pages, which I find unengaging. Unfortunately, Return to the Enchanted Island falls squarely into this category. At the center of the novel is a pampered heir from a wealthy Malagasy family, and the narrative revolves around his romantic entanglements—his triumphs and disappointments—mostly set in France. The character’s inner conflict seems to stem from reconciling his personal desires with the expectations placed upon him by his show more lineage, which hardly struck me as compelling.

Given the novel’s title, I expected Madagascar to play a much more prominent role in the story. I had hoped for a deeper immersion into the country’s culture. Instead, the most distinctive Malagasy elements were awkwardly inserted fragments of island folklore, loosely connected to the protagonist and his emotional journey. show less

A modern take on the origin story of the Malagasy people. Told in flashbacks, this is the story of affluent Ietsy, named for his people's mythic ancestor and his, implicit, reincarnation. The style is complex but beautiful, with many dreamlike passages and interesting place names. Although the middle portion of the novel is set in France, the Malagasy feel is constant throughout since the mythological, dreamy parts are continuous. It was a little hard to get into, because of style, but it picked up very soon and ended up being an enjoyable read.

Return to the Enchanted Island might have worked better for me if I had more familiarity with the culture and mythology of Madgascar. As it was, though, I bounced fairly hard off this. While Johary Ravaloson occasionally conjures up some striking imagery, he's a bit too prone to obscure allegory. The protagonist Ietsy is also one of my least favourite kinds of anti-hero: an immature, unlikeable man who has incredibly beautiful women throw themselves at him for no apparent reason.

Extremely subtle tie between the island’s mythology and the story of the up and coming ruler/playboy of #Madagascar makes me wonder: was it me, the translation, or did this just make little sense? Both the author and translator have won awards so it must be me. I’m not sure what I was reading half the time. Saved from a pan thanks to the story of the wife who settled the wealthy-beyond-words playboy down. Now she was admirable.

Suffering from insomnia, Iesty Razak passes the nights looking back over his privileged life as a member of Madagascar's hereditary elite and the derivation of his status from the island's legendary history.

The shifts in the timeline and between Iesty's life and the legendary past were not always easy to follow and I definitely felt that I could have done with more background context.

DNF after 20% in. It wasn't horrible but I didn't care about the main character. I really wanted to learn more about Madagascar but I only learned about a selfish young man.