Transparent City

Praise for Transparent City

“Vibrant . . . Ondjaki is experimentally bold, and his prose shifts through a kaleidoscope of registers, from the poetic to the political, the erotic to the absurd . . . Stephen Henighan’s thoughtful translation has an energetic lyricism and is alive to the echoes and vestiges of the African languages that imbue Ondjaki’s text . . . The novel begins and ends with a raging inferno, and yet it is as full of hope, appetite and libidinal energy as it is of grief and mourning.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“Darkly pretty . . . peppered with poetry . . . These disparate stories are woven into a beautiful narrative that touches on government corruption, the privatization of water, the dangers of extracting oil for wealth, and the bastardization of religion for profit. The novel reads like a love song to a tortured, desperately messed-up city that is undergoing remarkable transformations.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A poetic, chaotic web of a book, hilarious and touching, written in a compelling run-on narrative, flowing and sensory. It has a wide scope and won’t be for the faint of heart, but those willing to take the leap will happily swim through the rushing current of this strange, dark comedy, with its tender characters and bizarre tales.”
—Book Riot

“It’s been a long time since I read a novel like Ondjaki’s Transparent City . . . It’s a hugely risk-taking book, in the way that it’s structured above all else, but also in its blend of stylized surrealism and harrowing realism. As it tells the story of a man whose body is gradually losing its presence, amidst chaos in the city around him, Transparent City achieves a tremendous sense of clarity. And its blend of the familiar and the uncanny seems decidedly suited to the experience of living through 2018.”
—LitHub

“In telling the story of a man named Odonato, who is slowly fading out of existence, and the chaotic city around him, Ondjaki takes risks that actually smooth the flow. In other words, he’s experimental without being off-putting; it helps that his tale is both ecstatic and bittersweet. The language immerses the reader in the novel’s milieu, but also charts out unexpected dimensions.”
—Vulture

“Ondjaki’s prose pulses with life . . . shine[s] with an unexpected clarity.”
—World Literature Today

“A richly imagined, tender and also critical portrait of the city in apocalyptic times.”
—CBC’s Writers & Company

“A lively and invigorating novel . . . With Transparent City, Ondjaki takes his place among the great fabulists of the past century . . . so rich in heart, and so startlingly fresh in structure and delivery, [he] has gifted us with a contemporary masterpiece.”
—Toronto Star

“The prose in which Ondjaki tells this story is deftly stylized, suggesting the hazy interconnections between the cast of this sprawling, stunning work. Over time, the plot threads begin to converge, and both the miraculous and the absurdist aspects take on tragic qualities as the novel reaches its stunning conclusion.”
—Words Without Borders

Praise for Ondjaki

“Ondjaki delivers playful magical realism with delightful defiance.”
—The Barnes & Noble Review

“As with Ondjaki’s other novels—including Bom dis camaradas (2001; Good Morning Comrades) and Os Transparentes (2012)—this is a strangely deceptive read. Although the narrative often feels rather whimsical, Angola’s long history of colonialism and conflict, its various foreign allies and enemies, and the extraordinary suffering of its population, are menacingly present . . . a brave and highly political work.”
—Times Literary Supplement