The Kingdom of this World

The Kingdom of this World (El Reino de este Mundo)
Alejo Carpentier
ISBN 4-387-85162-7 (Japanese Translation)

In a sense, this is a chronicle of Haiti's short but amazing history after
standing on their feet.

It's often said that Carpentier's works are magical realism.
Simply speaking, it's because like the following:

1. The old saying that fact is stranger than fiction is true.
2. Different from Western Europe, in Latin America (of those days) people indeed believed in magical events described in the book. In other words, they were facts for them.
3. This work is based on facts Carpentier collected in Haiti actually.
4. Thus, the chronicle is a so called Magical Realism.
   

Anyway, almost all the events and behaviors of people there are dizzying... For us Japanese at least, it's almost unbelievable that this kind of the kingdom of this world existed. I'm not sure how many Japanese people feel happy if they were placed in the situation.
But, in the last several pages, Carpentier says that this world is better than the world above because only in this world it makes sense or there is room to make effort improving ones current situation, and that's what an old man, the leading character of the story, perceived.

Thus, in a sense, the conclusion is common. But, the tour with magical reality leading to the (common) conclusion is excellent. It's really worth reading...

BTW, back cover of the Japanese translation says that the original title of the book is "El Derecho De Asilo." I'm not sure why, because I don't understand Spanish... :(