Tram 83

“There are cities which don’t need literature: they are literature.” - Tram 83 Writing in frantic, unpredictable prose, Fiston Mwanza Mujila drops his readers into the grit of the City-State, a fictionalized Congolese metropolis where anarchy rules and only the fittest survive. The story centers around the titular jazz club, where beers are drunk and plans are hatched. Lucien, a European-educated writer, scrawls notes in his journal while Requiem, his perpetually scheming friend, is the life of the party. The two are perfect foils for one another; neither is the hero or the villain, and both are deeply human in their flaws. As they joke, converse, and bicker, they raise cutting questions about morality and human nature, and the whole book is clearly written by a hand well-versed in philosophy. The text itself is the real star of the novel; explosive, paralleling the jazz solos that permeate Tram 83. Mujila builds poetic motif like the performers build melody, calling back to his familiar refrain when the prose starts to get out of hand. The whole book reads much more like a poem than a traditional novel, its rhythms feeling more like Kerouac than Achebe. Yet, the novel remains synonymous with the Congolese city in which it takes place; the events of its plot could happen anywhere, but its words and characters could only be African. The pulse of Mujila’s phrasing ebbs and flows, starting with short staccato bursts and filling out to massive crescendos, piling words on top of words until the page itself seems alive and the sentence will surely topple over. Yet, somehow, the author always manages to keep his writing in control, and it returns to its normal energy once more. Tram 83 is by no means a perfect novel, and like the jazz solos from which it takes its inspiration, it contains its fair share of mistakes. This is not the most readable novel in the world. Mujila experiments with unusual paragraph structure, sometimes interrupting a sentence partway through with a line of dialogue before picking right back up where he left off afterwards. The repetitive motifs that can wield such power in the text are occasionally overused, and the writing overall has a tendency to value rhythm and feel over actual description, so I found myself having to read certain sections several times to understand what was happening. This novel is not for everyone, then, but that only means that those who love it will love it all the more. If you dislike experimental novels, then this probably isn’t the book for you. But if you’re willing to take the good with the bad and pick up a novel written in virtuosic poetry and with a voice that is universal and yet uniquely Congolese, then Tram 83 is a must-read.

Let me begin with: the book came in excellent condition, barely even a dent despite buying used.Now, onto the review:I personally was not a fan of this book. The pacing of it lost me, and the structure of the text was simply too experimental and unusual. I bought it because of my World Literature class-- I have to preform a 1 and 1/2 hour presentation on this-- and after simply the first five pages I was exhausted. Many books try to steer away from opening with a big block quote as a first line, while Tram 83 very clearly avoided that rule. The very first sentence was six lines long, and I could not tell you a word of it if you asked. It then gets followed by a couple short and sweet sentences, and I think-- hey, maybe that's it for the big long drawn on sentences. It doesn't improve from there. Every mention of a woman is sexual, degrading, and simply uncomfortable to read. It's extremely explicit. I understood the purpose of it, but it simply was too much all at once, and made for a very difficult portion of my presentation.These are all my personal opinions, though. Coming from someone who is squeamish with explicit details, and someone with a very particular taste in books, this simply didn't fit. Wasn't my cup of tea. And that might just be the point-- make you squeamish and uncomfortable. Page 2: "Innocence is cowardice". But, if that's the case, I guess I'm a coward. Oh well.I'm sure there are "better" readers out there, especially those more invested in African history and sociopolitical topics. If I had a suggestion to anyone who is considering reading on your free time, read a preview on google first. It'll give you a pretty decent idea of what to expect.Anyways.Lets go do this presentation...

What's the plot of Tram 83? Irrelevant!Tram 83 transports you into an unnamed African city, governed (if you can call it that) by warlord. The money comes from mining, but everyone in town comes together at Tram 83, a bar based in "a station whose metal structure is unfinished." Everyone includes the miners, the students, the nonprofit tourists (aid workers?), and the prostitutes. The two main characters are Requiem, a dealmaker and extortionist, and Lucien, a writer and historian. Over the course of 224 pages, they fight, rob a mine, dance, drink, argue, seek opportunity discuss, get arrested, get attacked, and much more."At Tram 83, it was impossible to converse without being interrupted." The city's prostitutes are constantly interrupting the dialogue between the characters, sometimes with innocent queries ("Do you have the time?" repeated 57 times throughout the book) and other times in a more forward way (a variation on how they feel about foreplay, repeated 17 days through the book). The book is peppered with music references, with references to biblical verses (many of which don't exist, like Ephesians 18).More than a story, Tram 83 is an experience, plunging the reader into the midst of the chaos and moral depravity (child prostitutes, torture) and pleasures. Tram 83 shows how chaos can become normal against the "everyday rhythm of blackouts and cave-ins of underground quarries." The narrative doesn't pause for more than a moment on events that in any other book would be central and traumatic, as when one character is forced to drink his own urine out of his shoes. (Spoiler alert?)This book is kind of insane, it's not for the faint of heart, and it merits every award and nomination it's been getting.

I didn't enjoy the book for a number of reasons.The irresponsible writing style.The careless vulgarity and of course, the way it becomes less interesting as some phrases and sentences are needlessly repeated throughout the book.One would think there were errors in the typesetting.I do not want to read this again.

Was guided to this book after a recommendation in a magazine. I was hoping to get into something different, rather than my normal genre. Having tried to get into this book for many days, I have now given up. Others may find it OK, but its not my cup of tea.

Repetition is not always good.repetition is not always good.repetition is not always good.repetition is not always good.told you so.dont like.