Between Tides (First Edition)

Rejecting his culture to become a Catholic priest, Pierre Landau sees the awesome wealth and power of the Catholic Church and discovers a new way of seeing God

In protagonist Pierre Landu, Mudimbe ( Before the Birth of the Moon ) has created a figure layered with all the conflicts of modern Africa. Having rejected his ancestors--and Africa--to join the Catholic priesthood, Landu proceeds to reject the priesthood--hence Europe--to join a ubiquitous and anonymous "Revolution." But this struggle brings him no closer to his people and even in the brutal boot camp, Landu can't wean himself from theology, Vivaldi and Rome. His most natural expression remains Latin prayer. Landu is not a sympathetic character--"insufferable" is the word used by another character--and much of Between Tides is taken up by pompous and often tedious self-examination. In the book's closing pages, Landu goes through a number of incarnations and--though Between Tides was awarded the Grand Prize, International Catholic Literature in 1975--his destiny is not a testimonial for the Church. Mudimbe is clear that, torn by such divergent extremes, there can be no easy resolution for either Landu or for Africa.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A stark, haunting tale of faith and solitude played out amidst the political turmoil of modern Africa. The second of Mudimbe's novels to be translated into English (Before the Birth of the Moon, 1988), it was awarded the Grand Prize for International Catholic Literature when first published in 1975. Narrator Pierre Landau has a penchant for conversion. Baptized by missionaries in Zaire, he leaves his family and enters a seminary in Rome, where he is ordained priest. Upon his return to Africa, however, he finds himself estranged both from his homeland andincreasinglyfrom the demands of his new religion. He joins a group of Marxist guerrillas and attempts to ``re-educate'' himself, but, lacking the blind conviction of his comrades, becomes instead an object of hatred and mistrust. An abortive marriage to an uneducated village girl causes him to wonder: If he is not a ``true African,'' what is he, andmore to the pointwhat does he want to be? In the midst of such discomfort he comes to understand his faith as an independent entitysomething not ``chosen'' or ``embraced'' so much as ``recognized''and he understands finally that his search is an interior (rather than intellectual or political) one. The resolution is neither facile nor arbitrary, and succeeds (as do all good picaresques) in drawing on every element of a rich and wide-ranging narrative. A novel of extraordinary depth and intensity. Possessing a sharpness of vision reminiscent of Mauriac, Mudimbe writes with a marvelous discursiveness, capturing the hidden significance of the most straightforward events. The translation is unobtrusive and clear, and displays none of the stiffness that French prose so often carries into English. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

On stage in this story (winner of the Grand Prize, International Catholic Literature, Paris, 1975) are God, the Catholic clergy, and individuals involved in the African revolt against Western exploitation. Pierre, a black Catholic priest, attempts (unsuccessfully) to reconcile his tribal beliefs with Christianity and Marxism and finds himself unable to "fit in," remaining in the margin, "between tides," wavering between his extensive Western education (foreign) and his African roots. This is a cerebral account, and the author presumes that his readers possess a sound knowledge of European philosophical, theological, and literary writings. For those who qualify, this is a poignant study of the clashing of ideologies within a human being.
- Danielle Mihram, Univ. of Southern California Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.