Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty by Alain Mabanckou Book Review — Stella Inabo
A world viewed through the eyes of a child takes on a new look. There is wonder in the mundane things we overlook and a shroud of innocence struggles to remain in place. In Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty, we see and understand Congo and the larger world through the eyes of Michel, the protagonist.
Michel lives with his mother, Mama Pauline, and with the aid of his stepfather, Papa Roger, he acquires an education in a small school with glaring class divisions. Most of his education comes from the books in the growing library his father has amassed from guest at the hotel he works, to the news on the radio; a well-kept secret and his experiences with family and society.
Michel is young but he is confronted with realities that grown people face. He understands the unfairness of his uncle clinging to Marxism yet claiming land inherited by Mama Pauline. He understands the concept of death, the separation from his sisters born into life only to leave the earth in a few heartbeats. He understands the unfairness of countries putting national interest before the life of the Iranian Shah.
Through his naïve words, we understand the world he lives in. Marius, his stepbrother dreams of going to France to play football one day but Michel does not expect him to become the captain “…because, after all, you do not expect to find a black ordering whites around”. Alain uses this sentence to show that racism prevails even though General de Gaulle had announced that “Brazzaville was now the capital of free France. So the French all became Congolese like us.”
I liked Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty because it educated me on history while running a commentary on politics. Marxism, Neo-colonialism, racism, state interference in other states, dictatorships and despotism of African leaders as well as the two-faced policies of world powers were all captured in his book.
While some might complain that the book did not have an order to it with history and stories of other characters appearing in it, I felt it made it more authentic because the thoughts in a mind of a child can hardly be described as linear.
The end of the book was not as satisfying but Alain did a phenomenal thing by juxtaposing the death of Longombe with the suggestion of new life when Michel handed over the key to Mama Pauline. I did hope to have a glimpse of the future, where Michel is twenty.
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