Seven Houses in France [Paperback]

When young Chrysostome Liege arrives by boat to begin his service in the Belgian Force Publique for King Leopold II in the Congo, he is clearly an innocent - a shy, religious, and humorless young man thrust into circumstances which challenge everything he, and the reader, consider "civilized." It is 1903, and the Congo is King Leopold's private fiefdom since he is the sole shareholder of a "non-governmental organization" which makes no pretense of benevolence. From the beginning, the King has used the Congo for his own purposes, forcing an unwilling native population to supply huge amounts of ivory, mahogany, minerals, and rubber which would benefit only him.

For the soldiers in Leopold's Force Publique, especially those assigned to remote areas like Yangambi, where Chrysostome will be working, a familiar social milieu does not exist. The soldiers obey the obvious protocols of the military, but there are only seventeen Belgian officers at the garrison, and with no active rebellion by native groups to keep them occupied, at the moment, they have far too much time on their hands. Might makes right here, and once they have performed their assigned duties, they enter a world which truly becomes a "jungle"--drinking, gambling, pursuing women, shooting animals for fun, and even, in some cases, smuggling ivory and mahogany back to Europe, where the profits will allow one wife to own "seven houses in France" in seven years.

When the King plans a visit, bringing a famous dancer from Philadelphia, whom he plans to make Queen of the Congo, all garrison activity is organized to promote this. Henry Morton Stanley will accompany the King and will attend the coronation of the new Queen beside Stanley Falls. Later the garrison learns that the King will be sending a statue of the Virgin, created by the "new Michelangelo," so that it can be installed permanently beside Stanley Falls as "The Virgin of the Congo." No one finds this ironic.

Author Bernardo Atxaga, whose previous works have been set in his native Basque country in Spain, provides only basic information about the rule of King Leopold II, spending little time on the grand scale of the atrocities committed historically against the native population. Instead he focuses on the behavior of the individual officers in the Force Publique as they respond to their long duty in the jungle. Atxaga's sense of narrative flow reflects his experience with the much longer novels he has written in Basque, and the novel moves quickly, enhanced by intriguing and vibrant details about the time, place, and main characters. Many events are filled with dark humor. Much credit is owed to prize-winning translator Margaret Jull Costa, whose work translating the novel into English is flawless, her ear for dialogue, particularly fine. Though this novel is, in a sense, a kind of morality tale, the author conveys his themes without didacticism, focusing on ordinary characters facing crises, often of their own making. The facts speak for themselves here, and Atxaga lets them.

The book opens with a rather dour new officer arriving by boat on his first posting abroad. The officer, Chrysostome, doesn't attempt to fit in with his fellow officers and they, in turn, despise his puritan upbringing, not only is he blatantly religious to a fundamental degree, but he refuses the usual soldierly fun of gambling, getting drunk and raping the native womenfolk . They also fear him. This man could shoot the eyebrows of a mosquito at five hundred paces.

The setting for this novel is the garrison of Yagambi, on the banks of the River Congo and the year is 1903. The senior officer is Captain Lalande Biran, who would prefer to be back in Paris frequenting the lounges of the Literati with his wife (more of her later), & releasing the odd book of poetry than commanding eighteen white officers of the Force Publique and the Askaris - native soldiers recruited to help quell the other natives who have the audacity to rebel intermittently.

Time goes really slow here, with very little to do beyond overseeing the slaves as they work, producing rubber and mahogany and keeping the natives in order. So time is spent drinking, gambling & consorting/raping the natives, there are dangers even here as STD's* seems to be everywhere, although most of the officers are not particularly worried. Except the Captain, he is so terrified of catching syphilis, that he has an officer pick & test girls for their virginity & then keep them caged until he's ready.

Captain Lalande Biran's wife, Christine, is a stunner and the reason he is out here. It would appear that she is addicted to the TV programme Location, location, location because although they have six houses purchased by smuggling Ivory and Mahogany, she wants another, in fact she has her eyes set on a seventh in glamorous St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Into this world of relaxed cruelty and debauchery steps our puritan officer and just by being who he is, slowly upsets the applecart.

This is a book that should offend our sensibilities, there is not a single character here that's likeable, their attitude stinks, their behaviour would have most of them up on crimes against humanity charges and even the saintly Chrysostome is so po-faced righteous and arrogant that you can understand why no-one likes him. And yet? what Axtaga has managed to do is create a dark, horrible, nasty and yet wonderfully comic world that will offend and delight in almost equal measure. Not everyone will enjoy it, but those that do, will find a fantastic absurd world within the pages of this book.

A interesting read that kept my attention all the way through, but I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. However, Bernard Atxaga paints a stark picture of the abhorrent way in which the people of The Belgian Congo were treated by soldiers in King Leopold's army at the beginning of the twentieth century. He focuses on the relationships between a group of soldiers and how they spend their time in the garrison. It has definitely made me want to read more novels by Bernardo Atxaga.