God Loves Haiti

"And picking apart the nation's colorful, sorrowful, and thrilling history is all Haitians do. It's a sport, the fucking national pastime. History is all we have to take pride in, since our greatest achievement occurred in 1804 and we haven't contributed fuck-all to humanity in the intervening two centuries save a few good books and paintings."

Just finished Dimitry Elias Léger's God Loves Haiti, an addictive novel worth reading that imagines post-earthquake Haiti through Dantean lens. It's also part of a flourishing literary output by Haitian-American writers, such as Roxane Gay's acclaimed An Untamed State. While the Kindle version seems to have some errors, this short novel can be read in a day, which may be one of its weaknesses. It also struck me as strange that Alain did not notify his parents after surviving the earthquake, and how they could not know he was alive despite him appearing on television for his leadership role in the Place Pigeon refugee camp (appearing with 'Steve,' called Hollywood by Alain, who is based on Sean Penn). Furthermore, the former president based on Aristide lacked any real relevance to this tale, so I am not sure why his presence was included in the novel.

However, the novel's characters are likable and the perhaps not so subtle commentary on Preval, Aristide the international community, and the response to the horrendous goudou-goudou are necessary to counter the horrific views of many abroad, such as the infamous Pat Robertson. Indeed, Monsignor Dorélien believes that Haitians are among God's chosen people, that the earthquake that destroyed their world was a test like those of Biblical times. Léger also has a way of praising Haiti and the people without romanticizing its troubled history. For instance, he writes about how beautiful Port-au-Prince is as Alain's car is flying with him in tow above the city during the earthquake: 

From the sky, strangely, Port-au-Prince looked uncommonly beautiful. He hadn't visited Paris yet, but surely Paris couldn't be as beautiful as his hometown, this jewel of the Caribbean, this diamond in the rough, when viewed from the driver's seat of a car launched two hundred meters above sea level. Awesome. Natasha, he thought, I have got to show her this.

Indeed, one of the more memorable scenes in the novel is the President's vision of himself and all preceding Haitian heads of state at the gates of Heaven, making their case to Saint Peter. Dessalines and Duvalier have some interesting exchanges with Saint Peter in that scene. Likewise, the author does an excellent job capturing the city of Port-au-Prince and the scenes during and after the earthquake. It was depressing but light reading that breathed life into some of Port-au-Prince's landmarks (the National Cathedral assumes great importance for Natasha, and the novel's final scene) and Haitian history. In truth, one should see Port-au-Prince as more than the setting for this love triangle amid such suffering, but as a character whose shapes, contours, and architecture affect the lives of the President, Alain, and Natasha. Life in the tent camps, a love story, Haiti's relationship with the Dominican Republic, death, imperialism, and the significance of history in Haiti as a 'national pastime' all emerge as important themes that shape the novel. 

Impressively, Legér manages to create humor in the most tragic and unexpected places, such as the President's trip to the UN for a meeting with the real powers (the US, France, and other powers on the UN Security Council) who orchestrate the relief effort and pull the strings on the Haitian political system. In the end, people of all walks of life are thrown together as a result of the last thing Haitians expected to turn on them, the earth, and the results are seen in the collective mourning, grave digging teams, tent organizations and their leaders, and ultimate triumph of love and solidarity in the face of insurmountable obstacles, which provides the opportunities for redemption for the President, Alain, and Natasha.