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Haitian Book Club: General Sun, My Brother by Jacques Stephen Alexis


At this point, Carrol F. Coates should be given some sort of medal for the deft translation of so many great works from literature originally written in French.

This said, let us discuss General Sun, My Brother (CARAF Books), a book translated by Coates, and written by Jacques Stephen Alexis, who in short, is one of Haiti’s biggest literary talents. He died in 1961, but his literary legacy has only grown with each decade after his death.

Alexis was a doctor, a highly esteemed profession but his protagonist Hilarion Hilarius, is the lowest of Haitian society, a serial petty thief who brings dishonor to his family and grief to his mother.

One of the biggest contrasts that is made in the novel is the relationship between Hilarion Hilarius with Pierre Roumel, a son of Haiti’s aristocracy. They are being held at the same prison—Fort Dimanche—Hilarion for stealing and Pierre for his part in organizing a strike against the U.S. Occupation of Haiti. But even behind bars, Roumel can change lives and wields power, and upon Hilarion’s release, he gives him an introduction letter that will help land Hilarion a job. A rather minor aspect of the plot of General Sun, My Brother? Or a slick message from Jacques Stephen Alexis about the power of collaboration among Haiti’s social classes? For this letter literally changes the life of Hilarion and makes him see new possibilities in himself.

As a result of Pierre Roumel’s gesture, Hilarion develops a sense of responsibility that will help him in making one of the first adult decisions of his life, and that is to enter in a relationship with Claire-Hereuse, not coincidentally named after Haitian founding father Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ wife Marie-Claire Hereuse. It’s the desire to make a more promising future for himself and their daughter Désiré (after a failed business—more like a cruelly burned down business venture) that partly leads Hilarion to go work the fields in the neighboring Dominican Republic cane fields.

General Sun, My Brother isn’t just Hilarion’s story. It’s the story of his sister Zuléma, who is raped by an important aristocrat in Port-au-Prince; and through the book we catch glimpses of the empty lives of Haiti’s high society ladies, caught “in the clutches of boredom” and “collecting adventure”—as Jacques Stephen Alexis puts it ever so eloquently.

General Sun, My Brother is a fine novel, and captures the courageous spirit of Haitians sugar cane workers, at the historical slaughter at the Massacre River, a pivotal time in Dominican-Haitian relations. But the biggest lesson that it teaches is that it is far better to nurse one’s problems at home, then seek greener grasses elsewhere.

K St. Fort
K St. Fort
ABOUT K. St Fort K. St. Fort is the Editor and Founder of, well, Kreyolicious.com and wishes to give you a heartfelt welcome to her site. She loves to read, write, and listen to music and is fascinated by her Haitian roots, and all aspects of her culture. Speaking of music, she likes it loud, really, really loud. Like bicuspid valve raising-loud. Her other love are the movies. She was once a Top 50 finalist for a student screenwriting competition, encouraging her to continue pounding the pavement. She has completed several screenplays, with Haiti as the backdrop, one of which tackles sexual abuse in an upper middle class Haitian family, while another has child slavery as its subject. She is currently completing another script, this time a thriller, about two sisters who reunite after nearly 10 years of separation. A strong believer in using films to further educational purposes, and to raise awareness about important subjects, she has made it a point to write about social issues facing Haiti, and making them an integral part of her projects. She has interviewed such Haitian-American celebrities as Roxane Gay, Garcelle Beauvais, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Briana Roy, Karen Civil, and many, many more. And that’s her writing this whole biographical sketch. She actually thinks writing about herself in the third person is cute. MY WEBSITE Kreyolicious ™: kree-ohl-lish-uh s: Surely an adjective…the state of being young, gorgeous, fine and utterly Haitian. Kreyolicious.com™, the hub for young, upwardly mobile Haitian-Americans, is akin to a 18th Century cultural salon but with a Millennium sensibility–an inviting lair, where we can discuss literature, music, problems facing the community, and everything on the side and in-between. Kreyolicious is the premier lifestyle, culture and entertainment blog and brand of the hip, young, trend-oriented, forward thinking Haitian-American. It’s the definite hot spot to learn more about Haiti our emerging identity as a people, and explore our pride and passion about our unique and vibrant culture. Within the site’s pages, Kreyolicious.com is going to engage you, empower you, and deepen your connection to everything Haitian: the issues, the culture, our cinema, the history, our cuisine, the style, the music, the worldwide community. Make yourself at home in my cultural salon. If you’re looking to learn more about Haiti, Kreyolicious.com invites you to board this trolley on a journey–on our journey. For me too, it is a process, a non-ending cultural odyssey. If you’re already acculturated, I can certainly learn something from you. We can learn from one other, for certain. With my site, Kreyolicious.com I look forward to inspiring you, to enriching you, and to participating alongside of you, in the cultural celebration. And being utterly kreyolicious. How do you wear your kreyoliciousness? On your sleeves, like I do? Kreyoliciously Yours, Your girl K. St. Fort, Ahem, follow me elsewhere!

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