Unbelievable! Child of the Dark is remarkable and genius because of the writer’s determination, the circumstance of her life and the originality of the novel. Carolina Maria de Jesus' story is at once unique and at the same time timeless. She takes us into the lives of those who live on the margins and who are made invisible by society’s attitudes in relation to class and race.
In the midst of the struggle and the scramble for the necessities of life and as she struggles to provide the bare minimum for herself and children, Carolina refuses to let go of her dignity. She challenges the dehumanizing process of homelessness and poverty in Brazil. She demands to be seen and heard.
As the reader takes the journey with Carolina, her honesty is startling and stark. The reader must admire Carolina’s love of the written word as she uses a third grade education to craft a report of the circumstances in which millions of people across borders are imprisoned.
by Bacchus
Friday, October 1, 2010
In The Castle of My Skin by George Lamming
The novel, In the Castle of my Skin, by Bajan writer, George Lamming, is filled with many sections of long minute details. The reader might feel a gnawing irritation at the attention he gives to what seems to be unnecessary information. The reader’s patience will be challenged by the sometimes long and drawn out descriptions of conversations and daily activity. After critical confrontation with his or her inner self, the reader will realize that Lamming is honoring the complexity of his Caribbean heritage as he works the double entendre and criticism embedded in the calypso style into the Europeanized version of the novel we, the colonized, take for granted.
The genius of Lamming’s novel seeps into the mind. This genius is his ability to take you into the world of those often ignored and use their positions to highlight the social and political consequences of domination; in order to do this Lamming slows us down and demands that we look and listen –look and listen to these voices as they confront the hypocracy of the two worlds they are required to live in, untangle and change.
The reader is confronted by the reality of what is taken for “ordinary,” or better yet, in brutal honesty, the reader, often expected to be the educated middle class, the Fanonesque reader, is confronted by the daily life situations of the people considered to be the working lower class, the poor, and therefore, inconsequential. These are the voices that are often believed to be so simple that others speak for them and declare their reality.
Lamming’s breaks the paradigm that knowledge of the world can only be examined by the educated.
by Bacchus
The genius of Lamming’s novel seeps into the mind. This genius is his ability to take you into the world of those often ignored and use their positions to highlight the social and political consequences of domination; in order to do this Lamming slows us down and demands that we look and listen –look and listen to these voices as they confront the hypocracy of the two worlds they are required to live in, untangle and change.
The reader is confronted by the reality of what is taken for “ordinary,” or better yet, in brutal honesty, the reader, often expected to be the educated middle class, the Fanonesque reader, is confronted by the daily life situations of the people considered to be the working lower class, the poor, and therefore, inconsequential. These are the voices that are often believed to be so simple that others speak for them and declare their reality.
Lamming’s breaks the paradigm that knowledge of the world can only be examined by the educated.
by Bacchus
Color Me Butterfly by L.Y. Marlow
Marlow writes a poignant story of family commitment, strength, and love. The journey is shared over five generations of women’s stories as they overcome tragedy and make change.
In this novel, Marlow brings to the reader the highs of young love, innocence and hope; and then she uncovers how what seems sure and predictable can crumble in the face of economic stress and the institution of marriage. She does not hesitate in her condemnation of patriarchy, sexism and the connections to anger and domestic violence.
The women of the novel refuse to be annihilated. They proceed on their journeys of survival and personal achievements. Marlow’s words call for you to venture into the depths of women’s unique challenges; she asks you to navigate the pain and the pressure of life while being uplifted by the resilience and stamina of generations of women.
Happy unions, celebration of birth, dreams and hope all flow through the novel as well as physical abuse, pregnancies, and mental illness; these are all a part of the family. These tragedies fracture and attempt to dismantle the basic frabric of family loyalty and the many female characters of the novel, but the women persevere, family links stretch, but do not break.
by Bacchus
In this novel, Marlow brings to the reader the highs of young love, innocence and hope; and then she uncovers how what seems sure and predictable can crumble in the face of economic stress and the institution of marriage. She does not hesitate in her condemnation of patriarchy, sexism and the connections to anger and domestic violence.
The women of the novel refuse to be annihilated. They proceed on their journeys of survival and personal achievements. Marlow’s words call for you to venture into the depths of women’s unique challenges; she asks you to navigate the pain and the pressure of life while being uplifted by the resilience and stamina of generations of women.
Happy unions, celebration of birth, dreams and hope all flow through the novel as well as physical abuse, pregnancies, and mental illness; these are all a part of the family. These tragedies fracture and attempt to dismantle the basic frabric of family loyalty and the many female characters of the novel, but the women persevere, family links stretch, but do not break.
by Bacchus
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The novel, The Book of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill is a sad rendition of the abomination of slavery. It starts in Africa recalling the story of families shattered and brutally murdered; it is a history of a stolen people. Love, bravery, strength, hope, and optimism run throughout the stories of ancestors and decendants allowing the reader to relive experiences, reconfirm human rights activism, and gain strength for the future.
The novel chronicles the actions of those humans who capture slaves and use them to create a world of material wealth. The stories of rape strip away any desire to see imperalist actions as human; it exposes man's inhumanity to man and woman.
Aminata’s life is continuously challenged as children are sold away permanently; husbands and wifes are permanently separated and women are impregnated by the unwanted seeds of white men.
Yet, woven into Aminata’s story are the many ways that humans find to share love and create futures; woven into the story is kinship and healing built on the very culture from which Africans were so roughly torn. As we run the gamutt with Aminata, we experience the length of a life that was born in freedom and eventually ended in freedom. Along the way Hill shows us the meaning of determination and survival.
Lawrence Hill tells a woman’s story. It is a story of resistance.
by Bacchus
The novel chronicles the actions of those humans who capture slaves and use them to create a world of material wealth. The stories of rape strip away any desire to see imperalist actions as human; it exposes man's inhumanity to man and woman.
Aminata’s life is continuously challenged as children are sold away permanently; husbands and wifes are permanently separated and women are impregnated by the unwanted seeds of white men.
Yet, woven into Aminata’s story are the many ways that humans find to share love and create futures; woven into the story is kinship and healing built on the very culture from which Africans were so roughly torn. As we run the gamutt with Aminata, we experience the length of a life that was born in freedom and eventually ended in freedom. Along the way Hill shows us the meaning of determination and survival.
Lawrence Hill tells a woman’s story. It is a story of resistance.
by Bacchus
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
Africa, Liberia, home to ex-slaves, possible paradise so long ago; it was an unbelievable opportunity to return home, the land of ancestors, and build a life without chains. This story appeals to the dreams of many. It is about family and it is about survival.
In Helene Cooper’s novel, The House at Sugar Beach, this is the life we explore. What a great opportunity! To have returned to Africa all those years ago, to really be able to say, “I am African,” and to rise above the psychological trauma of slavery, was a part of the utopia. Unfortunately, Cooper is able to give the reader a taste of reality. If only it had come true in all ways, a return to culture and the language. We learn the good and the bad. The ex-slaves returned to Africa and took with them what they had learned about class and the accumulation of material wealth.
The House of Sugar Beach is far from sweet. Yet, Cooper grabs and holds your attention as the youthful characters expose the tender playfulness of children as they build friendships across the jagged edges of class differences. At the same time, she exposes the extravagance of wealth and the tragic consequences of superior attitudes and unfair social practices.
Political unrest is violent and destructive, bloody and cruel; women are extremely vulnerable and must defend themselves and their children. The story shows us various family structures and struggles; it shows confrontations and damage when citizens and state officials clash; and it becomes a story of immigrants.
by Bacchus
In Helene Cooper’s novel, The House at Sugar Beach, this is the life we explore. What a great opportunity! To have returned to Africa all those years ago, to really be able to say, “I am African,” and to rise above the psychological trauma of slavery, was a part of the utopia. Unfortunately, Cooper is able to give the reader a taste of reality. If only it had come true in all ways, a return to culture and the language. We learn the good and the bad. The ex-slaves returned to Africa and took with them what they had learned about class and the accumulation of material wealth.
The House of Sugar Beach is far from sweet. Yet, Cooper grabs and holds your attention as the youthful characters expose the tender playfulness of children as they build friendships across the jagged edges of class differences. At the same time, she exposes the extravagance of wealth and the tragic consequences of superior attitudes and unfair social practices.
Political unrest is violent and destructive, bloody and cruel; women are extremely vulnerable and must defend themselves and their children. The story shows us various family structures and struggles; it shows confrontations and damage when citizens and state officials clash; and it becomes a story of immigrants.
by Bacchus
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
Island Beneath the Sea is a fictional journey of historical magnitude. Allende’s talent is to be admired. Her words put the reader into the hearts and souls of the characters of African descent, the Haitians. She shreds any misunderstandings or misconceptions of the institution of slavery; she confronts any denial of the cruel sexual manipulation of black women; Allende names the criminal activity of the slave trade and the slave owners. The rape, the pedophilia, and the multiple attempts to dismember body, soul and mind cannot be ignored or forgotten.
But, do not be fooled. This is not a story of victims. As the reader interprets the story, it is immediately apparent that the women of the story are remarkably strong. They resist; they move heaven and earth to protect their kin. The love of family and culture is seen in the various relationships nutured and the many risks taken to preserve them.
Allende’s story builds from the intertwined personal stories that stand up to the brutality of colonization and culminates in the inevitable result of rebellion. The Haitians take control of their destiny. Alongside the stories of resistance, the story reflects the results of rebellion, the scattering of people, the eventual migration that accompanies the turmoil, fear, and poverty that is often the results of the transition from captivity to freedom.
But, do not be fooled. This is not a story of victims. As the reader interprets the story, it is immediately apparent that the women of the story are remarkably strong. They resist; they move heaven and earth to protect their kin. The love of family and culture is seen in the various relationships nutured and the many risks taken to preserve them.
Allende’s story builds from the intertwined personal stories that stand up to the brutality of colonization and culminates in the inevitable result of rebellion. The Haitians take control of their destiny. Alongside the stories of resistance, the story reflects the results of rebellion, the scattering of people, the eventual migration that accompanies the turmoil, fear, and poverty that is often the results of the transition from captivity to freedom.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy
"Because I am the bastard child of Empire and I will have my day."
The novel, Fruit of the Lemon, stirs thoughts of Sankofa as one reads Levy's story of immigration and the confusion of identity. It is a West Indian to Caribbean movement. One looks to the past to understand the present and confront the future.
The confusion and anguish of the main character infects the reader and then Levy confronts Africa and identity through Jamaica. It is fraught with the turmoil of psychological abandonment as one's identity is cut off, amputated, and one looks for the lost limb. It has Caribbean rhythms. Levy has captured the humor that permeates Caribbean culture - the loose fabric of unwavering belief in self and the future - in family.
by Bacchus
The novel, Fruit of the Lemon, stirs thoughts of Sankofa as one reads Levy's story of immigration and the confusion of identity. It is a West Indian to Caribbean movement. One looks to the past to understand the present and confront the future.
The confusion and anguish of the main character infects the reader and then Levy confronts Africa and identity through Jamaica. It is fraught with the turmoil of psychological abandonment as one's identity is cut off, amputated, and one looks for the lost limb. It has Caribbean rhythms. Levy has captured the humor that permeates Caribbean culture - the loose fabric of unwavering belief in self and the future - in family.
by Bacchus
Friday, January 22, 2010
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Morrison sings the blues.
A Mercy has all the ingredients of the blues. It is filled with the jagged notes of tragedy - open and blood soaked wounds, the awareness of brutal separation and the disfigurement of slavery, the base and ugly underbelly of the jackal like quality of human nature breathing alongside the always simmering loneliness that dwells in the hearts of women. Morrison's words, like the blues, sooths the souls of those raped and brutalized; it is not music; it strips away all pretense that slavery was anything else but centuries of diseased vermin feasting on the flesh of trapped humans.
As the story unfolds, the reader must acknowledge the legacy of one's stolen culture, language, dreams, family and freedom. One must recognize the pedophile, the rapist, and the sadist. At the same time, like the volcano that keeps reshaping the earth, one is mesmerized by the unfailing and undaunted resistance of a people, of women, who refuse to let go of pride and the human dream of the right to be; the right to be free.
by Bacchus
A Mercy has all the ingredients of the blues. It is filled with the jagged notes of tragedy - open and blood soaked wounds, the awareness of brutal separation and the disfigurement of slavery, the base and ugly underbelly of the jackal like quality of human nature breathing alongside the always simmering loneliness that dwells in the hearts of women. Morrison's words, like the blues, sooths the souls of those raped and brutalized; it is not music; it strips away all pretense that slavery was anything else but centuries of diseased vermin feasting on the flesh of trapped humans.
As the story unfolds, the reader must acknowledge the legacy of one's stolen culture, language, dreams, family and freedom. One must recognize the pedophile, the rapist, and the sadist. At the same time, like the volcano that keeps reshaping the earth, one is mesmerized by the unfailing and undaunted resistance of a people, of women, who refuse to let go of pride and the human dream of the right to be; the right to be free.
by Bacchus
Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany
Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany is an important read and even more so now that we live in this state of perpetual fear of terrorism. He gives us insight into an immigrant experience that is overdue for the American. He shines light on the Islamic (African and middle eastern) culture, on the lives of men and women who are a part of this culture, and on humanity as many characters try to maneuver in a society where their religion and traditions are often misunderstood and misinterpreted.
It is an experience unique in many ways and, yet, very familiar and similar to all immigrant experiences. He highlights the many challenges faced as they confront difference and are seen as different. At the same time, the reader is drawn in by the threads of love and friendship that wind themselves throughout the story as the main characters go on with life and its challenges.
by Bacchus
It is an experience unique in many ways and, yet, very familiar and similar to all immigrant experiences. He highlights the many challenges faced as they confront difference and are seen as different. At the same time, the reader is drawn in by the threads of love and friendship that wind themselves throughout the story as the main characters go on with life and its challenges.
by Bacchus
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Small Island. You will laugh; you will smile; you will want to cry. Levy's talent makes one feel envy and jealousy as she takes you down life's pathways. One wonders how she manipulates the English language and casts her spell of Caribbean rhythms and articulations.
Wow! Levy. Levy reveals the multiple Caribbean characters in all of their glory. Along with the characters, the reader feels the burden of guilt when one finds oneself wanting more from life and realizing that world events have managed to create a kind of circus for many immigrants. The need for success, for a kind of freedom, for survival has ones dreams finding light in foreign countries and these are often the very countries that destroyed the dreams of home. The idea of the "mother country" is confronted.
The hideous reality of racism is bared when characters become fully aware of their "place" in countries that have, for years, been chiseled into their minds as protectors and lands of the free. In spite of this circus that Levy reveals, she is also able to stretch your lips in a smile and tickle your belly into laughter as the inane human behaviors that herald love and passion come rushing out of her pen.
by Bacchus
Wow! Levy. Levy reveals the multiple Caribbean characters in all of their glory. Along with the characters, the reader feels the burden of guilt when one finds oneself wanting more from life and realizing that world events have managed to create a kind of circus for many immigrants. The need for success, for a kind of freedom, for survival has ones dreams finding light in foreign countries and these are often the very countries that destroyed the dreams of home. The idea of the "mother country" is confronted.
The hideous reality of racism is bared when characters become fully aware of their "place" in countries that have, for years, been chiseled into their minds as protectors and lands of the free. In spite of this circus that Levy reveals, she is also able to stretch your lips in a smile and tickle your belly into laughter as the inane human behaviors that herald love and passion come rushing out of her pen.
by Bacchus
Friday, January 1, 2010
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Adichie's Half the Yellow Sun takes the reader on a personal journey through her country, Nigeria. She describes the reality of a country tainted by the values of colonial arrogance and imperialist sadism. The characters are of various socioeconomic backgrounds and they reflect the pride of culture, the clash of tradition against foreign values, and the issues of class.
The possibilities of the intellectual in an era of political turbulence is visited and at the same time these possibilities are challenged by the sheer force of power fueled by the anger of a people divided and conquered by unrelenting and unapologetic greed.
Adichie's creativity shows in the matches she makes between men and women, between black and white, rich and poor. As the reader studies these characters, she/he is given an understanding of the psychological consequences of war on many levels.
by Bacchus
The possibilities of the intellectual in an era of political turbulence is visited and at the same time these possibilities are challenged by the sheer force of power fueled by the anger of a people divided and conquered by unrelenting and unapologetic greed.
Adichie's creativity shows in the matches she makes between men and women, between black and white, rich and poor. As the reader studies these characters, she/he is given an understanding of the psychological consequences of war on many levels.
by Bacchus
Songs Yet Sung by James McBride
Magnificently rendered is the story of bravery - of a woman who dreamed dreams of future possibilities, of warnings, of freedom.
McBride, in Songs Yet Sung approaches his novel (his creative vision) through mystery and adventure. The heroine is young and beautiful, but estranged from the normal. He provides her with spiritual qualities that leaves the reader breathless, but positions the character as the personification of the road to freedom no matter what the cost. She presents danger yet seeks a deeper understanding. The world she lives in does not follow human logic. The reader is asked to question the ideas of responsibility , loyalty, sacrifice and also to face the love of freedom and to struggle with decisions of life and death.
by Bacchus
McBride, in Songs Yet Sung approaches his novel (his creative vision) through mystery and adventure. The heroine is young and beautiful, but estranged from the normal. He provides her with spiritual qualities that leaves the reader breathless, but positions the character as the personification of the road to freedom no matter what the cost. She presents danger yet seeks a deeper understanding. The world she lives in does not follow human logic. The reader is asked to question the ideas of responsibility , loyalty, sacrifice and also to face the love of freedom and to struggle with decisions of life and death.
by Bacchus
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
In the Dew Breaker, Danticat takes hold of your heart and your mind. She juxtaposes fiction against non-fiction.
Danticat makes the story very personal while she attracts the across borders echoes of the familiar - of love, of family, the pain of the immigrant, and the clash of cultures. She touches your heart and eases it open with a force of emotions that connects the reader to past and present relationships - to love and hate and their shared memories and to the complication of betrayal of home and country. Danticat uses simplicity of language to make clear a world raped and pillaged by colonialism and its various masters both foreign and local.
To read Danticat is to revisit a resiliant pride of a people, the Haitian people, who gave us the first successful fight for freedom; she gives us reason to rage against injustice and to stand on the side of reason.
by Bacchus
Danticat makes the story very personal while she attracts the across borders echoes of the familiar - of love, of family, the pain of the immigrant, and the clash of cultures. She touches your heart and eases it open with a force of emotions that connects the reader to past and present relationships - to love and hate and their shared memories and to the complication of betrayal of home and country. Danticat uses simplicity of language to make clear a world raped and pillaged by colonialism and its various masters both foreign and local.
To read Danticat is to revisit a resiliant pride of a people, the Haitian people, who gave us the first successful fight for freedom; she gives us reason to rage against injustice and to stand on the side of reason.
by Bacchus
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