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
Friday, January 22, 2010
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
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The novel My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is a well crafted story of Love's challenges in the face of death. A young girl is caught in the death spiral of a vicious cancer. She is dying to live as her family scrambles to hold on to her and to hope. Caught in the mail storm of life are her mother, brother, sister, and father. They are consumed by a need to save her; they want more time. They struggle with acceptance and the desire to let go.
The narrator, her younger sister, was conceived for the sole purpose of supplying her sick sister with whatever is necessary for her continued survival. As the story unfolds, the reader is encouraged to examine this unusual circumstance of birth. They are included in the question and debate about parental rights versus a child's right to her own body. Is it morally right for parents to conceive a child for the medical needs of another? Do they have a right to make decisions about a child's body? Does the child have the right to say "No?"
At the story's center is a legal battle between mother and daughter. As the battle rages, the lives of each member of the family is revealed. Designing the story in this fashion allows the author to paint a picture of the emotional chaos that stems from the impact of terminal illness on a family. Through the eyes of each family member we experience the complexities of family love in the face of tragedy.
"My Sister's Keeper" draws you in and takes you on a bitter sweet journey of the highs and lows of family life. Embedded in the story is a critical perspective of medical procedures that involve life and death decisions. The reader will be captured by this touching story.
by Bacchus
The narrator, her younger sister, was conceived for the sole purpose of supplying her sick sister with whatever is necessary for her continued survival. As the story unfolds, the reader is encouraged to examine this unusual circumstance of birth. They are included in the question and debate about parental rights versus a child's right to her own body. Is it morally right for parents to conceive a child for the medical needs of another? Do they have a right to make decisions about a child's body? Does the child have the right to say "No?"
At the story's center is a legal battle between mother and daughter. As the battle rages, the lives of each member of the family is revealed. Designing the story in this fashion allows the author to paint a picture of the emotional chaos that stems from the impact of terminal illness on a family. Through the eyes of each family member we experience the complexities of family love in the face of tragedy.
"My Sister's Keeper" draws you in and takes you on a bitter sweet journey of the highs and lows of family life. Embedded in the story is a critical perspective of medical procedures that involve life and death decisions. The reader will be captured by this touching story.
by Bacchus
Friday, July 31, 2009
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Denise Bacchus - English 103 - Haitian women - immigration
Danticat's novel Breath, Eyes, Memory reveals the lives of Haitian women caught in the throes of poverty as they manuver in a society rife with sexism. The author uses the novel to paint a picture of these women's struggles as they move between love and despair, pride and disdain, hope and loss and we see these plights through the eyes of a twelve year old as she matures into adulthood.
Though the eyes of the narrator, Sophie, the reader is given a glimpse of Haitian politics, the violence of the Tonton Macoutes, and the push and pull of national pride versus the need to migrate. In the story, the narrator eventually leaves for New York to join her mother and to strike out on a road often travelled. The author takes the reader on the rocky road of immigration, the reality of culture shock, culture clash, and the turmoil of education, second language issues and job availability in a foreign land. Interwoven in the story are the effects of long standing tradition and rituals as the characters confront modernization.
"Breath, Eyes, Memory" is a captivating novel that allows the critical thinking educator and students to explore various realities through research; the language is engaging and captures the imagination; it provides rich information for discussion; and it gives the readers the opportunity to explore a different culture, geography, and resources.
by Bacchus
Danticat's novel Breath, Eyes, Memory reveals the lives of Haitian women caught in the throes of poverty as they manuver in a society rife with sexism. The author uses the novel to paint a picture of these women's struggles as they move between love and despair, pride and disdain, hope and loss and we see these plights through the eyes of a twelve year old as she matures into adulthood.
Though the eyes of the narrator, Sophie, the reader is given a glimpse of Haitian politics, the violence of the Tonton Macoutes, and the push and pull of national pride versus the need to migrate. In the story, the narrator eventually leaves for New York to join her mother and to strike out on a road often travelled. The author takes the reader on the rocky road of immigration, the reality of culture shock, culture clash, and the turmoil of education, second language issues and job availability in a foreign land. Interwoven in the story are the effects of long standing tradition and rituals as the characters confront modernization.
"Breath, Eyes, Memory" is a captivating novel that allows the critical thinking educator and students to explore various realities through research; the language is engaging and captures the imagination; it provides rich information for discussion; and it gives the readers the opportunity to explore a different culture, geography, and resources.
by Bacchus
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
In the Secret Life of Bees Kidd brings to us a touching narrative of a young white American girl as she comes of age in the south. Lily, the narrator, makes her journey in the middle of the 60s and the Civil Rights movement. As she tells her story of love, she takes the reader through the complicated maze of what it means to be challenged by the contradictions of racism: the use of black women to nurture white children juxtaposed against the physical brutality of ignorance, the trust placed in them to cook food justaposed against the need to keep them out of the stores, police who swear to protect the citizens justaposed against their willingness to condone violence. The story also exposes the psychological impact and the dangers of oppression.
The novel paints a portrait of the multifaceted personas of black women as they navigate the currents of the racist south. The sisters and the Sisters confront, protect, motivate, create and forge the paths of ambition, success, perseverance, and change in spite of and in the face of adversity. As their stories weave through the book, the reader is inspired by their strength.
August, June, and May, as spectacular as they are to this novel, are still periferal to the story. In a world filled with the residue of racism, designing a novel where the main character is white and the black women are periferal to the story might be seen as a reflection of that very racism. Lily character as compelling as it is as she draws out our empathy and sympathy is not made to seriously reflect on her own racism that is mentioned in the novel.
bell hooks, in reference to the novel, brings our attention to the fact that at the end of such work, the author expresses some issue within herself as she focuses on the unattractiveness of the black Mary statue. A critical look at the book brings out the contradictions in American society.
Religion is one of the themes in the novel. The writer assumes that the audience is familiar with the Christian religion. The Christian narrative of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the angels must be familiar to the reader in order for he or she to grasp the irony and critique embedded in the story as the sisters tell their stories of Black Mary and participate in her worship.
The critical thinking instructor is able to explore the Civil Rights movement and various other historical events when using "The Secret Life of Bees." At the same time, students and instructor will have the opportunity to discuss and analyze human behavior as the characters deal with religion and interracial relationships.
by Bacchus
The novel paints a portrait of the multifaceted personas of black women as they navigate the currents of the racist south. The sisters and the Sisters confront, protect, motivate, create and forge the paths of ambition, success, perseverance, and change in spite of and in the face of adversity. As their stories weave through the book, the reader is inspired by their strength.
August, June, and May, as spectacular as they are to this novel, are still periferal to the story. In a world filled with the residue of racism, designing a novel where the main character is white and the black women are periferal to the story might be seen as a reflection of that very racism. Lily character as compelling as it is as she draws out our empathy and sympathy is not made to seriously reflect on her own racism that is mentioned in the novel.
bell hooks, in reference to the novel, brings our attention to the fact that at the end of such work, the author expresses some issue within herself as she focuses on the unattractiveness of the black Mary statue. A critical look at the book brings out the contradictions in American society.
Religion is one of the themes in the novel. The writer assumes that the audience is familiar with the Christian religion. The Christian narrative of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the angels must be familiar to the reader in order for he or she to grasp the irony and critique embedded in the story as the sisters tell their stories of Black Mary and participate in her worship.
The critical thinking instructor is able to explore the Civil Rights movement and various other historical events when using "The Secret Life of Bees." At the same time, students and instructor will have the opportunity to discuss and analyze human behavior as the characters deal with religion and interracial relationships.
by Bacchus
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