I read! 638 pages! And I read it twice.
Yungue's genius writing style took me on a journey of twists and turns that always came together at the right moments and, those connections served to propel me into extended sections of his novel.
The size of the book is daunting but, immediately, upon entrance, it grabs you. At first, the long explanations and tangents into other minds and histories scare the reader with the fear of boredom to come. Yet, that doesn't happen. After a while the words open you up and release a sort of patience. You are reassured that the writer expects that you will return, to reread, to think, to cross bridges, and to form opinions. There is promise in his style; there is confidence in his style; he expects you to revisit. And, you do.
The foundation he builds on is his love of music - of jazz music. And, what is jazz? Jazz, an orchestrated symphony of instruments talking of love, of pain, of life, of love. He takes the opportunity to share the emotional calms and upheavals that come with this creativity and, in doing so, he understand that his writing had to call to life this symphony of stories.
more to come.......
Friday, December 14, 2012
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Kindred! A word that dips in and stirs expectations. It stirs the blood.
Butler takes the reader on a harrowing emotional ride through American's history of African-American experiences. The reader takes this ride in the shoes of a young black female identity and, to some extent, the identity of a young white male.
Octavia Butler, in her written art piece, Kindred, does what she does with such unequivocal brilliance, she transform you the reader into the character. You are no longer in control of who you think you are when you encounter Butler's words. Her genius is the ability to take you there; her genius is in her power to make you a part of the other psyche.
What stands out in Kindred is the lack of logic harnessed in the willingness of humans to cave into sadism while expecting love and loyalty from their victims. She highlights the inhumanity seemingly existing right under the surface of the human.
Butler takes you inside of yourself to quiver with your own insecurity, your own knowledge of that self reflected in all of her characters. Her approach in this novel unsettles the reader. The main character, Dana, is dragged into her past to save a member of her family. Positioned as this savior, Dana has to learn to love and forgive in the midst of
more to come.....
Butler takes the reader on a harrowing emotional ride through American's history of African-American experiences. The reader takes this ride in the shoes of a young black female identity and, to some extent, the identity of a young white male.
Octavia Butler, in her written art piece, Kindred, does what she does with such unequivocal brilliance, she transform you the reader into the character. You are no longer in control of who you think you are when you encounter Butler's words. Her genius is the ability to take you there; her genius is in her power to make you a part of the other psyche.
What stands out in Kindred is the lack of logic harnessed in the willingness of humans to cave into sadism while expecting love and loyalty from their victims. She highlights the inhumanity seemingly existing right under the surface of the human.
Butler takes you inside of yourself to quiver with your own insecurity, your own knowledge of that self reflected in all of her characters. Her approach in this novel unsettles the reader. The main character, Dana, is dragged into her past to save a member of her family. Positioned as this savior, Dana has to learn to love and forgive in the midst of
more to come.....
Saturday, October 27, 2012
I,Tituba, the black witch of Salem by Maryse Conde
Respect! absolute honor and recognition is reflected in Maryse Conde's novel - I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem.
more to come.....
more to come.....
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke
Stunning! This is the word that comes to mind whenever I think of this novel, The Polished Hoe. Even more pleasing was the laugh that came to me at the end when my understanding of the title blossomed.
I am not sure I've ever read a book written by a man who managed so well to capture the grit of a woman as she repelled the degradation of racism. What astonished me was that he did not follow the taken for granted path that this disease normally takes in novels. Instead, he revealed the diseased minds and actions of those who practiced racism and benefited from it. Unapologetically, he exposed the mental illness routed in perpetrators of the disease.
I found myself applauding. And, this time, I applauded without the guilt that comes with a taste for blood.
Using the voice of this remarkable character, Mary-Mathilda, Austin Clarke takes his words and slashes at any semblance of a benevolent racism. At the same time, he highlights the strength of women that is often ignored.
Immediately, as you enter the novel you are made aware that something unexpected and welcomed has happened and that the something that is hinted at is a natural response to the circumstances. Any other response would have meant psychological death.
If I could, I would make this book required reading for all. Austin Clarke's work is genius. The Polished Hoe is a keeper and it is a novel that I will read again and again.
by Bacchus
I am not sure I've ever read a book written by a man who managed so well to capture the grit of a woman as she repelled the degradation of racism. What astonished me was that he did not follow the taken for granted path that this disease normally takes in novels. Instead, he revealed the diseased minds and actions of those who practiced racism and benefited from it. Unapologetically, he exposed the mental illness routed in perpetrators of the disease.
I found myself applauding. And, this time, I applauded without the guilt that comes with a taste for blood.
Using the voice of this remarkable character, Mary-Mathilda, Austin Clarke takes his words and slashes at any semblance of a benevolent racism. At the same time, he highlights the strength of women that is often ignored.
Immediately, as you enter the novel you are made aware that something unexpected and welcomed has happened and that the something that is hinted at is a natural response to the circumstances. Any other response would have meant psychological death.
If I could, I would make this book required reading for all. Austin Clarke's work is genius. The Polished Hoe is a keeper and it is a novel that I will read again and again.
by Bacchus
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
I picked up this novel at Borders. It was on the sale shelf; I usually browse sale shelves looking for books written by women. I am especially happy when I find books written by women of different countries and cultures.
Min Jin Lee's book Free Food for Millionaires captured my attention because I realized, as I read the back cover, that I had not read any book by someone Korean. Immediately my curiosity was peeked; I wanted to take the trip with Min Jin and the cover of her book promised me a story about women. I wanted to see where our borders crossed. How did our womanhood(s) connect?
I was pleasantly surprised by Min Jin's ability to capture a broad spectrum of personalities in her novel. Lee's writing grabbed me and pulled me in. She created atmospheres with her words; she carved dialogue into me that made the conversations between characters feel as if they were happening in my head; they echoed of prior experiences. Her ability to make multiple characters come alive gave me access to the stories buried in her novel. Into one head I went to find myself and through those eyes the other characters came alive.
In her novel, Free Food for Millionaires, Lee confronts what seems to be a universal barrier for women and that is the perpetual feeling of guilt. The characters in her novel show resilience as they struggle with family expectations, professional dreams, and risks as they confront tradition, break boundaries and create new paths.
Free Food for Millionaires will comfort women and it will give them the strength to make change and design their own individualities.
The only question I had of this author was something that struck me as odd. How does one create a fictional story in Manhattan and other diverse areas of New York and still manage to make various groups of people invisible?
by Bacchus
Min Jin Lee's book Free Food for Millionaires captured my attention because I realized, as I read the back cover, that I had not read any book by someone Korean. Immediately my curiosity was peeked; I wanted to take the trip with Min Jin and the cover of her book promised me a story about women. I wanted to see where our borders crossed. How did our womanhood(s) connect?
I was pleasantly surprised by Min Jin's ability to capture a broad spectrum of personalities in her novel. Lee's writing grabbed me and pulled me in. She created atmospheres with her words; she carved dialogue into me that made the conversations between characters feel as if they were happening in my head; they echoed of prior experiences. Her ability to make multiple characters come alive gave me access to the stories buried in her novel. Into one head I went to find myself and through those eyes the other characters came alive.
In her novel, Free Food for Millionaires, Lee confronts what seems to be a universal barrier for women and that is the perpetual feeling of guilt. The characters in her novel show resilience as they struggle with family expectations, professional dreams, and risks as they confront tradition, break boundaries and create new paths.
Free Food for Millionaires will comfort women and it will give them the strength to make change and design their own individualities.
The only question I had of this author was something that struck me as odd. How does one create a fictional story in Manhattan and other diverse areas of New York and still manage to make various groups of people invisible?
by Bacchus
Friday, October 1, 2010
Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria de Jesus
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
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
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
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