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palliem's review against another edition
1.0
I was okay with this as it started, and then I got really into it--I mean, it was heading for 3 or 4 stars, and then, it all fell apart. Literally, Robert ended up in the swamp, hunting or wandering or something, and my interest literally imploded. It got to be a chore to pick it up to read. I had such high hopes, and I'm not sure why I just suddenly lost interest in Southern Cross the Dog but I did, and there was no saving it once it happened.
jodyjsperling's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t rate this novel more highly nor lowly. It lost my focus frequently, and I honestly couldn’t provide a synopsis if I wanted, though there were glimmers of something good.
smasler's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure which book some of the other reviewers read who are making comments such as, I didn't get it and no plot. Bill Cheng's first novel reads more like a masterpiece that should be assigned to college lit students. Southern Cross the Dog (which for some reason confused a lot of people)refers to Moorehead Mississippi, where the Southern railroad crosses the Yazoo line railroad line that the locals called the "Yellow Dog." It is the heart of the delta, the embodiment of the Blues. Cheng's prose is also the embodiment of the Blues, taking you inside the lives of the people who lived the lives that are the stuff of great tragedies but were seldom chronicled. Let's get this Asian American from Brooklyn writing about Black and Cajun lives during the 20's stuff out of the way. No one who writes in settings other than their own has lived the experience. It is the thing that makes this book remarkable in that the author disappears and the characters and their lives are so believable that they become real egos in your mind. Read this book if you love Southern fiction, the Blues, reading, great writing and the incredible promise of a new writer.
readbyryan's review
2.0
I read this book and I couldn't tell you the plot. First, there's barely any plot. Second, I don't care. I don't care about this book at all. I thought it was pretentious and annoying.
The author does not use quotation marks. I'm sure you're thinking "wow, that's so edgy! That's so bold!". It's neither edgy nor bold. It's stupid. It's stupid because I never knew if the lines were speech, thoughts or exposition. I also never knew who was speaking. Now, in general, this is a bad decision but for a masterful writer it could work really well. (Spoiler: Bill Cheng isn't a masterful writer.)
But Bill Cheng can write. He constructed some wonderful sentences. He knows how to write. But does he have anything to say? Based on "Southern Cross the Dog" I'd say no. This novel was like an experiment. I felt the author pulled out as many writing workshop techniques as he had at his disposal. Jumping in time? Check. Changing voice? Check. Not using quotation marks? Triple check. No matter the techniques or the actual writing, nothing happened in this book. NOTHING.
There is a part where one of the characters meet some cajuns. The author wrote the creole French language phonetically as English words. So "Rowbear" was the creole for "Robert" and instead of "c'est" it was "say". I HATED this. I thought it was so confusing and pulled me out of the story. I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on and what anyone was talking about I wanted to scream. I speak French fluently so maybe that was the issue, but I hated this section.
My other issue is that a Korean American in New York City wrote about black Americans in the Mississippi delta in the early 20th century. The author has never even been to Mississippi. I believe anyone should be able to write about any topic. However, writing about another time, place, or people can be risky, here the author does all three and doesn't do it well. I would have rather have a linear novel (sidebar: why do all these "literary" novels jump around all the time? sheesh) about the flood of 1927. I wish the author did some research and actually visited Mississippi to really get the tone of the novel right. I understand that the author loves blues music and that's great. That doesn't mean a whole novel can be written based on this.
This is a story that didn't need to be told. I didn't care about the characters or what scant story there was. I feel like this was just a failed experiment by a guy with an MFA to write as "literary" as possible.
PS. If you want another critical review, read Tony's. It's more enjoyable than the novel itself.
The author does not use quotation marks. I'm sure you're thinking "wow, that's so edgy! That's so bold!". It's neither edgy nor bold. It's stupid. It's stupid because I never knew if the lines were speech, thoughts or exposition. I also never knew who was speaking. Now, in general, this is a bad decision but for a masterful writer it could work really well. (Spoiler: Bill Cheng isn't a masterful writer.)
But Bill Cheng can write. He constructed some wonderful sentences. He knows how to write. But does he have anything to say? Based on "Southern Cross the Dog" I'd say no. This novel was like an experiment. I felt the author pulled out as many writing workshop techniques as he had at his disposal. Jumping in time? Check. Changing voice? Check. Not using quotation marks? Triple check. No matter the techniques or the actual writing, nothing happened in this book. NOTHING.
There is a part where one of the characters meet some cajuns. The author wrote the creole French language phonetically as English words. So "Rowbear" was the creole for "Robert" and instead of "c'est" it was "say". I HATED this. I thought it was so confusing and pulled me out of the story. I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on and what anyone was talking about I wanted to scream. I speak French fluently so maybe that was the issue, but I hated this section.
My other issue is that a Korean American in New York City wrote about black Americans in the Mississippi delta in the early 20th century. The author has never even been to Mississippi. I believe anyone should be able to write about any topic. However, writing about another time, place, or people can be risky, here the author does all three and doesn't do it well. I would have rather have a linear novel (sidebar: why do all these "literary" novels jump around all the time? sheesh) about the flood of 1927. I wish the author did some research and actually visited Mississippi to really get the tone of the novel right. I understand that the author loves blues music and that's great. That doesn't mean a whole novel can be written based on this.
This is a story that didn't need to be told. I didn't care about the characters or what scant story there was. I feel like this was just a failed experiment by a guy with an MFA to write as "literary" as possible.
PS. If you want another critical review, read Tony's. It's more enjoyable than the novel itself.
readbyryan's review against another edition
I read this book and I couldn't tell you the plot. First, there's barely any plot. Second, I don't care. I don't care about this book at all. I thought it was pretentious and annoying.
The author does not use quotation marks. I'm sure you're thinking "wow, that's so edgy! That's so bold!". It's neither edgy nor bold. It's stupid. It's stupid because I never knew if the lines were speech, thoughts or exposition. I also never knew who was speaking. Now, in general, this is a bad decision but for a masterful writer it could work really well. (Spoiler: Bill Cheng isn't a masterful writer.)
But Bill Cheng can write. He constructed some wonderful sentences. He knows how to write. But does he have anything to say? Based on "Southern Cross the Dog" I'd say no. This novel was like an experiment. I felt the author pulled out as many writing workshop techniques as he had at his disposal. Jumping in time? Check. Changing voice? Check. Not using quotation marks? Triple check. No matter the techniques or the actual writing, nothing happened in this book. NOTHING.
There is a part where one of the characters meet some cajuns. The author wrote the creole French language phonetically as English words. So "Rowbear" was the creole for "Robert" and instead of "c'est" it was "say". I HATED this. I thought it was so confusing and pulled me out of the story. I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on and what anyone was talking about I wanted to scream. I speak French fluently so maybe that was the issue, but I hated this section.
My other issue is that a Korean American in New York City wrote about black Americans in the Mississippi delta in the early 20th century. The author has never even been to Mississippi. I believe anyone should be able to write about any topic. However, writing about another time, place, or people can be risky, here the author does all three and doesn't do it well. I would have rather have a linear novel (sidebar: why do all these "literary" novels jump around all the time? sheesh) about the flood of 1927. I wish the author did some research and actually visited Mississippi to really get the tone of the novel right. I understand that the author loves blues music and that's great. That doesn't mean a whole novel can be written based on this.
This is a story that didn't need to be told. I didn't care about the characters or what scant story there was. I feel like this was just a failed experiment by a guy with an MFA to write as "literary" as possible.
PS. If you want another critical review, read Tony's. It's more enjoyable than the novel itself.
The author does not use quotation marks. I'm sure you're thinking "wow, that's so edgy! That's so bold!". It's neither edgy nor bold. It's stupid. It's stupid because I never knew if the lines were speech, thoughts or exposition. I also never knew who was speaking. Now, in general, this is a bad decision but for a masterful writer it could work really well. (Spoiler: Bill Cheng isn't a masterful writer.)
But Bill Cheng can write. He constructed some wonderful sentences. He knows how to write. But does he have anything to say? Based on "Southern Cross the Dog" I'd say no. This novel was like an experiment. I felt the author pulled out as many writing workshop techniques as he had at his disposal. Jumping in time? Check. Changing voice? Check. Not using quotation marks? Triple check. No matter the techniques or the actual writing, nothing happened in this book. NOTHING.
There is a part where one of the characters meet some cajuns. The author wrote the creole French language phonetically as English words. So "Rowbear" was the creole for "Robert" and instead of "c'est" it was "say". I HATED this. I thought it was so confusing and pulled me out of the story. I was so confused trying to figure out what was going on and what anyone was talking about I wanted to scream. I speak French fluently so maybe that was the issue, but I hated this section.
My other issue is that a Korean American in New York City wrote about black Americans in the Mississippi delta in the early 20th century. The author has never even been to Mississippi. I believe anyone should be able to write about any topic. However, writing about another time, place, or people can be risky, here the author does all three and doesn't do it well. I would have rather have a linear novel (sidebar: why do all these "literary" novels jump around all the time? sheesh) about the flood of 1927. I wish the author did some research and actually visited Mississippi to really get the tone of the novel right. I understand that the author loves blues music and that's great. That doesn't mean a whole novel can be written based on this.
This is a story that didn't need to be told. I didn't care about the characters or what scant story there was. I feel like this was just a failed experiment by a guy with an MFA to write as "literary" as possible.
PS. If you want another critical review, read Tony's. It's more enjoyable than the novel itself.
seebrandyread's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Southern Cross the Dog is a fever dream of a novel, taking you into the heart of Mississippi and set between 1927 to 1941. It starts with young Robert as his family is torn apart by tragedy and then by nature with the Great Mississippi flood. What follows is a Southern Gothic Odyssey of Robert wandering from place to place and person to person searching for the unknown.
Bill Cheng has the Southern Gothic atmosphere down pat. The heat, the wildlife, the terrible and stunning changes in weather. Evil or at least chaos lurks behind every character in a way that would make Flannery O'Connor proud (or jealous). Unlike O'Connor, Cheng muddles his characters' drives too much. I don't know if Cheng himself doesn't know their motives or if they're so obvious to him he thinks they'll be obvious to the reader. Perhaps the problem is that we spend such a short amount of time with quite a few characters, but only follow Robert long enough to truly get a feel for him.
Blues music inspired much of this story in both style and substance, but unlike the music, the novel left me with much more style than substance. Some passages unfurl beautifully right in the gut, but certain syntactical configurations repeat to the point of distraction. It's true that patterns exist in blues music, ones that make blues recognizable, but most listeners would tire of listening to this same type of song over and over. Maybe I read this book too quickly and in too large chunks.
I read in an interview that Cheng, from Brooklyn, had never been to Mississippi before writing this book. I was impressed by how well he was able to capture the South through research and imagination. But at the same time, I also got the sense that the writer was fascinated or enchanted by the place but didn't necessarily understand it. It's too full of caricaturized shady preachers and juke joints and abusive white men which work in music but not as well in something longer, and this book contained enough characters and events for one 2 or 3 times as long.
Pretty much every character meets a bleak end, even those who survive. The tone remains the same throughout, giving the reader little to no reprieve from its oppression. Even when someone finds a little joy, you know more pain and violence wait around the corner. Though every Southern Gothic writer may not apply it, one aspect of the southern spirit that I feel is often overlooked is humor which is necessary in the darkest of places.
Bill Cheng has the Southern Gothic atmosphere down pat. The heat, the wildlife, the terrible and stunning changes in weather. Evil or at least chaos lurks behind every character in a way that would make Flannery O'Connor proud (or jealous). Unlike O'Connor, Cheng muddles his characters' drives too much. I don't know if Cheng himself doesn't know their motives or if they're so obvious to him he thinks they'll be obvious to the reader. Perhaps the problem is that we spend such a short amount of time with quite a few characters, but only follow Robert long enough to truly get a feel for him.
Blues music inspired much of this story in both style and substance, but unlike the music, the novel left me with much more style than substance. Some passages unfurl beautifully right in the gut, but certain syntactical configurations repeat to the point of distraction. It's true that patterns exist in blues music, ones that make blues recognizable, but most listeners would tire of listening to this same type of song over and over. Maybe I read this book too quickly and in too large chunks.
I read in an interview that Cheng, from Brooklyn, had never been to Mississippi before writing this book. I was impressed by how well he was able to capture the South through research and imagination. But at the same time, I also got the sense that the writer was fascinated or enchanted by the place but didn't necessarily understand it. It's too full of caricaturized shady preachers and juke joints and abusive white men which work in music but not as well in something longer, and this book contained enough characters and events for one 2 or 3 times as long.
Pretty much every character meets a bleak end, even those who survive. The tone remains the same throughout, giving the reader little to no reprieve from its oppression. Even when someone finds a little joy, you know more pain and violence wait around the corner. Though every Southern Gothic writer may not apply it, one aspect of the southern spirit that I feel is often overlooked is humor which is necessary in the darkest of places.
ssminski's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book in a giveaway on goodreads from the publisher. It is not a genre I normally approach, but I am happy I did.
Cheng's novel follows Robert Lee Chatham, a young man who loses everything during a flood in Mississippi. In his journeys, the reader meets all sorts of colorful characters, from enterprising whores to French/Indian trappers, innocence and sanity lost. Robert comes to think that he is marked by the Devil from all of the horrors that happen in his life, even though most of the tragedies were not related to him.
To begin, I enjoyed the prose the most. It was engaging and challenging, and brought the characters to life. This novel, even while being set up by a series of events, is still clearly character driven. Every person that Robert meets has a story that compels the reader to want to know more. My favorite was definitely Frankie, a French trapper who defies all odds and survives.
That being said, the narrative jumps around too much for my liking, more in the way of being "hip" and modern than for any real purpose to the plot. Not only does the novel jump from narrator to narrator with no explanation, but it also jumps in time, often jarring the reader out of their experience. It is certainly not a book you can just read for casual enjoyment, which is both a pro and a con.
All in all, I loved the writing, but never really warmed up the Robert, even though I followed his story. I also had a hard time finding the "point" to the novel, except for a mental exercise and interesting character portraits. Robert's story is never really resolved, which left me unsatisfied and feeling like the story was not worth investing in. A good read for the prose, but not for the narrative.
Cheng's novel follows Robert Lee Chatham, a young man who loses everything during a flood in Mississippi. In his journeys, the reader meets all sorts of colorful characters, from enterprising whores to French/Indian trappers, innocence and sanity lost. Robert comes to think that he is marked by the Devil from all of the horrors that happen in his life, even though most of the tragedies were not related to him.
To begin, I enjoyed the prose the most. It was engaging and challenging, and brought the characters to life. This novel, even while being set up by a series of events, is still clearly character driven. Every person that Robert meets has a story that compels the reader to want to know more. My favorite was definitely Frankie, a French trapper who defies all odds and survives.
That being said, the narrative jumps around too much for my liking, more in the way of being "hip" and modern than for any real purpose to the plot. Not only does the novel jump from narrator to narrator with no explanation, but it also jumps in time, often jarring the reader out of their experience. It is certainly not a book you can just read for casual enjoyment, which is both a pro and a con.
All in all, I loved the writing, but never really warmed up the Robert, even though I followed his story. I also had a hard time finding the "point" to the novel, except for a mental exercise and interesting character portraits. Robert's story is never really resolved, which left me unsatisfied and feeling like the story was not worth investing in. A good read for the prose, but not for the narrative.
mattsjaeger's review
3.0
2.5 stars. I appreciate the fine writing but couldn't connect with the meandering story.
sammyseabright's review
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Sexual violence
iceangel9's review
3.0
A strange and compelling novel. The young children and their families are caught in a great flood in 1927. Robert Chatham, and the two others, embark on an odyssey which leads them throughout the South of the late 1920s to the early 1940s. This book is a powerful look at what it was to be black and poor in the Deep South during the Great Depression. When Robert is brought back together with his two friends at the end of the novel, it is distressing and sad.