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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I initially had to read this book for school and began rather begrudgingly as one does for school-assigned readings. However, as I read and discovered the ways each of. the stories fit into each, akin to a puzzle I was hooked. Well-written and enticing, it's a great read
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The more I read Danticat, the more I declare her a literary treasure!! My favourite stories in Krik? Krak! were
Children of the Sea
Night Women
Between the Pool and the Gardenias
New York Day Women
Children of the Sea hit me extremely hard (as I type this I'm tearing up). Why? Well besides the tragedy of the story Danticat dragged the fuck out of The Bahamas (as she should though).
"Someone has a transistor and sometimes we listen to radio from the Bahamas. They treat Haitians like dogs in the Bahamas, a woman says. To them, we are not human. Even though their music sounds like ours. Their people look like ours. Even though we have the same African fathers who probably crossed these same seas together."
I couldn't help but reflect on the Xenophobia that continues to pervade our nation as The Bahamas was mentioned in other stories as well. Ignorance is not realizing how much immigrants have helped to build this nation (The Bahamas). To the Haitian community, I see you.
Back to the book - Danticat writes such impactful stories. I teared up for most of them. Weaving together the subtle threads of connection in each of the stories had me gasping when I realized that the characters were connected! I enjoyed that ALOT, it shows Danticat's literary prowess. I could rave and rave but I'll just say this: read the book. Danticat is too good of a writer for you to not be reading her.
Children of the Sea
Night Women
Between the Pool and the Gardenias
New York Day Women
Children of the Sea hit me extremely hard (as I type this I'm tearing up). Why? Well besides the tragedy of the story Danticat dragged the fuck out of The Bahamas (as she should though).
"Someone has a transistor and sometimes we listen to radio from the Bahamas. They treat Haitians like dogs in the Bahamas, a woman says. To them, we are not human. Even though their music sounds like ours. Their people look like ours. Even though we have the same African fathers who probably crossed these same seas together."
I couldn't help but reflect on the Xenophobia that continues to pervade our nation as The Bahamas was mentioned in other stories as well. Ignorance is not realizing how much immigrants have helped to build this nation (The Bahamas). To the Haitian community, I see you.
Back to the book - Danticat writes such impactful stories. I teared up for most of them. Weaving together the subtle threads of connection in each of the stories had me gasping when I realized that the characters were connected! I enjoyed that ALOT, it shows Danticat's literary prowess. I could rave and rave but I'll just say this: read the book. Danticat is too good of a writer for you to not be reading her.
This is my first introduction to Danticat and I'm not sure what I feel about this. I listened to this as an audiobook and it took me quite some time to realize that these were short stories. This will definitely be a re-read once the library reopens.
However, my favorite short stories were:
Children of the Sea
Nineteen Thirty-Seven
Night Women.
However, my favorite short stories were:
Children of the Sea
Nineteen Thirty-Seven
Night Women.
Krik? Krak! is a collection of entwined short stories about Haitians, especially Haitian women.
I came across this book while looking for books based on Haiti. The title caught all my attention, strange words that sound funny. Only after I started reading the book did I find that there is nothing funny in it.
Through the stories, Danticat gives the readers a glimpse of the pain that Haitians suffered due to the complicated politics. Individually the stories cover some particular characters and their traumatic experiences. These stories cover everything from the miserable life in Haiti to the adventurous fleeing to other nations and life as an immigrant. The collection as a whole gives the feel of a novel that covers all the shades of the hardships that Haitians bored. For someone like me, who knows nothing much about Haiti and its history, this book would serve as an incredible start.
The stories are heartbreaking, but Danticat crafted it in such a way that it's hard to stop yourself from getting immersed in it. The snippets of Haitian culture, tradition, and superstitions added to the beauty of the stories. Last but not least is the poetic, well-turned language; I don't have enough words to express how I loved the writing style.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I came across this book while looking for books based on Haiti. The title caught all my attention, strange words that sound funny. Only after I started reading the book did I find that there is nothing funny in it.
Through the stories, Danticat gives the readers a glimpse of the pain that Haitians suffered due to the complicated politics. Individually the stories cover some particular characters and their traumatic experiences. These stories cover everything from the miserable life in Haiti to the adventurous fleeing to other nations and life as an immigrant. The collection as a whole gives the feel of a novel that covers all the shades of the hardships that Haitians bored. For someone like me, who knows nothing much about Haiti and its history, this book would serve as an incredible start.
The stories are heartbreaking, but Danticat crafted it in such a way that it's hard to stop yourself from getting immersed in it. The snippets of Haitian culture, tradition, and superstitions added to the beauty of the stories. Last but not least is the poetic, well-turned language; I don't have enough words to express how I loved the writing style.
My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Enjoyed everything about this. I think what's holding me back from a 5-star rating is the short story format, and that I didn't get enough time with any of the characters to care about them as much as I have w other books I have rated more highly. But I may come back and change my mind.
All of the stories had wonderfully pacing, vibrant and varied characters and tones, but still managed to interconnect. I loved getting a glimpse at Haitian culture, but did not feel like I needed to know a lot of context to understand what was going on (although I am certainly interested to learn more).
All of the stories had wonderfully pacing, vibrant and varied characters and tones, but still managed to interconnect. I loved getting a glimpse at Haitian culture, but did not feel like I needed to know a lot of context to understand what was going on (although I am certainly interested to learn more).
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
So skilfully crafted as an overall collection. It covered so many experiences and such tragedies, but I felt their voices as one.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you want to understand the modern world, turn to Haiti (https://www.academia.edu/11660723/Telling_Histories_A_Conversation_with_Laurent_Dubois_and_Greg_Grandin). Danticat, in these stories, will give you an excellent idea of where the people are now. It helps that she writes so well, and that the stories are so good as just stories.