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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
1st Read for the National Caribbean American Heritage Month.
"Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light. Our mothers were the embers and we were the sparks. Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze."
This was an unexpectedly wonderful read. I am a sucker for short story collections in general, but what I appreciate more than anything else is an author's ability to convince the reader that there is a real connection between all of the stories, apart from the obvious fact that they all share the same physical text. And oh boy, did Edwidge Danticat manage to convince me.
Although some of the stories are much more convincing, powerful and moving than others, they all deal quite beautifully with the concept of woman, both within the Haitian tradition and a much broader, universal point of view. They feature the figure of the woman in its many sides, now portrayed as pillar of the family, now as mother, wife, prisoner, daughter, sister and writer. The many women gradually introduced with each story invade the text with all their strength, they burst in rather than meekly knocking, they trample on the ground rather than treading softly, they scream and cry rather than whispering gently. And once Danticat lets them in, the echo of their voices keeps resonating across the entire text, each new woman a reincarnation of the one who came before, thus creating that strong thread that ultimately connects them all.
"Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light. Our mothers were the embers and we were the sparks. Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze."
This was an unexpectedly wonderful read. I am a sucker for short story collections in general, but what I appreciate more than anything else is an author's ability to convince the reader that there is a real connection between all of the stories, apart from the obvious fact that they all share the same physical text. And oh boy, did Edwidge Danticat manage to convince me.
Although some of the stories are much more convincing, powerful and moving than others, they all deal quite beautifully with the concept of woman, both within the Haitian tradition and a much broader, universal point of view. They feature the figure of the woman in its many sides, now portrayed as pillar of the family, now as mother, wife, prisoner, daughter, sister and writer. The many women gradually introduced with each story invade the text with all their strength, they burst in rather than meekly knocking, they trample on the ground rather than treading softly, they scream and cry rather than whispering gently. And once Danticat lets them in, the echo of their voices keeps resonating across the entire text, each new woman a reincarnation of the one who came before, thus creating that strong thread that ultimately connects them all.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“These were our bedtime stories. Takes that haunted our parents and made them laugh at the same time. We never understood them until we were fully grown and they became our sole inheritance.”
This collection. Insert adjectives of wonder, of pain, of grief, of joy, of bewilderment, of awe, of heartbreak but ultimately of brilliance shining forth from that resilient people who still stand with their chests forward from the island of Haiti.
Each story is separate yet connected, eventually forcing you to step back and view the larger brushstrokes of the canvas Danticat has masterfully created. She grips you from the get with “Children of the Sea,” the story of two lovers forced apart as one flees by boat to Miami and the other remains behind at the mercy of the military occupation. In “A Wall of Fire Rising,” a father is forced to confront the fact that in Haiti he will never do anything more than wait in line for a job to clean toilets but dreams of flying a hot air balloon - yet it’s easier to take off than it is to land and the stories resolution left me with chills.
For myself, those stories were the highlights of the collection and I kept waiting for the rest to blow me away. However, Danticat shows that it is also in the quiet moments that Haitians are resilient. It is not just the awful and the macabre that we should focus on but in the small every day trials and joys - and that is where Danticat excels.
i’m not a short stories person, but this book was excellent. i read it for my global literature class, and while that may have taken away some of the enjoyment, i found myself getting emotional from these stories - i had a crying streak for a few chapters. krik? krak! was really, really moving and a great read
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is an excellent, heart-breaking collection of short stories. All of the books by Edwidge Danticat that I've read, including all of the short stories in this particular collection, are touched by death in a manner that usually feels like a punch in the gut. Danticat is a talented author, very skilled in her craft. Though these stories are not my particular favorite, I appreciate the artistry and recommend this book (and many of her others) to anyone who appreciates the well-written word.
reflective
sad
I read Create Dangerously first and really liked it. These stories were good but something didn't click for me, they just didn't reach in and grab me like I was hoping they would? I find it hard to judge short story collections now after reading one that blew me away and I'm trying hard not to compare other ones to it but it's difficult when you've found a collection that really moves you not to expect that from each subsequent one. The strongest stories for me dealt more with the women who speak in questions, can fly, the ones that dealt with the Haitian supernatural. I also liked that they were all loosely linked as (most of) the women in the stories were related in some way. The epilogue was really lovely, the last and longest story as well. Perhaps I would have liked the others had they been fleshed out a bit more? So many ended so abruptly. This is a really all over the place review. I think the collection is a great read for those who want to learn a little bit about Haiti and they are some solid stories overall.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Really enjoyed this!