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jada's review
3.0
I have about 50 pages left but I'm calling it quits because I don't have the will to finish it. I think it says something about the overall quality of the book when the preface was the most interesting part. The strong preface combined with the great first story gave me high hopes, but they were ultimately dashed as I was hit with like five stories which were so boring they could only technically be considered stories. Some of them didn't really have a plot, they were more of just describing a scene, and even some of those that did have plots were so mid I had to wonder why bother.
It wasn't all bad though, I was exposed to a wide variety of caribbean writers, and there were some amazing stories in here, which were the only thing keeping me reading. I also found that the translated works tended to be more interesting than the ones written originally in English.
The stories I liked were
1. some people are meant to live alone—frank collymore
2. rosena on the mountain—rene depestre
3. buried statues—antonio benitez rojo
4. the nightwatchman's occurrence book—vs naipaul
5. leaving this island place—austin clarke
6. the breadnut and the breadfruit—marys conde
7. do angels wear brassieres—olive senior
8. goodbye mother—reinaldo arenas
9. the inheritance of my father—astrid roemer
10.nineteen thirty-seven—edwidge danticat
It wasn't all bad though, I was exposed to a wide variety of caribbean writers, and there were some amazing stories in here, which were the only thing keeping me reading. I also found that the translated works tended to be more interesting than the ones written originally in English.
The stories I liked were
1. some people are meant to live alone—frank collymore
2. rosena on the mountain—rene depestre
3. buried statues—antonio benitez rojo
4. the nightwatchman's occurrence book—vs naipaul
5. leaving this island place—austin clarke
6. the breadnut and the breadfruit—marys conde
7. do angels wear brassieres—olive senior
8. goodbye mother—reinaldo arenas
9. the inheritance of my father—astrid roemer
10.nineteen thirty-seven—edwidge danticat
tawallah's review
4.0
Most of these short stories reflect the diversity of the Caribbean. It includes not only the English speaking writers or poets but also those from the French, Spanish and Dutch speaking islands. Most of these authors are well known. And most of these stories are top notch.
The editors chose to arrange these 52 short stories based on the birth dates of writers. But the quality of writing is top notch. The stories can be a simple tale of the influence of family, the distant effect of war, the impact of Panama Canal or the World wars to the effect of hurricanes on a nation or role of immigration.
If you want one book that truly reflects the Caribbean in its diversity in people and culture, then this is the pick. This is definitely a collection you never knew you needed.
The editors chose to arrange these 52 short stories based on the birth dates of writers. But the quality of writing is top notch. The stories can be a simple tale of the influence of family, the distant effect of war, the impact of Panama Canal or the World wars to the effect of hurricanes on a nation or role of immigration.
If you want one book that truly reflects the Caribbean in its diversity in people and culture, then this is the pick. This is definitely a collection you never knew you needed.
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