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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
This is the fourth book I've read by Danticat. I am a big fan of her writing. I love how she makes the characters really come alive. This one, I listened to as an audiobook, and since all the chapters are only loosely connected, I struggled a bit to put the pieces together while I was listening since I couldn't flip back and forth to remind myself who's who. That being said, I also really enjoyed the audiobook version because the narrator did a great job of performing each of the different character's voices so that it made them seem even more alive than if I had just read them on the page. This is the kind of book I'd love to discuss in a book club setting, because I feel like Danticat leaves a lot up to the reader's interpretation. I wasn't sure exactly how I was supposed to feel at the end, but I kind of appreciate the ambiguity and that Danticat forces me to think deeply about what the book means rather than handing over the answers in a nicely wrapped package.
The magical worlds and writings of Edwidge Dandicat. She is so brilliant there is many stories told within one. It is beautiful and tragic and complex. In the end it is about family and love. Determining your place in home and defining what home actually means. How fluid it is and the myths we create to survive.
A touching story about a girl that discoveres her father was not who she thought he was. But then again - may be he is. Does past events define who we are?
Review says this book moves "seamlessly" between past/present, NY and Haiti. I didn't find it so seamless but I did enjoy the book. Could have used a little more closure on the main character's story too.
This woman writes really beautifully. This collection of linked stories explores the relationship between hunter and prey, during the dictatorship in Haiti. The main protagonist is one of the hunters, a man who commits terrible atrocities before he makes a mistake in following an order, and has to run from his masters. At first, he changes his story, so that it’s believed he was a victim of the regime, but eventually he has to confess – and the first story in this book is his confession to his grown daughter.
The protagonists of these stories are the many people who surround this man – his victims and their survivors, the people who fight against the dictatorship, the ones who abet it, and the bystanders. Danticat moves artfully through time and space - through this shadowy time in Haiti, among immigrants in the US, and sometimes back to Haiti in search of answers. There is the truth of what happens, and then there are the tales that people tell, the ways they live with the roles they’ve played.
The protagonists of these stories are the many people who surround this man – his victims and their survivors, the people who fight against the dictatorship, the ones who abet it, and the bystanders. Danticat moves artfully through time and space - through this shadowy time in Haiti, among immigrants in the US, and sometimes back to Haiti in search of answers. There is the truth of what happens, and then there are the tales that people tell, the ways they live with the roles they’ve played.
Edwidge Danticat is such a gifted story teller. This book made me want to read every single thing she's ever written.
4.5
Danticat is a powerful writer who tackles intense topics. The Dew Breaker is no exception. This novel blends and blurs the idea of short stories and novels and succeeds wonderfully. The different POVs move through space and time but stay within the history and culture of Haitians and Haitian Americans and that is part of what unites the chapters.
The violent history of Haiti's dictators and the impact they had on generations is explored, as are the ideas of repentance, reconciliation, and what freedom means. This is not an easy book to read, and the people portrayed are complex and flawed. Danticat paints these intensely colored miniature portraits that capture the essence and certain details of the lives she writes about, but we never get the full story.
The one flaw was that, whether by nature of the format or because some portraits just gave that tiny bit more that let us empathize or glean a bit of understanding, some fell short of the majority... and those left me wanting that tiny bit more.
The flaw is a small one, and the work is intense and horrifying and beautiful.
Danticat is a powerful writer who tackles intense topics. The Dew Breaker is no exception. This novel blends and blurs the idea of short stories and novels and succeeds wonderfully. The different POVs move through space and time but stay within the history and culture of Haitians and Haitian Americans and that is part of what unites the chapters.
The violent history of Haiti's dictators and the impact they had on generations is explored, as are the ideas of repentance, reconciliation, and what freedom means. This is not an easy book to read, and the people portrayed are complex and flawed. Danticat paints these intensely colored miniature portraits that capture the essence and certain details of the lives she writes about, but we never get the full story.
The one flaw was that, whether by nature of the format or because some portraits just gave that tiny bit more that let us empathize or glean a bit of understanding, some fell short of the majority... and those left me wanting that tiny bit more.
The flaw is a small one, and the work is intense and horrifying and beautiful.
Danticat is one of my favorite authors. And yet, I struggle to characterize the complexity, pain, and joy found in this collection of short stories. It is worth the read, and one that I will return to again and again over the years, but is difficult to convey in MY words what makes it so special. The fact that the stories seem to be independent of each other until the end, or the multiple perspectives (POV) offered, or the emotions conveyed through descriptions of objects all work together to make this another thoughtful work of hers. My favorite character of hers will always be Amabelle, in The Farming of Bones, and the lyric poetry in that novel always sucks me in, but this collection of short stories is also staggering in its ability to capture pain and emotion and regret and everything that makes us human.
This book had some good moments, but it was difficult to follow. It felt choppy. I really enjoy Caribbean novels as I am drawn to it as I have family in Jamaica. Haiti is an especially compelling nation as it was the first Black, independent nation in the western hemisphere. I really expected more.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes