A review by ceallaighsbooks
Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"Pretend that this is the time of miracles and we believed in them. I watched the owner for a long time, and I think I can fly that balloon. The first time I saw him do it, it looked like a miracle, but the more and more I saw it, the more ordinary it became." — from “A Wall of Fire Rising”

TITLE—Krik? Krak!
AUTHOR—Edwidge Danticat
PUBLISHED—1995
PUBLISHER—Soho Press

GENRE—literary fiction, short stories
SETTING—Haiti
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—stories as memory—memory as inheritance, Haitian history, immigration & refugee experience, parenthood, Caribbean folklore, matriarchal legacies, great/grand/mother-daughter-sister family relationships, soucouyant, funeral & death rituals & traditions, love, colonialism, vodou & mission Christianity, dreams, Creole language, riddles

“They say behind the mountains are more mountains. Now I know it's true. I also know there are timeless waters, endless seas, and lots of people in this world whose names don't matter to anyone but themselves.” — from “Children of the Sea”

My thoughts:
This was a perfect short story collection. I absolutely loved how all of the stories were connected to each other through the characters in all of the other stories and how that played into the theme of the way stories connect us all and especially diasporic families and cultures. It was just such a powerful reading experience to see some of the most upsetting topics and imagery all written with such a deep tenderness and compassion. I already want to reread it.

I loved all of the stories but my especial favorites were: “A Wall of Fire Rising”, “Seeing Things Simply”, “Caroline’s Wedding”, and “Epilogue: Women Like Us.” I was surprised to find that the stories that started out being the hardest for me to read ended up becoming my favorites.

I would recommend this book to readers who love elevated, classics-style literary writing (which some might consider slow) about deeply human, emotional topics. This book is best read with a box of tissues. 🥺😢🤧

Final note: Can’t wait to read more from Danticat!

“These were our bedtime stories. Tales 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.” — from “Caroline’s Wedding”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season: Summer

CW // violence, death, child death, prison, lots of upsetting imagery & themes, suicide, rape animal death & cruelty (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—
  • BLUE by Emmelie Prophète
  • TELL MY HORSE by Zora Neale Hurston—TBR
  • ANNIE JOHN by Jamaica Kincaid
  • THE CHARM BUYERS by Lilian Howan
  • Toni Morrison
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