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The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is home to historic, ongoing strife between two countries deeply divided by race, language, and history yet forced constantly into confrontation by their shared geography. In her first book, American journalist Michele Wucker reports from both Haiti and the Dominican Republic on the complex relations between these two cultures and sheds light on the sources of their struggles both in their island home and in the United States.
This book is charged from the start with the violence and posturing of blood sport, as Wucker observes her first Haitian cockfight: "The air cracks with the impact of stiffened feathers as each bird tries to push the other to the ground. Around the ring, the Haitian men shout to one another and wave dirty wads of gourdes in the air, seeking bets.... Soon, the feathers of both cocks are slick with blood." Popular in both countries, these fights become a totemic image for the author, who finds in them, as in the many clashes between Hispaniola's two cultures, "both division and community, opposite sides of the same coin." This is a fine historical primer, buoyed along by Wucker's graceful, observant prose style. --Maria Dolan
Book Description
Like two roosters in a fighting arena, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are encircled by barriers of geography and poverty. They co-inhabit the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, but their histories are as deeply divided as their cultures: one French-speaking and black, one Spanish-speaking and mulatto. Yet, despite their antagonism, the two countries share a national symbol in the rooster--and a fundamental activity and favorite sport in the cockfight. In this book, Michele Wucker asks: "If the symbols that dominate a culture accurately express a nation's character, what kind of a country draws so heavily on images of cockfighting and roosters, birds bred to be aggressive? What does it mean when not one but two countries that are neighbors choose these symbols? Why do the cocks fight, and why do humans watch and glorify them?"
Wucker studies the cockfight ritual in considerable detail, focusing as much on the customs and histories of these two nations as on their contemporary lifestyles and politics. Her well-cited and comprehensive volume also explores the relations of each nation toward the United States, which twice invaded both Haiti (in 1915 and 1994) and the Dominican Republic (in 1916 and 1965) during the twentieth century. Just as the owners of gamecocks contrive battles between their birds as a way of playing out human conflicts, Wucker argues, Haitian and Dominican leaders often stir up nationalist disputes and exaggerate their cultural and racial differences as a way of deflecting other kinds of turmoil. Thus Why the Cocks Fight highlights the factors in Caribbean history that still affect Hispaniola today, including the often contradictory policies of the U.S.
Customer Reviews:
I'll take this explaination for now.......2007-05-18
I've been born and raised in Haiti. A few months back I've looked at the reviews of some Haitian and Dominicans, and I thought maybe this book was bias. I relunctantly purchase it because its always good to listen to one side of the story. This book is superb. The arguments which I believe the author produced to explain the situation in haiti and St. Domingo makes perfect sense. Michele Wucker's argument falls hand in hand with that of a Haitian Author called Nicholas Jallot in his book "histoire secrete d'haiti". Although I am skeptical to read what I havent researched myself, I still give this book a 5 star
An Eye Opening experience.......2007-01-14
In reading this book, I learned many more things that I have not known. The island with all of it inhabitants shares a rich and tortured history. There seem to be many uncovered facts in this book, such as the Dominican Republic actually obtained it's Independence from Haiti, that Haiti actually took the steps that eventually liberated the entire island. Though much of the time seems to have been spent in the Dominican Republic with many oblique references to Haiti, a fair amount of that time illuminating the perverse dislike each has for the other, in some ways the idea of blaming the party that for obvious reasons is unable to counteract the argument. For the most part this book illuminates much more of the history between the Haitians and the Dominicans, more and more about the immigration issues that seem to rear its erstwhile head in many places, and why folks seem to be driven to improve upon their personal life spaces. How some of these enclaves come to be, and remain that way. Little is discussed about Arristede and many of his predecessors, the wasting of the land itself and how it came to be that many Haitians would eventually choose to live in the Dominican Republic or the United States, or why Haiti is the most impoverished country in this hemisphere by far.
Why the Cock Fights..........2007-01-10
Well written and informative, an excellent perspective into the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. A must for anyone interested in traveling to Hispanola with an interest beyond the fancy, secluded, all inclusive resorts!
Splendid overview of the complex, convoluted histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.......2006-06-15
Along the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic, one can still see the scars of a cataclysmic event in Earth's distant past; a vivid reminder of the large asteroid which collided with planet Earth 65 million years ago, leaving behind a vast impact crater whose outline is now part of Mexico's Yucatan coast. Nearly twenty years ago, Alan Hildebrand, a young Canadian geologist I knew in graduate school, stumbled upon these scars; thick layers of sedimentary rock encasing haphazardly strewn boulders and other rocky debris that were deposited by tidal waves flooding the island soon after the impact; an impact responsible for the extinction of approximately 40 percent of Earth's animals, including nonavian dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops (He would also rediscover the impact crater at Chicxulub, Yucatan, Mexico, relying on geological maps and seismic data obtained from Pemex, Mexico's nationalized oil company.). In "Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola", journalist Michele Wucker tells with ample brevity and poignant prose, the cataclysmic history of the humans living on Hispaniola, an engrossing saga replete with tragic events which are as memorable in their own right as the asteroid impact from 65 million years ago. It is an engrossing saga told well by Michele Wucker, who has written the best account I have come across of Hispaniola's 19th and 20th Century history.
Wucker uses the popular Caribbean blood sport, cock fighting, as an apt analogy for the complex, convoluted, histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, emphasizing their cultural similarities, which are too subtle to notice to the untrained observer, rather than their perceived differences due to race and language. She begins and closes the book with an extensive discussion of cock fighting, occasionally interrupting her narrative to elaborate and to reflect upon it further, as though the book itself is a literary version of a cock fight, with the reader engrossed with bloody, vicious fighting in the arena. Soon she describes Columbus's discovery of his favorite Caribbean island, and then Spain's brutal enslavement of Hispaniola's indigenous peoples, most notably the Taino, decimated quickly by both arduous labor and deadly diseases like smallpox.
The most poignant chapter in Wucker's terse tome ("Rio Massacre") describes the 1937 genocide committed against Haitians residing in the Dominician Republic (Itself the setting for Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat's emotionally gripping novel "The Farming of Bones" which was published shortly before Wucker's book.) orchestrated by Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic's dictator (This bloody episode in Hispaniolan history still casts a dark shadow over relations between both countries; without question it is the pivotal, defining moment in their 20th Century history.). Wucker recounts the island's bloody 19th Century history as if these events were natural precursors to the Rio Massacre genocide, emphasizing the deep-seated hostility and distrust of Dominicians and Haitians towards each other, which regretfully still persists today (Both this hostility and distrust appears to be inexplicable and inexcusable, since both peoples share a strong passion for cock fighting and traditional folk music, and worship the indigenous Hispaniolan faith known as Vodou; all of which are virtually identical in both countries.). She writes passionately about battles and invasions and border disputes which linger well into the 20th Century.
Dictator Joaquin Balaguer is undoubtedly the most important political figure in recent Dominican history; it is therefore no surprise that the latter half of "Why the Cocks Fight" revolves around the nearly forty years he was involved in the country's political life as either its de facto or de jure ruler. A less bloodthirsty figure than his mentor Rafael Trujillo, Balaguer was still nearly as ruthless, but willing to hold onto power by working behind the scenes, even when he was technically not ruling the country (For another, unique perspective on Balaguer, distinguished ecologist Jared Diamond portrays him as an accidental environmentalist in Chapter 11 of "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed", crediting him for preserving much of the Dominician Republic's forest, in stark contrast to the environmental destruction that occurred in Haiti.). Much to my surprise, Wucker discusses the rise of the Dominican-American community in the United States, most notably in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, but this is a sensible diversion, noting the significant role played by this community in its homeland's recent political history (Some other reviewers have questioned why Wucker has devoted less space to recent Haitian history, but in her defense, I suspect it is because Balaguer and his dictatorial regime proved to be more interesting than the equally harsh rule of Haiti by Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, and his son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.).
Wucker concludes in the preface of "Why the Cocks Fight" with: "If the wealthiest countries of the world claim that their economies cannot support more people, imagine the effect of a massive flow of poor and hungry immigrants from one of the world's most impoverished nations, Haiti, to a country that is not much better off. As vast as the differences are between the United States and Hispaniola, the Dominicans' strategy is the same as ours. The struggles between Dominicans and Haitians are not just theirs. They are ours, too." This is an apt statement of her raison d'etre behind "Why the Cocks Fight", amply noting throughout it how the Dominicians have sought to restrict Haitian immigration into their country, with the Rio Massacre genocide as the most infamous example. But I beg to differ with her conclusion that the struggles of the peoples of Hispaniola are ours too; since the United States of America is too much of a polyglot ethnic mix of a nation to conform neatly to such a stereotype (But I will admit that possible exceptions may include both black and white race relations in the Deep South and between Mexicans and white Americans along La Frontera (the Southwest borderlands between California and Texas).).
Did Ms Wucker ever visit Haiti?.......2006-05-27
An authoritative-sounding reviewer above, speaking from deep in the American Midwest, suggests that this author's knowledge of Haiti was based on occasional day trips. Without citing any experience of his own, he calls hers into question.
Let me set the record - and that Kansan Scarecrow - straight.
I'm a former editor of the Puerto Plata News, a now defunct sister publication of the Santo Domingo News. While I held that position - living there for three and a half-years - Ms Wucker held the same position at SDN.
In 1991, when I returned to New York, I became an editor and columnist for the Spanish-language newspaper "Listin USA." I set in motion the hiring of Ms. Wucker as our Foreign Editor because we badly needed coverage of the events unfolding in Haiti where I knew her to be a regular visitor with connections at the top level in the Haitian Government - and well respected throughout all levels of that complex society. She speaks fluent Spanish, excellent Creole (the common language of Haiti) and a more than passable version of French.
During her employment Listin sent her on an extended assignment to Haiti and she provided us with coverage that far exceeded that of any other US-based newspaper. Anyone who read her dispatches had an excellent understanding of what was happening there. She later returned on her own when she was working on this book.
Now, in 2006, Ms. Wucker is a highly respected international reporter for Forbes Magazine and has become a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute.
I have never met a single Dominican or Haitian who, having read her book, has had anything but praise for how well she this volume explains the past, present and potential future of those two cultures.
Book Description
This is a compelling behind-the-scenes account of the extraordinary Castro brothers and the impending dynastic succession of Fidel's younger brother Raul. Brian Latell, the CIA analyst who has followed Castro since the sixties, gives an unprecedented view into Fidel and Raul's remarkable relationship, revealing how they have collaborated in policy making, divided responsibilities, and resolved disagreements for more than forty years--a challenge to the notion that Fidel always acts alone. Latell has had more access to the brothers than anyone else in this country, and his briefs to the CIA informed much of U.S. policy. Based on his knowledge of Raul Castro, Latell makes projections on what kind of leader Raul would be and how the shift in power might influence U.S.-Cuban relations.
Customer Reviews:
Not much about Raul.......2007-09-09
This book is mostly about Fidel. There are only two chapters that hone in on Raul. Even Latell, who surely knows more than he could reveal in his own book, didn't reveal too much. He avoided the Bay of Pigs. He didn't say much about Cuba's interference in other Central and South American countries.
Still, it's a good read for laymen wanting to know the basics about Castro and Cuba. Who will take over the island once Fidel dies? Even Latell could only speculate, mentioning a few top ministers from the brothers' group (Raulistas).
Although I didn't gain much insight about Raul, I did learn interesting tidbits about Fidel: the entire clan were illigitimate. Fidel himself has his girlfriend (and their children) set aside. That both Fidel and Raul have a deep hidden side should be no surprise. After Fidel gave the reigns over to Raul in August 2006 there were rumors that Raul would be a ruthless dictator worse than his brother. That hasn't occurred.
Lots of insight.......2007-09-08
Excellent book. Well written and full of insight. Few have the depth and breadth of knowledge that Latell demonstrates in this book.
After Fidel badly written.......2007-03-14
After having read a number of books on Fidel, I found Latell's book badly written, and worse than that, full of conjecture. The other reviewers who claim that Latell is not biased are way off base. Latell's distaste for Fidel is evident on every page. He also borrows quotes from other books. If you want to read a good book about Fidel, one which Latell obviously borrowed from heavily but then added his own interpretations, read "Castro's Cuba, Cuba's Fidel".
AFTER FIDEL provides all the historical and psychological analysis needed for an informed consideration of modern Cuba's future........2006-12-11
AFTER FIDEL: THE INSIDE STORY OF CASTRO'S REGIME AND CUBA'S NEXT LEADER is an important assessment given Fidel's recent health issues: it provides both a political history of Fidel's regime, an analysis of his approach and impact, and new information on his brother, their family life, and how Raul is growing more powerful. In analyzing Fidel and Raul Castro's relationship and evolving influence on Cuban history and culture, AFTER FIDEL provides all the historical and psychological analysis needed for an informed consideration of modern Cuba's future.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
More Bio of Castro than Discussion of the Aftermath.......2006-09-04
This is a well written bio. No histronics, no preaching, no selling of a viewpoint. The author is a former CIA officer and current teacher of the Cuban Revolution at Columbia U. He credits his sources by name, noting each person's relation to the events, which is welcome for the layman. While the title implies that the book is about "After Fidel", this topic comprises less than 1/4 of the text. While to predict the future, you need to know the past, the subtitle works better.
Latell defines how Castro, through extraordinary intellect, a sensitivity to competition and a lack of moral restraint was able to take over a small island country and make it his fiefdom. He was a svengali to his brother, Raul, who's unacknowledged skills were necessary to Fidel's rise and continued dominance. Raul, like the rest of Cuba, is compelled for pyschological and practical reasons to cater to Fidel's paranoia.
Raul ascends to head the military by demonstrating his loyalty through leading ruthless prosecutions including that of a good friend and confidant... a popular and successful general... who's crime was to "dis" Fidel in a private conversation. Unlike Fidel, Raul has a modicum of conscience regarding this particular execution. Raul had been known to have shown some humanity at least once before, in visiting his father while the revolution expropriated the family homestead. Raul is not seen in public and the author says he's an alcoholic. If Fidel were to die today, w/could the 75 year old Raul be the Deng Xiaoping of Cuba?
The situation of Lina (Castro's mother) and her children (Fidel, Raul + 5 others) living in a shack while Angel (father) and his legal wife live in the comfortable "big house" is reminiscent of a pre-Civil War US plantation. Eventually the children are recognized by their father but, I presume, the psychological damage had been done.
Latell gives details of some things of which I was only vaguely aware. One was Casto's early obsession with "liberating" Puerto Rico. Another was the group of "non-aligned" nations, which through design Castro leads. Fidel and the entire organization are later sidelined by his necessary statement of alignment with the Soviet Union when it invaded Afganistan.
There are insights on the workings of international information systems. I didn't know that the lack of coordintion of the FBI and CIA was that FBI cases lead to criminal trials and CIA material, witnesses, etc. must be confidential. A Cuban mole, now in prison, provides information to Fidel, and disinformation to us, for 8 years. An anecdote about a mango tree illustrates, not only Fidel's inability to deal with criticism, but also how international information systems keep tabs on each other.
While there is little text on the eventual succession, I recommend this highly readable bio. I don't know how it measures up to the many other Fidel bios, but the author has an interesting and clear style. He is precise in his language and labels what is known and what is speculative.
Book Description
None of the Above is a state-of-the-art volume about current debates regarding Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans, both in the United States and on the Island. The title simultaneously refers to the results of a non-binding 1998 plebiscite held in San Juan to determine the Island's political status, the ambiguities that have historically characterized Puerto Rican political agency, and the complexities of Puerto Rican ethnic, national, and cultural identifications.
Book Description
A true left-wing adventure novel with Paco at his post-modern best.
In this elegant and literate adventure novel set in 1920's post-revolutionary Mexico, Paco Ignacio Taibo II is searching for a hero, specifically a leftist hero, and he thinks he has found him in the person of Sebastian San Vicente. But everyone-including the baffled novelist-is trying to figure out exactly who San Vicente really is. There is some record of San Vicente in FBI records during the Wilson era, and some mention of him in anarchist records and rumors, but the rest has to be filled in. And who better to do this than Taibo? Meanwhile-with Taibo busy in the background trying to resolve the mystery of his hero's identity-San Vicente goes about his heroic avocation of organizing strikes against the capitalists, dodging thugs and hiding out from the Mexican Army.
"As an activist in Mexico in the '60s, Paco Ignacio Taibo II began a search for figures in leftist history that his generation could look up to. Today an internationally famous detective novelist (An Easy Thing, etc), the writer has validated his quest with a novel-documentary, in which he reimagines a historical figure-a mysterious Spanish anarchist named Sebastian San Vicente. Casting himself in a tale set 29 years before he was born, Taibo chronicles his present-day research and depicts a range of first person characters (some of them real figures) who engage with the elusive anarchist. Incorporating historical documents or documents based on fact-letters, telegrams, police files, etc.-the author further blurs the boundary between fact and fiction. Taibo's affectionate account of working-class culture in a phase of heroic struggle is a perfect little jeu d'esprit."-Publisher's Weekly
"…a hilariously funny novel that satirizes every possible aspect of the politics and social fabric of 20th-century Mexico. Taibo is one of Mexico's most popular writers, known for his detective fiction and more mainstream novels like Leonardo's Bicycle. Then again, mainstream may be the wrong word-in the latter two titles, as in this, Taibo plays with the definitions of novel, history, politics and time. Very highly recommended."-Library Journal (starred review)
"I am
Customer Reviews:
eclectic and a fun but short read.......2003-01-26
Not Taibo's best work but an insightful view into differences between anarchists and communists of the 1920's and 30's. Overall a fun, short read.
Paco's Postmodern Play.......2000-03-28
I've long admired Paco Ignacio Taibo II's detective fiction, particularly his series featuring Hector Balascoran Shayne (and even more particularly the book Some Clouds, with its existentialist overtones). When a new Taibo comes into translation, I feel a palpable excitement and anticipation; his hard-boiled characters are strikingly human and his Mexican settings are rich with atmosphere and dense with detail. But I'll admit that I've grown to experience some trepidation about Taibo's non-detective fiction. While his experiments with style and structure are often playfully challenging (take Leonardo's Bicycle, for example), they are just as often difficult to navigate. And while his knowledge of Mexican culture and history (specifically political history) is admirably broad, I've sometimes felt at a loss to understand his allusions to historic figures and, because of this, at a loss as well to fully understand the context of these tales. Such has been the case with Just Passing Through, which mixes fact and fiction, reportage and postmodern play, in exploring the story of revolutionary Sebastian San Vicente. While I've enjoyed the book on one level (it's been advertised as an adventure tale, which is not entirely the case), I had a lurking suspicion that I was missing another level of the story -- even with the annotations provided by translator Martin Michael Roberts to help readers like myself less familiar with Mexican history. While Just Passing Through is a good read, it's not Taibo's most accessible work. And with this in mind, I'd have to say that I'd recommend this one to more serious readers, to those a little more up to a modest challenge, than to fans of Taibo's brilliantly engaging mystery fiction.
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Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality, and Experimental Writing (Modern & Contemporary Poetics)
Nathaniel Mackey
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
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ASIN: 0817310320 |
Book Description
Discrepant Engagement addresses work by a number of authors not normally grouped under a common rubric--black writers from the United States and the Caribbean and the so-called Black Mountain poets. Nathaniel Mackey examines the ways in which the experimental aspects of their work advance a critique of the assumptions underlying conventional perceptions and practice. Arguing that the work of these writers engages the discrepancy between presumed norms and qualities of experience such norms fail to accommodate, Mackey highlights their valorization of dissonance, divergence and formal disruption. He advances a cross-cultural mix that is uncommon in studies of experimental writing, frequently bringing the works and ideas of the authors it addresses into dialogue and juxtaposition with one another, insisting that parallels, counterpoint and relevance to one another exist among writers otherwise separated by ethnic and regional boundaries.
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- What Is This Book About?
- Toni Morrison's examination of this topic is, in my opinion, wonderful.
- A poignant and contemporary struggle
- totally different than i envisioned- in a really great way
- Mercurial fun.
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Tar Baby (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)
Toni Morrison
Manufacturer: Plume
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ASIN: 0452264790 |
Book Description
The author of
Song of Solomon now sets her extraordinary novelistic powers on a striking new course.
Tar Baby, audacious and hypnotic, is masterful in its mingling of tones--of longing and alarm, of urbanity and a primal, mythic force in which the landscape itself becomes animate, alive with a wild, dark complicity in the fates of the people whose drama unfolds. It is a novel suffused with a tense and passionate inquiry, revealing a whole spectrum of emotions underlying the relationships between black men and women, white men and women, and black and white people.
The place is a Caribbean island. In their mansion overlooking the sea, the cultivated millionaire Valerian Street, now retired, and his pretty, younger wife, Margaret, go through rituals of living, as if in a trance. It is the black servant couple, who have been with the Streets for years--the fastidious butler, Sydney, and his strong yet remote wife--who have arranged every detail of existence to create a surface calm broken only by sudden bursts of verbal sparring between Valerian and his wife. And there is a visitor among them--a beautiful young black woman, Jadine, who is not only the servant's dazzling niece, but the protegée and friend of the Streets themselves; Jadine, who has been educated at the Sorbonne at Valerian's expense and is home now for a respite from her Paris world of fashion, film and art.
Through a season of untroubled ease, the lives of these five move with a ritualized grace until, one night, a ragged, starving black American street man breaks into the house. And, in a single moment, with Valerian's perverse decision not to call for help but instead to invite the man to sit with them and eat, everything changes. Valerian moves toward a larger abdication. Margaret's delicate and enduring deception is shattered. The butler and his wife are forced into acknowledging their illusions. And Jadine, who at first is repelled by the intruder, finds herself moving inexorably toward him--he calls himself Son; he is a kind of black man she has dreaded since childhood; uneducated, violent, contemptuous of her privilege.
As Jadine and Son come together in the loving collision they have both welcomed and feared, the novel moves outward--to the Florida backwater town Son was raised in, fled from, yet cherishes; to her sleek New York; then back to the island people and their protective and entangling legends. As the lovers strive to hold and understand each other, as they experience the awful weight of the separate worlds that have formed them--she perceiving his vision of reality and of love as inimical to her freedom, he perceiving her as the classic lure, the tar baby set out to entrap him--all the mysterious elements, all the highly charged threads of the story converge. Everything that is at risk is made clear: how the conflicts and dramas wrought by social and cultural circumstances must ultimately be played out in the realm of the heart.
Once again, Toni Morrison has given us a novel of daring, fascination, and power.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
What Is This Book About? .......2007-06-11
I adore the writings of Toni Morrison but I got lost in the jungle of this book.
It is an interesting read because Morrison is so gifted and her use of language is so graceful, but I really had no clear idea of how many layers she had covered over her message with.
I wish she would go back to her "in your face" style of Bluest Eye or Song of Solomon or Sula.
I am simply not getting "it".
Toni Morrison's examination of this topic is, in my opinion, wonderful. .......2006-06-04
Each time I read this novel I appreciate it even more. The characters are carefully drawn, unveiling their idiosyncrasies layer by layer. Valerian's retreat into the greenhouse where he must learn how to get plants to bloom and ants to walk the other way is both amusing and pathetic. What I have found particularly enjoyable is Morrison's use of symbolism. The woman in the yellow dress, the tar pit, etc. all weave together to form a powerful novel. Perhaps not quite as arresting as "Beloved," "Tar Baby" certainly deserves high marks.
"Tar Baby" is among Morrison's best, and near the top of my list of American literature. Morrison's prose is angry here; perhaps that is why so many had a difficult time with this novel. I admit I do not agree with the racial philosophy of this book. The idea of a Black woman "selling out" is preposterous to me. But this does not lessen the impact of the statement, nor does it illegitimate the novel, allowing a reader to dismiss it as bigoted, or separatist. Rather, it exposes one to another point of view which, while disturbing, is nonetheless thought-provoking. Funny, but I always likened her writing style to Hemingway. Distinctly her own. While it is seldom easy to read a book of hers, she is an adept master of language, and crafts sentences filled with emotion and beauty.
It is too easy to say this book creates boundaries and contrasts- Black/White, Strong/Weak, Good/Bad. However, the point of the novel is identity. Toni Morrison's examination of this topic is, in my opinion, wonderful, and captivated me throughout.
The book may not be an easy read but it's also not a newspaper. Just like anything in life, what is worthwhile takes focus and time. I can whip through the works of Crichton and Grisham in a month and still would not get the knowledge and perspective that Tar Baby or almost any Morrison novel can offer.
If you want a light, airy read never take on the challenges of Morrison. If you want literature that has weight and an array of beautiful images and philosophies then "Tar Baby!" is worth the effort of resisting the quick read and delving into this text.
A poignant and contemporary struggle.......2006-04-12
Morrison is such a masterful author. Her novels always have a force behind it that draws the reader in and makes sure that you understand the various points of view. We first see Valerian's point of view, and we agree with him. Then we see Margaret's point of view and we agree with her also, although Valerian and Margaret are arguing with each other. This is how Morrison brings a story to life, using recursive narration to move forward and back in time regardless of the time period that the novel is currently in. One minute we are looking at Valerian and his past, the next we are looking at Margaret until it catches up to the present storyline and then advances further, which allows us to understand how and why each character acts the way that they do. Simply masterful.
What is even more masterful is Morrison's ability to articulate the struggle between races, but more importantly the struggle that black people go through. Should one embrace their past and their culture as Son does, even though it means living in squalor and primitive ways? Or should one educate themselves and try to make their lives better as Jadine does? The struggle is huge, and this is what adds the powerful flavor to the story. Ultimately, it is the side of Jadine that wins over, I believe, the side that no longer blames the white man and "his" culture, but rather embraces her culture and attempts to further herself, as a black woman, rather than let the past weigh her down and prevent her from bettering herself.
A poignant novel, of which I would expect nothing less from Morrison. A definite recommend, not only the book but any of her books.
5 stars.
totally different than i envisioned- in a really great way.......2005-12-14
When I began reading TarBaby I had no idea what it was about. I borrowed it from a high school classroom while I was student teaching and couldnt believe the difference between it and other Morrison novels while the language is beautiful and that is what makes it uniquely a Toni Morrison masterpiece. However, the love story between a black man and a woman who is black yet not, surprised me. Their love was so deep and so poignant - yet totally overwhelming and surprising at the same time.
The other story that is intertwined (that of Valerian Street and his dysfunctional upper-class white family) also startled me. I could not identify with the characters and found myself trying so hard to do so.
The ending of the novel left me wanting more. While it is not in Morrison's nature to write a sequel, I sincerely hope we find out what happens to Jadine, Son, and the Street's as their futures are left open-ended. Perhaps that is the point, and while I felt like the book could've gone on, I loved it nevertheless. Please read this book - it is one of Morrison's best!
Mercurial fun........2005-06-14
What I love about this author is not just her flawlessly executed prose, but her unique artistic angle, yet untouched by any other writer. And although I appreciate and admire her other novels (Beloved is beyond doubt a World Classic of the 20th Century), I think that with Tar Baby, Ms. Morrison is at her most entertaining. The novel is alive with the pages practically turning themselves.
It is a novel filled with humour and human truths about love and relationships. It is a moving indictment on race, money, and identity. It is as complex as Uncle Remus Tar Baby tale. It opens your mind without solving any questions. But above all it is a fun novel.
Read it and be all the more wiser for doing so.
Average customer rating:
- This is a masterpiece
- Is justice ever really served?
- The Secrets in Death
- Empowerment in different forms
- DEATH AND THE MAIDEN finds excitement in ideals.
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Death and the Maiden: Tie-In Edition (Plays, Penguin)
Ariel Dorfman
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0140246843 |
Customer Reviews:
This is a masterpiece.......2005-12-19
Having studied and befriended Professor Dorfman while studying under him at Duke University, I came to know his tale, Death and the Maiden, very intimately. It is a universal story that will likely serve as his masterwork, and as a result, will serve as one of the theatre's most important and most original hallmarks of the 20th Century.
As other reviews have noted, the brief play very deeply and very engagingly touches on myriad issues related to war, to dissent, to love, to loyalty, to trust, to men and women; to memory; to torture; to government; and so on and so forth. It is brilliantly done, and is punctuated with an amount of restraint that renders this play unforgettable.
Is justice ever really served?.......2004-04-08
Ariel Dorfman was a Chilean exile who feared that he might "disappear" if he attempted to live and work under the Pinochet dictatorship. "Death and the Maiden" is a sort of autobiography for Dorfman. The play centers around the character of Paulina, a woman who ultimately kidnaps the man she suspects of holding her prisoner and presiding over her torture and rape many years ago. It's a suspenseful play that tackles the issues of justice and retribution, but it also has elements of suspense and mystery: is Dr. Miranda really the person that Paulina thinks he is? This is an excellent play that's fairly well-known, yet it's hardly ever staged for some reason, which is a shame. (Note: Never, EVER subject yourself to the Sigourney Weaver/Ben Kingsley movie version. It is so awful.)
The Secrets in Death.......2004-02-11
Death and the Maiden is a biographical work by Ariel Dorfman. At the time it was written Chile was in the middle of a dictatorship and the people suffered from constant fear. Was the person lurking outside their house someone coming to capture them? The people of Chile were constantly kidnapped and tortured, which is portrayed through Pauline. She represents the Chilean people who were victimized and the rights which were 'raped'. Pauline finally meets up with the doctor she believes did this to her, and whether or not he did, she creates her retribution around him. Until the people could attack Chile and gain a confession from the ones who were supposed to protect them (the police) they could never live in comfort or be satisfied. As is Pauline who demands a confession from the doctor in order to have a face to blame. In the end it is a mystery to whether or not she killed the doctor, but when she sees his face in the end, while listening to the song he played while raping her, she can merely stare and look away. No longer is their hatred because she has finally been able to accept the past and move on, which was the message Dorfman was trying to portray. The fear of living was in the past and the people, though they would always remember the past injustices, should allow themselves to forgive and move on.
Empowerment in different forms.......2000-07-27
although i have only read this novel once so far,i found it to be extremely compelling. questions of: deceit,betrayal,revenge,desire and power tirade throughout the play. for who is really honest?- certainly not gerardo(a recarnation of robespierre); nor paulina (your frustated, dillusional, prototypical housewife);nor ricardo (the sly,oil slicked stranger accused). these characters undeniable flaws (it could be argued that dorfman has potrayed every piitful and pathetic trait ever known to man)seem to cause their downfalls,but also growth within themselves and their relations with others. surely the final setting will influence the reader to think so.
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN finds excitement in ideals........1997-03-29
Thousands of Chilean citizens are said to have "disappeared" during the regime of General Augusto Pinochet, who reigned from 1973-1990. Though not specifically set in Chile, DEATH AND THE MAIDEN is about learning to live again in the aftermath of such an era.
Gerardo Escobar has just been named to a commission that will investigate human rights cases against the old government that ended in death (or the presumption of death). His wife, Paulina, was victimized herself fifteen years earlier, and still has not recovered from the trauma. Now she believes Roberto Miranda, the good Samaritan who came to Gerardo's aid on the road when he had a flat tire, is the same doctor who oversaw her torture years ago, and since there is no hope of gaining justice from the courts, she decides to put Dr. Miranda "on trial" herself.
Playwright Ariel Dorfman pits his characters' heads against their hearts, and the result is a play that is as exciting intellectually as it is emotionally. They are forced to try to answer the kinds of questions with which human beings prefer never to be faced.
How can we be sure of our own ideals? How can we escape our demons when they surround us every day? How can there be justice if the criminal is never punished?
How can we ever learn to forgive, and NEVER learn to forget?
Book Description
In this second edition of The Repeating Island, Antonio BenÃtez-Rojo, a master of the historical novel, short story, and critical essay, continues to confront the legacy and myths of colonialism. This co-winner of the 1993 MLA Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize has been expanded to include three entirely new chapters that add a Lacanian perspective and a view of the carnivalesque to an already brilliant interpretive study of Caribbean culture. As he did in the first edition, BenÃtez-Rojo redefines the Caribbean by drawing on history, economics, sociology, cultural anthropology, psychoanalysis, literary theory, and nonlinear mathematics. His point of departure is chaos theory, which holds that order and disorder are not the antithesis of each other in nature but function as mutually generative phenomena. BenÃtez-Rojo argues that within the apparent disorder of the Caribbeanâthe area’s discontinuous landmasses, its different colonial histories, ethnic groups, languages, traditions, and politicsâthere emerges an âislandâ of paradoxes that repeats itself and gives shape to an unexpected and complex sociocultural archipelago. BenÃtez-Rojo illustrates this unique form of identity with powerful readings of texts by Las Casas, Guillén, Carpentier, GarcÃa Márquez, Walcott, Harris, Buitrago, and RodrÃguez Juliá.
Book Description
The decade of the 1990s was one of the most turbulent periods in recent Mexican history marked by political assassinations, the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, the signing of NAFTA, a catastrophic economic crisis, and the defeat of the PRI after seventy years of one-party rule. How did art respond to these events? To answer this question, Gallo examines some of the most radical artistic experiments produced in this period, from Daniela Rossell's photographs of Mexican millionaires to Teresa Margolles's manipulations of human remains, from Santiago Sierra's controversial work with human subjects to Vicente Razo's creation of a Salinas museum.
Customer Reviews:
Ruben Gallo is a Genius!.......2004-08-29
Ruben Gallo is a genius. Never before has art been better used to explicate the weird, wooly, cilantro-ey world of Mexican culture. This is the rare thing -- an art-culture page turner. This book is the perfect dinner guest -- smart, witty, and with perfect phrasing. I endorse it!
Book Description
¡Cubanísimo! is the first book to gather Cuban stories, essays, poems and novel excerpts in one volume that summarizes the richness and depth of a great national literature. From the turn of the century to the present, from Havana to Miami, New York, Mexico City, Madrid and beyond, the spirit and diversity of Cuban cultureconverge in one vibrant literary jam session. Cristina García has ingeniously grouped her selections according to “the music of their sentences” into five sections named for Cuban dance styles.
¡Cubanísimo! begins with an elegant classical danzón section that includes poems and diaries from the father of Cuban literature, José Martí, and Antonio Benítez-Rojo’s hallucinatory story A View from the Mangrove. As it moves to more contemporary dances, the book offers, among other delights, the essay by Alejo Carpentier that was the first to define magical realism; the scandalously sensual eighth chapter from José Lezama Lima’s controversial 1966 novel
Paradiso; Ana Menendez’s Little Havana-inspired story, In Cuba I was a German Shepherd; a passage from Reinaldo Arenas’s acclaimed memoir
Before Night Falls and six witty musings—or mambos—on language from Gustavo Pérez Firmat’s
Life on the Hyphen.
A brilliant introduction for readers who want to explore Cuban literature, as well as a collectible volume for those who love Cuba, ¡Cubanísimo! is a celebration of Cuban culture, from the island to its farthest flung voices.
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