beatrice_k's review against another edition
5.0
I stayed up late to finish this book and was almost afraid to go to sleep when I was done, the room felt full of these characters, these people—would I dream of the loas? Bad medicine? The dark waters off the coast of Florida? Would I dream of an America that feeds off death and desperation, bad luck and bad times?
“Good cheer and mournfulness over lives other than our own, even wholly invented lives—especially wholly invented lives—deprive the world as it is of some of the greed it needs to continue to be itself. Sabotage and subversion, then, are this book’s objectives. Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.”
This book will stay close to my heart for the rest of my life.
“Good cheer and mournfulness over lives other than our own, even wholly invented lives—especially wholly invented lives—deprive the world as it is of some of the greed it needs to continue to be itself. Sabotage and subversion, then, are this book’s objectives. Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.”
This book will stay close to my heart for the rest of my life.
mil818's review against another edition
4.0
'Knowledge of the facts of Bob's life and death changes nothing in the world. Our celebrating his life and grieving over his death, however will. Good cheer and mournfulness over lives other than our own, even wholly invented lives - no, especially wholly invented lives - deprive the world as it is of some of the greed it needs to continue to be itself. Sabotage and subversion, then, are this book's objectives. Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is." --Russel Banks
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
So I was drifting along with the two somewhat slow, separate stories, waiting for them to meet, enjoying the writing but not particularly engrossed . . . until the last 125 pages, when it all comes together magnificently and unexpectedly. Banks completely captures the lives of his two protagonists, and the complex realities of their disparate existences, and brings absolute magic to the (unexpected) denouement. Brilliant.
dommdy's review against another edition
4.0
I can't decide if this book lives up to its hype or not. The narration was a bit stilted, and the story may have been improved for me by a different narrator. Even so I think it will make a pretty good movie.
bougainvillea's review against another edition
4.0
I am really glad I read this. If I ever do a comparative lit course on representations of migration, I'd love to include this with texts like [b:Bèbè Gòlgota|13059544|Bèbè Gòlgota|Pierre Michel Chéry|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|18224871] or [b:La Gravitante|12943974|La Gravitante|Janine Tavernier|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|18100523]. There's a Haitian edition, so it's doable. Maybe for my MA seminar one year...
the_naptime_reader's review against another edition
2.0
This book was heavy and dark. It was one of those I finished and felt relieved to be stepping out of the story. A positive is the faces and stories that it puts to the immigrant experience. Lots of exposure to Haitian culture, although the author of this book is a white man so He certainly cannot be considered a mouthpiece. There were no characters that I felt drawn to or hopeful for, so just a difficult piece to read. Also tons of CW: rape, sexual slavery, rape of a child, use of the n word, and to me the most disturbing choice of the author was to describe someone having sex with a woman in forced prostitution as making love.
There were lots of things that just showed the maleness of the author. In reading the author’s profile it is clear that much of this book reflects his own life experiences.
There were lots of things that just showed the maleness of the author. In reading the author’s profile it is clear that much of this book reflects his own life experiences.
mpho3's review against another edition
5.0
The American dream turned nightmare. Now I know what the Stones meant when they sang about "sympathy for the devil."
notrachel's review against another edition
too soon done to rate it. let's just say i'm very glad to mark this done and wish my lit prof had been better at sticking to a schedule so we could have discussed this book because...i'm not sure what i just read (in the context of the class).