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p_t_b's review against another edition
5.0
Weird, messy, deep novel about race, passing, love. Might be more fun to think about than read but it is *really* fun to think about. s/o to Cleveland authors
milanblack's review against another edition
4.0
I did NOT expect this book to be so good, wow.
The prose, the composition, the PLOT
OH MY GOD THE PLOT !!!!!!!!
The use of literary devices, as well, to portray the condition of the relationships of the characters was so beautifully done. The racial commentary really spoke to me personally because I think the issues Chesnutt discusses could still be perceived as relevant.
The prose, the composition, the PLOT
OH MY GOD THE PLOT !!!!!!!!
The use of literary devices, as well, to portray the condition of the relationships of the characters was so beautifully done. The racial commentary really spoke to me personally because I think the issues Chesnutt discusses could still be perceived as relevant.
saltysnails's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
africanbookaddict's review against another edition
4.0
Read this sophomore year in my African-American lit class. Very good book. I should actually read it again
cartmaker515's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
5 stars for nostalgia. I wrote my senior thesis on this novel and it will always have a hold on me.
ameliabiblio's review against another edition
5.0
A tragic romance with surprising, perhaps even foolish, amounts of optimism. It's wonderfully written and will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
amymarchlawrence's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
caitlin_89's review against another edition
3.0
This book was ok. It was important in our discussion of naturalism as well as issues of race and sex. Instead of a review, I present my in-class response to this reading (spoilers):
I hope we eventually move on to some literature in which tragic death isn’t such a prominent occurrence. I was totally unprepared for Rena’s death at the end of this book. Even with the knowledge that I was reading naturalist literature, I didn’t expect the tragic ending.
When I flipped through to the end to count the chapters, I noticed the title of the last one, “A Mule and a Cart.” Before Rena leaves with her brother, Frank says, “Ef you ever wanter come home, an’ can’t git back no other way, jes’ let me know, an’ I’ll take my mule an’ my kyart an’ fetch you back, ef it’s from de een’ er de worl.” And so, when I read in chapter four Frank’s declaration of devotion, I assumed correctly that it was a foreshadowing of the end of the story.
However, I assumed incorrectly that it would lead to a satisfactorily happy ending. As improbable as it was for Frank to find Rena unconscious in the brush that morning, I couldn’t help but be relieved and glad despite the contrivance; my mind jumped ahead, picturing him
nursing her back to health and the two of them living quietly and peacefully, if not happily, ever after.
And then she dies. And it bothers me that although the story begins with John, and John is the instigator of the whole chain of events that eventually leads to Rena’s death, he is nowhere to be seen in the end of the story. John leaves Patesville on page 124, less than 2/3 of the way through the story, and is never heard of again. Then again, Rena’s death isn’t mentioned til the very last line, and her illness was sudden, but still it seems cruel that her brother is at least in
some way responsible for her great downfall, but completely absent for the repercussions.
Despite what I perceive to be John’s responsibility, no real blame is placed on any one character in the book; not the father of John and Rena for not providing for them; not John for taking Rena from safety; not George for his [socially normal] racism. This is exemplified in
Rena’s “argument of divine foreordination” during her last conversation with John, which gives voice to the naturalism in the story. What Rena calls “the will of God” is her fate, which even
she sees as obviously unavoidable since things fell apart when she tried to move beyond “her place.” Despite the number of people involved, and the number of their little faults, everything
ultimately just comes down to the misfortune of the way things are.
John isn’t really a likeable character. He’s pretty selfish and manipulative at times (particularly that scene in the beginning when he guilt trips his mother into letting Rena go), and despite his not being absolutely awful, I didn’t care for him at all. I wonder,though, if I can blame that on the naturalism as well. Is John just a product of his environment? Was that just his fate, to end up coming off more cool and detached rather than warm and connected, because of his becoming a self-made man?
I hope we eventually move on to some literature in which tragic death isn’t such a prominent occurrence. I was totally unprepared for Rena’s death at the end of this book. Even with the knowledge that I was reading naturalist literature, I didn’t expect the tragic ending.
When I flipped through to the end to count the chapters, I noticed the title of the last one, “A Mule and a Cart.” Before Rena leaves with her brother, Frank says, “Ef you ever wanter come home, an’ can’t git back no other way, jes’ let me know, an’ I’ll take my mule an’ my kyart an’ fetch you back, ef it’s from de een’ er de worl.” And so, when I read in chapter four Frank’s declaration of devotion, I assumed correctly that it was a foreshadowing of the end of the story.
However, I assumed incorrectly that it would lead to a satisfactorily happy ending. As improbable as it was for Frank to find Rena unconscious in the brush that morning, I couldn’t help but be relieved and glad despite the contrivance; my mind jumped ahead, picturing him
nursing her back to health and the two of them living quietly and peacefully, if not happily, ever after.
And then she dies. And it bothers me that although the story begins with John, and John is the instigator of the whole chain of events that eventually leads to Rena’s death, he is nowhere to be seen in the end of the story. John leaves Patesville on page 124, less than 2/3 of the way through the story, and is never heard of again. Then again, Rena’s death isn’t mentioned til the very last line, and her illness was sudden, but still it seems cruel that her brother is at least in
some way responsible for her great downfall, but completely absent for the repercussions.
Despite what I perceive to be John’s responsibility, no real blame is placed on any one character in the book; not the father of John and Rena for not providing for them; not John for taking Rena from safety; not George for his [socially normal] racism. This is exemplified in
Rena’s “argument of divine foreordination” during her last conversation with John, which gives voice to the naturalism in the story. What Rena calls “the will of God” is her fate, which even
she sees as obviously unavoidable since things fell apart when she tried to move beyond “her place.” Despite the number of people involved, and the number of their little faults, everything
ultimately just comes down to the misfortune of the way things are.
John isn’t really a likeable character. He’s pretty selfish and manipulative at times (particularly that scene in the beginning when he guilt trips his mother into letting Rena go), and despite his not being absolutely awful, I didn’t care for him at all. I wonder,though, if I can blame that on the naturalism as well. Is John just a product of his environment? Was that just his fate, to end up coming off more cool and detached rather than warm and connected, because of his becoming a self-made man?
lgpiper's review against another edition
4.0
What a wonderful and interesting book. Chesnutt was an African American author who wrote around the turn of the 20th century. Who knew there were such people a century ago? Oops, my whiteness is showing again.
Anyway, this book is set in the south just after the Civil War. The primary problem it addresses is mixing the races, so to speak. John Warwick, a prosperous young man visits a small town, Patesville. At night, he sneaks off to visit the women who live in a nice house behind a hedge of cedars. It turns out to be where his mother, Mis' Molly Walden and sister, Rena, live. John has been gone for ten years and has "passed for white". He thinks his sister should return back with him to his home. He has a small child for whom she could help care. He has become a widower. But first, he sends her off to school to become refined in the ways of white society.
When Rena, now known as Rowena Warwick, joins him, she fits immediately into the polite, chivalric society of the better class of white folks. A young man, George Tryon, falls in love with Rowena and they set a date for their marriage. But then, Rena has a dream about her mother's being sick. So, she returns to Patesville to nurse her. By chance, Tryon has some business in Patesville and sees Rena there and realizes that she wasn't white after all. It seems she has slightly "tainted" blood, and it would never do to similarly taint one's own blood line.
So, of course, we have the problem that still plagues our society even now in the 21st century. Will true love and true character find a way to remove the blinders we have placed on ourselves by our specious views on race?
Anyway, this book is set in the south just after the Civil War. The primary problem it addresses is mixing the races, so to speak. John Warwick, a prosperous young man visits a small town, Patesville. At night, he sneaks off to visit the women who live in a nice house behind a hedge of cedars. It turns out to be where his mother, Mis' Molly Walden and sister, Rena, live. John has been gone for ten years and has "passed for white". He thinks his sister should return back with him to his home. He has a small child for whom she could help care. He has become a widower. But first, he sends her off to school to become refined in the ways of white society.
When Rena, now known as Rowena Warwick, joins him, she fits immediately into the polite, chivalric society of the better class of white folks. A young man, George Tryon, falls in love with Rowena and they set a date for their marriage. But then, Rena has a dream about her mother's being sick. So, she returns to Patesville to nurse her. By chance, Tryon has some business in Patesville and sees Rena there and realizes that she wasn't white after all. It seems she has slightly "tainted" blood, and it would never do to similarly taint one's own blood line.
So, of course, we have the problem that still plagues our society even now in the 21st century. Will true love and true character find a way to remove the blinders we have placed on ourselves by our specious views on race?