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A review by librovert
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
2.0
Sophie has grown up with her aunt in an impoverished village in Haiti. When she is twelve, her mother summons her to America, forced to "live the american dream" while still subjecting her to questionable Haitian customs that have been passed down through generations of her family.
The story jumps quite a bit from one part to the next. Sophie aged from 12 to 18 in the turn of a page, and at a second transition from daughter to mother.
The moments of political violence, used to illustrate the political uprisings in Haiti, were detached from the overarching theme of the story. Although I understand the desire of the author to illustrate these points of Haitian society, I feel as though more effort could have been made to weave them better into the storyline.
I also felt the book was lacking some feeling. It could be that much of the Haitian symbolism was lost on me, being unfamiliar with their cultures, but I was not able to connect with the characters. The author seemed to tell, rather than show, the emotions of the characters, which made it difficult to understand where they were coming from.
The story jumps quite a bit from one part to the next. Sophie aged from 12 to 18 in the turn of a page, and at a second transition from daughter to mother.
The moments of political violence, used to illustrate the political uprisings in Haiti, were detached from the overarching theme of the story. Although I understand the desire of the author to illustrate these points of Haitian society, I feel as though more effort could have been made to weave them better into the storyline.
I also felt the book was lacking some feeling. It could be that much of the Haitian symbolism was lost on me, being unfamiliar with their cultures, but I was not able to connect with the characters. The author seemed to tell, rather than show, the emotions of the characters, which made it difficult to understand where they were coming from.