A review by lulu365
The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara
I don't even know where to start...
Basically, this is the story of a woman (Velma) who has tried to commit suicide, but is now in the process of being healed...by both a healer (Minnie) and herself. We get to know Velma through those who know her.
We don't really know how long the healing actually took, but we do know that it took longer than normal. Putting all the parts together and reading the final chapter of the book, it couldn't have taken more than 30 minutes.
The language is beautiful...the events are understandable, but the sequence in which the events are written is confusing. The flip flopping between time, events, and characters without having any clear boundaries had me reading several parts several times. I make fun of Lee when she gets a pen and pad and makes notes, but that's exactly what I had to do. Lol. This is definitely one that I'll try to read again.
So even though I missed the overall meaning (I think) and was lost 85% of the time, I loved Minnie and Old Wife; they were hilarious. Fred Holt was an interesting character and I wouldn't mind learning more about him. Doc Serge wanting Minnie to hurry with the healing so he could pimp Velma out was just sickening.
Spoiler
Basically, this is the story of a woman (Velma) who has tried to commit suicide, but is now in the process of being healed...by both a healer (Minnie) and herself. We get to know Velma through those who know her.
We don't really know how long the healing actually took, but we do know that it took longer than normal. Putting all the parts together and reading the final chapter of the book, it couldn't have taken more than 30 minutes.
The language is beautiful...the events are understandable, but the sequence in which the events are written is confusing. The flip flopping between time, events, and characters without having any clear boundaries had me reading several parts several times. I make fun of Lee when she gets a pen and pad and makes notes, but that's exactly what I had to do. Lol. This is definitely one that I'll try to read again.
So even though I missed the overall meaning (I think) and was lost 85% of the time, I loved Minnie and Old Wife; they were hilarious. Fred Holt was an interesting character and I wouldn't mind learning more about him. Doc Serge wanting Minnie to hurry with the healing so he could pimp Velma out was just sickening.