Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Breath, Eyes,Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Fiction/Literature


At twelve,Sophie Caco is summoned to New York from a poor village in Haiti. She does not really know her mother and 'saves' her from her nightmares of getting raped each night. When Sophie starts to date, she is 'tested' for virginity just as her mother had been. This severely traumitizes her. It is not until she returns to Haiti with her child that Sophie can overcome this shame.
Danticat paints Haiti with rich verbiage showing us the landscape, traditions and politics. I enjoyed the folk tales and the stories of the Haitians. The story itself was a little too vague for me. This may be because I just could not relate to the story.


Rating:

(3.0/5)

7 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Oh, I loved this book. I read it eons ago, fresh out of grad school, so maybe I was more primed for deep, literary stuff back then.

Dana said...

I think maybe I have read one two many of Oprah's picks. I wanted a little more substance

Jeane said...

It seems to me like all the Oprah books I read are about suppressed women... is that true or just my misconception?

Jeane said...

It seems to me like all the Oprah books I read are about suppressed women... is that true or just my misconception?

Dana said...

I agree with you, Jeane. She seems to pick a large number of books that are based on black abused women

Lotus Reads said...

I have had this one of Danticat on my bookshelf for the longest time...I didn't realize it was an Oprah pick, so I think I'll pass. The only book from the Oprah Book Club that I have enjoyed is "Night". She does have a penchant for picking depressing reads, doesn't she? :)

Dana said...

I have enjoyed several of Oprah's picks but they are depressing. I felt the writing was not 'up to par' on this one. My fav so far has been Stones from the River, but it also depressing.