I'm hoping to have three discussion posts on Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, the February STIR book. This post will feature overall impressions and I hope that fellow readers will comment with their personal responses, including an answer to the question, "If you own the book, what are you going to do with it now?" The second book will be about Haiti and what it means to be "a Haitian Novel" or "Haitian-American Literature" or part of the "Haitian Diaspora." I'm curious how being Haitian affected your reading of the book, how you responded to the Haiti vs. New York scenes, what other Haitian literature you've read and what in the world is up with the afterward. If you e-mail me your thoughts, I can include them in the main post, if not, you can add them in the comments. If I make it to a third post, it will be about the role of stars, the role of the sky and the role of religion in the book. Again, thoughts welcome in advance.
Breath, Eyes, Memory follows Sophie, a young girl, from her childhood in Haiti with her aunt, to her teen years in New York with her mother, and back to her grandmother in Haiti at a time of personal crisis. While men cause things to happen: they rape, they marry the wrong woman, they govern the country poorly, and they impregnate; the book is about the relationships among the women.
Both SalSis and I found the childhood section to be a fast, breezy read. Many of the descriptions triggered pleasant memories for SalSis, as she has spent time in Haiti, particularly among children. She was excited that she understood the creole, delighted when the descriptions matched children and events she had encountered and curious when details didn't jibe with her experience. I enjoyed this section more just wondering how it compared with the villages where SalSis has spent time.
Everything about B, E, M changes when Sophie hits New York (more on that with the Haiti-New York post) and our reactions did as well. I continued to read quickly (I read the book all one day), partially because the story is compelling and partially because I don't like to leave characters in uncomfortable situations, and the situations are plenty uncomfortable. When I did the math and realized that the member of the older generation who is shockingly pregnant is younger than I am, I cried some and reminded the Mister that if Rutherford is a girl child, she will be treated with great respect.
At that point I think the book became more of a squirm-inducing slog for Salsis, who felt relief at the inevitably unpleasant resolution.
I'm really unsure what I will do with my copy of the book. I won't re-read it, so I won't keep it. It is too well-written not to give to somebody, but most of my friends have limited enough reading time that I have a hard time recommending something that is somewhat painful to read, however well-written.
Thoughts from others?
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4 comments:
First of all, thanks for encouraging me to read something out of the norm. When I read, I read for pleasure and pretty much take everything literally. I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but I am glad that I read it. I know very little about Haiti. I hope I learned only a small bit about Haitian culture by reading this book. I probably should try to learn more.
My book was from the public library, so I don't need to worry about what to do with it.
I agree with Prairie Quilter about getting me to read something that I might normally not have picked up.
I had recently read Little Bee which was set in London and Nigeria and I found many similarities with my overall impression but Breath, Eyes, Memory had a decidedly less resolved feeling. I liked the book and found myself wanted to know more about some of the more squeemish parts from an objective point of view or I guess more anthropological view. i.e Why is this done? Do all mothers test the same way? etc. I struggled to identify with the older Sophie and was not surprised about Martine's (the mom) decision. But to me the last part of the book felt like it was forced to move faster and that we as readers got to know the characters less than we did in the front. The change in Sophie's relationship with her boyfriend/husband seemed to go downhill fast.
As far as Haitian culture goes, I wasn't sure I know enough about it to see if was an accurate portrayal but I am now interested in learning more about the culture.
Will I read it again - no. I got it from my school library so I'll be returning it.
The book belongs to my friend who works in Haiti, so I'll hang on to it! I thought it was well written, I just didn't enjoy most of the subject matter. I'd only recommend it to people interested in Haiti – after they’ve been there (the words and descriptions would make more sense). Or if I knew they liked relationshipy-type of books, or worked in the field of abuse.
Thanks for reading! Perhaps a better question would have been,
"if you owned the book, what would you be doing with it?", sort of an overall reaction along with a "to whom would you recommend this?"
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