Rating: 
Summary: Heavy-handed underachiever
Review: Joyce Carol Oates is capable of much better. For proof, see novels like "Them," "Wonderland," or "Expensive People" - or short story collections like "Heat." But here, she takes a tragedy from over thirty years ago and exploits it to what I can only call ill effect.I am no great friend of Ted Kennedy. I'm ashamed of what he did when he drove Mary Jo Kopechne off a bridge in Chappaquiddick. But as painful as that must have been for Mary Jo and the Kopechne family, Oates wants us to feel that pain as well. The unfortunate result of her heavy-handed, self-righteous interpretation, though - and her inexplicable use of repetition - is that it's painful to read for the wrong reasons. Like I said, Oates is capable of much better, and I'm one of her great fans. But "Black Water" disappointed me, and I cannot recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank God I didn't pay money for this
Review: Ms. Oates needs to go back to her alma mater and demand the money she paid for composition class be reimbursed. She clearly missed the courses "Punctuation, the Reader's Friend" and "Verbs, Every Sentence Should Have One". The writing style is disorganized and is lacking direction. But if in your confusion you miss something, not to worry. The writer apparently anticipated this and even the most trivial of details are repeated over, and over, and over. If this wouldn't have been a bookclub selection which I felt obligated to read, I would have returned it promptly to the library and reclaimed the part of my life it sucked away. It's pointless dribble makes most tv sitcoms seem complex and infinitely more entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, it reads like poetry
Review: The premise for Joyce Carol Oates' tiny novel "Black Water" is the scandalous Chippaquiddick incident that anyone over the age of 40 should be familiar with. But what's remarkable about it is that Oates has transformed this "faction" into a beautiful ballad. The happenings of that fateful night when the black Toyota plunged headlong into the swampy river is told through the eyes of the drowning girl. There's a sense of real pathos in the telling cos it's painfully obvious the girl's impressed with the Senator for the wrong reasons and that he's a cad. The manner of the Senator's escape from the capsized car and his cruel abandonment of her as she awaits hopelessly for her own rescue is a wrench to read. The novel reads like a poem in parts. Maybe there's a song in there somewhere, with a verse, a chorus and a middle eight. By using the drowning girl's vantage viewpoint, Oates has created a powerful masterpiece that's so wonderfully compelling it bears reading over and over again. Truly great stuff !
Rating:
Summary: Black Water
Review: One of JCO's best books - Her amazing ability to enter into a person's mind in a manner that is telling both about human nature and about our times is put on prominant display, as she recounts the thoughts of a Mary Jo Kopenkny "like" character as she is drowning - even the more jumbled thoughts as she is drowning is well done.
Rating: 
Summary: A story to keep you hooked
Review: Black Water is a fiction book by Joyce Carol Oates. This story is about a young woman named Kelly Kelleher. It was the night of July 4th when she was beginning to fall for a man, the senator. The author comes out right away, detailing this fatal attraction. She describes over and over again, the details of how their car went off the road and into the rushing water. They were hurrying to catch a ferry and the alcohol in the senator's system caused him to speed along the unpaved road recklessly. Oates is a very descriptive writer, most evident when she describes the water for you. "On all sides a powerful brackish marshland odor, the odor of damp, and decay, and black earth, black water." If you're looking for a book different from many others in the way it's written, I would strongly suggest Black Water. Oates skips around between events throughout the story, entering Kelly's past, present, mind, and body. One minute you'll be hearing about one of Kelly's childhood memories and before you know it, she'll be back in the water. Along with the variety, this could also be a bad thing. It causes the book to be confusing and hard to follow. The actual concept of drowning can be very disturbing, but this book covers more than that. Although you know the entire time how the story is going to end, Kelly's thoughts force you to hope it doesn't. Oates is also very strong in developing her characters to help establish a picture of them in your mind. "How tall he was, how physical his presence. And that dimpled grin, the big chunky white teeth." As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. There was something about the actions going on that kept me hooked. At the same time, this book may not be for you if you don't like stories that are somewhat hard to follow. I think this book is very interesting and would recommend it. The writing style is unlike other books and it's good to have change.
Rating: 
Summary: A haunting tragedy, not so much because she died. . .
Review: "Kelly," this is what Elizebeth calls herself, I don't see the connection, but that's okay because Kelly may as well be Kelly, or Ann or Sue or yes even Buffy. Kelly could be any of us women educated in the finest universities, invited to the finest parties even after shlepping to and from work on the subway -- a forty thousand dollar a year job after a hundred thousand dollar education. . . And, like so many of us, Kelly will die quietly, still groping at the threads of what might have been as she struggles to take her final sledge filled breaths. Of course what is most disturbing is that Kelly doesn't curse the man who used her contorted body as a stepping stone for his own escape from the watery grave--she seems to blame herself for the mishap and we are left wondering if she'd even forgive him once she found out that before he even thought about going back to rescue her, that he began weaving the lie-spun story of how it was indeed her "tempermental,' fault! This story leaves you wanting to put on scuba gear to rescue her not merely to save her physical life, but to be the first one to tell her that despite her hundred thousand dollar education --she is blind not to see this guy for the typical lying politician that he is. . .
Rating:
Summary: You will taste the Black Water
Review: This book is truly amazing. Oates uses her words and sentences to create a setting unequaled in any literature today. This is definitely her Moby Dick. The novella takes you on a meloncholy journey through the mind of a dying female. You will drown with her. Trust me!
Rating:
Summary: Oates' BW brings to life the death of innocence
Review: As a reader born after the horrible Chappaquidick incident, the most thought or feeling I gave to that piece of history was what I gleaned from news and magazine articles that briefly referred back to that moment. It was something that happened not something that happened to someone. After reading Oates' fictional portrayal of that horrible night I realized that someone, not so unlike me, lost her life at a time when it was just beginning. In addition to this, Oates' uses this incident, this death, to incorporate other, bigger themes, such as success in terms of romance, academia, and political from the perspective of a young, modern but vulnerable female. In a sense, Kelly is "everywoman". She has been hurt several times before in all three aforementioned areas but refuses to let her belief in the goodness of life, die. But the world is bigger and darker and hides more black secrets then she could ever know of and it captures her, drowning her in its black waters, rendering her a victim, prey of that which she trusted: the Senator and his world which she strongly believed was a good one. But throughout her ordeal, up to the very end, Kelly never stops believing which is a significant point of the story. She recalls to mind over and over again the words someone told her about politics long ago, "Once you stop believing, you're dead." Well Kelly never stops believing, and while it cannot save her physically, Oates' uses this message on a more thematic level directed at "everywoman." The world can be cruel and ultimately, it can take your life, but it cannot extinguish your faith, hope and willingness to love and believe in good. These things are yours always.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling depiction of history...
Review: This novel brings to life an event that shocked many people. Joyce Carol Oates does not simply recreate the event, but brings the reader inside the mind of the girl. Her innocence is what we mourn, and we are angry at the way he steps on her for political survival. Extremely well written and cenematic in its description.
Rating:
Summary: catched my attention, but the whole thing was very confusing
Review: I Read this book for my English III class, since i like mysteries, i figured this book would get my attention. but it didnt, i think this book skipped around a bunch, between the black water and the girls life. Overall, it was an ok book, but I would not read it again.
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