Because It Is Bitter and Because It Is My Heart

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Summary: Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart
Review: "Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart" is a portrayal of life in the fifties for both blacks and whites. Written by Joyce Carol Oats, the book is a slow paced easy-read that coincides with "Native Son" by Richard Wright. Joyce Carol Oates uses a unique style that can be nis-interpreted to come off as racist or prejudice. During the read, many graphic, almost horrific events are imposed upon the reader. "Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart" is not a book for the weak stomach nor is it a good bedtime read.

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Summary: Bitter Hearted Book
Review: As a former subject of racism and violence in my life I can relate to all of the characters in this book. All of these experiences are unpleasant; as I read the book I thought I would give the book a chance. As I read I thought the book would redeem itself, but I was constantly let down. I found Joyce Carol Oates to write in an awkward and uncomfortable fashion.

When I was reading the book I thought with all the negative views the book presented of African Americans in the 1950's, the writer would be African American. When I found out Joyce Carol Oates was a white woman I found explanations of why J.C. Oates had a narrow point of view.

If I were a minority in the 50's and looking to come to America, and if I had read Because It Is Bitter And Because It Is My Heart, I wouldn't want to come to America.

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Summary: Good Idea, not so good a book
Review: Because It Is Bitter and Because it is My Heart was a book with a good idea and theme, but I found it not well written or thought out. Oates defines all characters as either good or bad, and most are bad. In the first section of the book, Oates jumps around too much and there are few clues as to when the events were happening. The book portrayed the fifties as an awful time in America and that people were almost all bad and that there was no justice. If Oates would have stuck to the theme instead of going off on other little side themes, it had the potential to be a good book. I would not recommend it, unless you are an advanced reader.

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Summary: Because it doesn't know where to go...
Review: Having never read a J.C. Oates book, I used the Amazon reviews to select this book. I loved the premise of the book and found the writing and the character development to be excellent. Oates paints a gloomy and believable picture of life in a small, depressed town in the 1950's.

While the book lived up to its promise in the first half of the novel, it degenerated badly once Iris leaves Hammond. Oates wants to maintain a connection between Iris and Jinx, but she has to stretch very hard to keep it alive. (I felt that it didn't work at all.)

The compelling story lost its punch. I kept expecting a powerful denouement, but instead found myself scoffing at the circumstances surrounding the assault scene on the night of Kennedy's assassination.

I'm sure I'll try another Oates novel in the future. I only hope it hangs together better than this one.

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Summary: Bittersweet and Watered Down
Review: Having never read any book other than this by Joyce Carol Oates, I was very optimistic. The book pulled me in when the characters started to develop. As I read on about Iris and Jinx's little secret love the book. I love the concept. though Persia and Duke were slightly bizarre, they were completely fun to read. The book lacked substance as soon as the murder occurred. The second half beacme more and more watered down as Oates tried to keep the relationship between Iris and Jinx rolling. Overall, this book was worth my while. I recommend.

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Summary: Not so great.....and no reference to Stephen Crane
Review: I couldn't finish the book. Bad. And like the reviewer below I was disturbed that the title was taken from the Stephen Crane poem with no mention of him. The poem is below:

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter-bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

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Summary: One of Oates' Best
Review: I haven't read every Joyce Carol Oates novel, only a few of the 30 odd ones she has written. Based on what I have read, and especially this book, I feel it is a crime that Oates has yet to win literature's higest honor.

I read this book several years back and recently returned to it as part of a personal study of different literary styles. "Because It Is Bitter" is one of my five favorite novels. Oates's skill at putting herself in the shoes of virtually every type of character imaginable is simply astonishing. After reading this book I couldn't believe that she has also inhabited the head of an African American male like me. And she surely understands all of the ramifications of this nation's racial sickness.

Kudos to Oates, from one author (of nonfiction) to another, for this extremely brave and deeply moving book.

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Summary: Bitter and Boring
Review: I started reading this book hoping for the best. In turn, I found that my hopes weren't fulfilled. The beginning half was intriguing and kept me wanting more. After the tone changed, the book became bitter and boring. The characters lost their flare, and the whole book lost personality. The book became dull and lost appeal to me. The book's writing style, in the beginning, was original and fun. Following the death of Little Red the book slowly fell apart, leaving me tempted to stop reading the book. If someone asked me to recommend a good book, this would not be the one.

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Summary: The Place to Start
Review: In her long, wildly prolific career, Oates has turned out multiple masterpieces (Them, Wonderland, Bellefleur, You Must Remember This, We Were the Mulvaneys) and even more near-masterpieces (What I Lived For, American Appetites, Expensive People, Zombie, Son of the Morning, Black Water, Broke Heart Blues) making it difficult for the beginner to know where to jump in. I'd suggest this novel, a flawlessly written, absorbingly complex study of troubled youth and race relations in a period of American history (the 1960's) that Oates can write about with as much authority as the most insightful sociologist. Eschewing pat conclusions and sentimentality, she renders a heartbreaking tale of innocence lost and expectations unfulfilled with an electric energy that carries the reader head-first down a narrative path that is as moving as it is difficult. The characters here are utterly real and their struggles to maintain some sense of identity in the face of massive social upheavel is depicted with uncommon sensitivity and grace. Oates is a master of the realist novel, and this is her finest in that vein and, indeed, in any vein. Shamefully neglected by awards committess and by the general reading public upon its release, Because it is Bitter will no doubt emerge as a classic of 20th century fiction, a work that probes, with unflinching honesty and unsurpassed skill, the depths of the human heart.

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Summary: The title wasn't stolen
Review: JCO was on a radio talk show promoting this book and I heard her read from the poem she got the title from. So there.

I read the book after hearing the interview, and I did enjoy it. It was not what I would call an easy read, but that's not from faulty writing.