Black Water

Rating:
Summary: For the thematic reader only
Review: Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates is a chilling tale with an unusual structure that will keep you turning pages. This book treads on a story line the American public is sure to recognize. Based in the political realm, Kelly Kelleher finds herself clinging to life after a drunken night leaves her suffocating in black murky water on the coast of Connecticut. A very political commentary, Oates smothers the book with thought provoking motifs containing loaded messages about the world in which we live. This story does not dance around long drawn out exposition. Instead, the book offers a Toyota sinking in black water as a way of pulling you in deeper. Though the novel seems to work backwards and forwards and inside out, Black Water grabs you by the shirt collar and takes you on a journey in a sinking car occasionally giving you an air pocket to catch your breath with Kelly. Follow Kelly on her political journey that starts at a barbeque and ends in death. If you think I am giving away the ending, I am not. Joyce Carol Oates gives it away at the beginning, but I have already said that. And remember it is not truly important that you as a reader know what happened rather know why it did. Politically, Oates is saying a mouthful and those who appreciate a solid thematic piece will definitely enjoy this story. I have read many of her other works like "Where Are You Going and Where Have You Been" and "Heat." I have concluded that Joyce Carol Oates captures American culture in times of desperation, of weakness, times of terror, and of shame beautifully. She does a wonderful job writing about cryptic events that stir emotion and a little fear in everyone. Black Water is sure to do just that, but for those who would rather read a flowery, comfortable, and easy novel, do not pick this book up, but for those of you who want a challenge, crave something deeper than entertainment, and / or just want to try something new, read this book, you will not be let down. This novel is a very powerful piece written with precise and methodical language. Also, if you have read any of her other works and find her writing style fascinating, you will be further amazed at Joyce Carol Oates' writing abilities.

Rating:
Summary: Every line is meaningful.
Review: If you like interesting, meaningful writing that does not make you labor to get through the author's vocabulary or cryptic style, Joyce Carol Oates' Black Water is a valid candidate for a gratifying read. As a novel, Black Water is not substantial in length or lofty language, but its thematic substance is full and overflowing.

On the surface, a reader might recognize the story as a creative re-telling of a sensationalized episode in U.S. history. However, being familiar with the Kennedy-Kopenkney incident has no bearing on the reader's ability to appreciate the novel for its own material and for the social commentary that is communicated through the work.

Using Kelly Kelleher, the main character of the book, as an example of a typical, ambitious young woman in the United States, Oates expresses the conflicting societal messages as well as the conflicting personal desires with which a young American female contends. Such issues include the desire to be independent, the need to manipulatively subjugate oneself in love and power relations with men, and the desire to be recognized for one's achievements and inherent good qualities. Ultimately, it is a representation of women's experience as one of victimization. Oates' decision to use third-person perspective skillfully continues this expression. By using a third-person point of view, even in scenes direct from Kelly's memory, Kelly continually exists in an objective relationship with the reader. The reader is never fully in a position to empathize with her, which is an appropriate way for Oates to want her book to be approached in order to more fully develop her point.

Although Oates' writing is not complicated, her style is not altogether conventional. Her sentences are not always broken down into clear, complete sentences. The ideas sometimes run together, much like the movement of the story itself, where events occur not chronologically but are addressed in the main character's fluctuating mind between past present and future in a sometimes fluid, and sometimes abruptly shifting, train of thought. Once again, Oates adjusts her writing methods to mesh thematically with her novel's content. Oates' words are carefully chosen. No matter what you read, every bit of writing can be directly related to one of the many themes encompassed by her book.

Joyce Carol Oates gives the reader her novel as a package. All the ideas are there at the beginning, mixing together and forming a basic shape. The reader gets a general idea about the contents upon initially handling it. Then, as the reader turns the pages, it is like peeling away bits of the wrapping to find out what's inside the package, how it works, and how it came to be what it is. Oates tells a story, and then retells it, revealing extra little bits and then building on those bits, intriguing and then satisfying the reader over and over again until her point is made and the reader is left without any more lifelines in the suspenseful struggle to know how the end will culminate itself.

Rating:
Summary: Black Water
Review: Joyce Carol Oates' novel BLACK WATER, a work of about 150 pages, deals almost entirely with on event. This event, the crashing of a Toyota into a swamp, reoccurs over and over again throughout the work.

At this point, one confused reader might scratch his or her head and ask "Why would I want to waste my time on 150 pages, all of which talk about one thing?" The answer is simple. Because Oates simply won't let you put BLACK WATER down. Every time you read about this unfortunate car crash, you are simply pulled further into the lives and characters of the story. Certainly this kind of story telling might cast off some audiences, but for everyone else, BLACK WATER becomes a gripping, intense and interesting read.

The Toyota in this story belongs to an older man, a senator. His passenger is the main character, Kelly Kelleher and it is through her eyes that we receive most of the action in the story. While she is not a first person narrator, readers can sympathize with Kelly as she struggles to free herself from her watery entrapment. She is a twenty-six yeard old woman, eagerly hoping to rise in the political sphere.

The sinking of the Toyota is outlined in the very first chapter, on the very first page and almost in the very first sentence. "What?" that same confused reader might ask. "Why would Joyce do that? If the car is sinking on the first page, what are the other 149 pages about?" Oates doesn't mess around here. She grabs the reader's attention and pulls the audience directly into that car, into that swamp. There is no obvious expositiong here; on the first page we are thrust into the action, experiencing everything that the Senator and Kelly are going through.

The background of Kelly's story is told through flashbacks, which works well in the novel. The reader is introduced to her family, her friends and her past boyfriend. These are often bright points in the novel, but just as we settle into their comforts, Oates brings us back to that sinking Toyota. There is a great deal of light versus dark contrast in BLACK WATER, which only carries the book further into impressiveness.

Although it does not appear to be a suspense novel. BLACK WATER can certainly be read as one. Kelly is trapped unerwater with the Senator, both of whom are desperately trying to escape. One side of the car is listing and that door cannot be opened. Water is filling the car, darkness is invading from all sides. Who hasn't had a fear of drowning or of the darkness? This is where the suspense mounts and Oates uses it to her advantage. The suspense pulls you further into the work. Not only do you learn about Kelly Kelleher and her life, but Oates also puts you right in that car with her. You desperately want her to escape.

This novel is one of the most powerful books I've read. Oates' writing is quite vivid and powerful; her themes play out magnificently. Some readers may be turned off by her manner of story telling in this piece, but those who find themselves sinking into the novel will find it impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget.

Rating:
Summary: A True Look at Politicians
Review: People say this novel is about Ted and Mary Jo which is correct to a degree. However, it is also about the extraordinary efforts elected representitives will go to save their own hides when things go badly for them both privately and publicly. We saw that in 1969 and are seeing that now in regard to Iraq. Joyce Carol Oates is not only a great writer but also a woman who has enormous prescience and perception of the troubled world we live in.

Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced!!
Review: The book, Black Water, authored by Joyce Carol Oates, is fiction that closely resembles a real incident that involved the powerful, political Kennedy family. This story is about a young lady named Kelly, who found herself smittem with a popular senator. The two find themselves in a life threatening predicament, in which only one escapes, and one is left in the black water awaiting rescue. I feel that this book captures the true essence of what goes through the mind of someone that is drowning, as the character has flashbacks of her life, and thinks of what the future would hold if she survives. I found the book hard to follow for the first few chapters, and after re-reading it I decided that it was a fast-paced book that seemed unfinished and left the reader wondering what happened to the senator and any legal ramifications he may have encountered. The style in which this book is written is like none I have read before and I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in trying something different.