I'll Take You There

Rating:
Summary: Joyce Carol Oates At The Top Of Her Form
Review: Without question "I'll Take You There" is among Joyce Carol Oates's finest novels. Here she returns to familiar autobiographical grounds, examining the college life and passions of her unnamed protagonist, named "Anellia" by her lover, in Syracuse, NY in the early 1960's. Set against the background of civil rights struggles in the South, Oates once more explores the theme of an interracial love affair between her protagonist and Vernor, a brilliant black philosophy student. She elegantly weaves their passion for 20th Century philosophy with the trials and tribulations of their love affair; an intense, private relationship which is seen as forbidden by fellow students and college administrators. Oates has always had an unerring eye for detail, but here she manages to convey it in prose that harkens back strongly to the lyricism of James Joyce. She excels in exploring the banal minutiae of campus sorority life as well as the love affair itself. One of the few books I have read recently that I found hard to put down.