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Summary: A WONDERFUL BOOK, VERY ENLIGHTING.
Review: This is a wonderful book, and I enjoyed looking into the culture of Haiti, which I knew very little about. It educated me to the fact that Haiti views the treatment and roles of it's women, to be of very little importance. I found it strange, that the mothers of Haiti are so obsessed with their girls remaining virgins, but they do nothing to protect them from being raped by grown men, from genaration to genaration. Sophie Coco was a result of such a raped. At a young age her mother was raped, being mentally scarred, she was sent to New York leaving baby Sophie in the care of her mother and sister Tante Atie. At age twelve Sophie leaves Haiti and moves to New York to live with a mother she doesn't know. She finds out for the first time, that her mother was raped when she was a teenager. She realizes that her mother has never gotten over her ordeal. This causes her to be very protective and obsessed with Sophie staying a virgin untill she is married. Her mother testing her to see if she was still a virgin, causes Sophie to have psyhcological problems about her own sexuality. I recommened this book to anyone, who like me, knows very little about the culture and political unrest in Haiti. Danticat brings to light in this book the issues of genital multilation, incest, rape, frigidity, breast cancer and abortion.
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Summary: Wonderful book!
Review: I worked with an African student with psychotic depression who heard voices telling her to kill herself. She too had experienced some dreadful things in her country. The US was also not kind. Luckily through strong support from a psychiatrist, lawyer and counselor, she found a home here, recovered and is attending high school. This book was the closest I've found in relating her experience. I found it really moving and helpful.
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Summary: Not your typical Oprah choice
Review: The first half of "Breath, Eyes, Memory" was captivating and different from most books I've read recently. But for some reason, I lost interest during the second half. The novel is well-written and lyrical - perhaps too much so, I got lost in the description sometimes, and found my mind wandering. I did appreciate that this book strays from the typical Oprah formula of down-trodden American woman finds redemption and love, but really, that difference was only in the setting, as most of the book takes place in Haiti. It's a quick read, though - good for a plane trip.
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Summary: A deep, well penned piece of literature.
Review: I enjoyed reading this book because Danticat wrote in such a way that made me feel as though I were a child growing up in Haiti. I love Tante Atie and Grandma Ife. I understand and empathize with the struggles of the women in Sophie's family. I have also gained a new and deep appreciation for Haiti's culture and her plight as a nation. I recommend this book for women from all walks of life. I feel it is impossible to read this book and not gain a broader perpsective of life in general.
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Summary: Culture lesson in an intriguing tale
Review: How many Americans really know what happens in Haiti? Why do the people come here by boat risking their lives? This book tells how life in Haiti is for common poor people, and reveals also the cultural weight placed on women by tradition and superstition. Women in this story leave and come to New York, but their pasts are always inside them. It's a good story about a young woman's troubled relationship with her desperate, but loving mother and how it affects her life.
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Summary: Wonderful book.
Review: After having this book in a pile of books I should read I finally picked it up and decided to read it. The story was a fast read for me. The story of Sophie had me from the begaining all the way to the end. I enjoyed how it told how she had started out in Haiti and how she went to New York to be with her mother and all the issues that came with that. I also loved how when she felt everything wasn't going right how she went back to where she felt comfortable and things still didn't feel right. Overall this was a great book and I look forward to more from this author
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Summary: Brutal, beautiful... bittersweet...
Review: What a startling book! 12-year-old Sophie leaves her dear Aunt Atie and her grandmother in a miserable, impoverished macout-run Haiti, at the bidding of her mother who has 'made it' in the US (New York metro area). Her life in the US with her mother is not a bed of roses and as she learns more about her mother's terrible past and is, herself 'damaged' by it, the book ripens into a powerful, heartbreaking tale. The young author has managed to portray the sociologically abused Haitian woman as survivors and her tale of love and loss and the bonding of these generations of women is overwhelming. Largely a matter of her background, the author also does a splendid job of transmitting, through her words, the feel, tastes, smells, and even the fear of both her Haitian and her American settings. A tragic, beautiful book - another testament to the resilience of humankind.
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Summary: A Message of Strength
Review: "You must know that everything a mother does, she does for her child's own good. You cannot always carry the pain. You must liberate yourself." -Grandmé Ifé Breath, Eyes, Memory is a lovely tale of a young girl growing up in an impoverish village in Haiti and then moving to New York City to reunite with her mother who she barely knows. Throughout the story we follow Sophie through confusion and triumph as she struggles with insecurities, family troubles, and cultural barriers. Sophie is a strong and wise Haitian girl who is on a journey of self-discovery. The story eventfully tells the tales that bind four strong Haitian women, from different generations, together. Together they drive each other crazy and help each other through their insanity.
I found out about this book through my Composition Literature Teacher, who assigned my class the topic of Latin American Literature. This book was on the long list she supplied us with. Usually I do not appreciate books that are assigned to me in class, but this book was surprisingly interesting. I had trouble starting it because every time I picked up the book I pictured another long homework assignment. Once I finished the first chapter I could not put the book down. I found myself staying up late reading about the struggles this young girl had with her insecurities, family, and Haitian heritage. Soon I no longer saw the book as homework assignment for honors credit, but as an adventure that I was a part of every time I turned the page. This story is one that I recommend to anyone looking to for a read that will inspire you to be strong and face your fears.
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Summary: Breath, Eyes, Memory reveiw
Review: I really enjoyed Breath, Eyes, Memory because of the way Edwidge Danticat, the author, describes the Haitian culture. This story tells the life of a girl named Sophie Caco who lives in a small village of Croix-des-Rosets with her aunt. Sophie has lived with her aunt since she was a baby. When she is twelve, her mother wishes to reunite with her in New York. When Sophie arrives in New York, she then discovers her mother's secrets and those of other Haitian women. She learns how her mother fled Haiti after being raped. Uncomfortable with the sexual rituals her mother performs on her in New York, Sophie abandons her mother and elopes elope with an older man who she later has a baby. Having trouble with adapting to her new live she returns to her native Haiti with her newborn baby. There she learns from her dying grandmother and aunt why her mother had to perform the rituals on her.
This novel tells us about the sufferings and traditions that many women face. I recommend this book to anyone who likes when family sadness caused by confusion and hatred, ends happily with a reunion.
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Summary: A wonderfully crafted first novel
Review: Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, eyes, memory. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, c1994. It has been observed that literary critics are wont to categorize as autobiographical works that are as solidly grounded in reality and delivered with the degree of poignancy as is this first novel by Haitian-American novelist, Edwidge Danticat. Breath, eyes, memory is a powerfully evocative story of a young girl (Sophie) who is transplanted from Haiti to live with her mother in Brooklyn. Removed from the ever-present threat of political oppression ("If you don't respect your elders, then the Tonton Macoute will take you away"), childhood tales of the bogeyman give way to the equally harsh realities of adulthood. The story is as much the mother's as it is Sophie's, for whom the burden is unduly heavy, since "a child out of wedlock always looks like its father." Family traditions, love, coming of age, mother/daughter relationships are all intertwined in this arduous journey which Sophie and her mother must undertake-one which eventually leads to an acknowledgment, on Sophie's part, that they had become "twins, in spirit. Marassas."
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