Caucasia

Rating:
Summary: Completely Overrated
Review: Despite the fact that this book received both good professional reviews and became a bestseller, I still don't see what all the hype is about. Sure, the topic is a fresh one, one that is not discussed enough in this country, especially by authors of fiction. But from a literary standpoint it's a disaster! The language is overly descriptive yet does not put images into your head of anything it describes. The dialogue is bland and doesn't flow. The narration is horrible. There is not enough character development, and the author manages to ignore the 'story' behind many of its characters. Furthermore--and people didn't seem to notice this--it's written from an eight-year old's point of view, yet the language isn't exactly childish, yet not adult-like either. The sentences are short and annoyingly predictable. I knew exactly where the book was going from the first chapter. It seems that America is so hungry for any commentary on race and growing up biracial that it takes whatever it's given- even if it's not well written. Granted, the story itself may be interesting, but not 400 pages of her writing. I had to read this book for a course, and was forced to finish it, and I was pulling my hair the whole time. If you want to read good writing, try some authors from earlier this century, because Ms. Senna is nothing original or spectacular.

Rating:
Summary: who is danzy senna
Review: this is one of the most touching and interestingly insightful stories i have read in a long time. i don't know why it touched me so deeply but it did. i don't know what senna's ethnic background is but if she is not black then she is all the more talented b/c the one thing that struck me most was how accurately she portrayed a black girl's feelings and impressions of certain things. (ex: like when she talked about the kids in new england who only drank and made out at parties while black kids liked to dance and also her impression of samantha and stuart) just little things that i can't think of off hand that made me believe birdie (senna actually) was biracial. i felt like i coould somehow trust her and believe in the authenticity of her emotions.this book was so much more convincing than books written by whites about blacks which strike me as obviously written by an outsider.

this book made me laugh, cry, and shake my head in agreement and disagreement(w/ sandy and deck on some of there ideas about racefor example). senna's writing was smooth and entertaining while still managing to provide food for thought. i just love this story...you should read this book.

hey, when will she be publishing her next work????

Rating:
Summary: Any sister who loves her sister will cherish this novel!
Review: I sat down to read one Saturday morning and before I knew it, it was 2 a.m. and I was turning the last page of this marvelous book. An amazing tour de force by a first-time novelist, Ms. Senna is an old soul wise beyond her years. She illuminates the ridiculous racial notions of both black and white folk alike and shows us the havoc wrecked by race on the innocent sisters, Bird and Cole. I loved this book so much.

Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I read this book as a part of a directed study in race, gender and literature, thinking maybe I'd pull some ideas from it. But almost immediately, I felt in tune with Senna's voice and I loved her main character. Like Birdie, I am biracial, and so there are parts of the book, especially the self-denial aspect, that I understood completely. I also think that beyond this, Birdie is a courageous, important character, because she rejects the notion that she HAS to be one or the other.... and she instead tries to define for herself a space in which she can just be who she is. Powerful. I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Discourse on Caucasia
Review: The characters were great -- I know the Dad from somewhere and I've seen the mom around too. The two girls remind me of many of girls I grew up with as a military brat (talk about social engineering). Anyway, the mixed, mestizos, mulattos, half-breeds, high yellas, redbones, or whatever term others chose to call them always seem to have the best of all worlds on the outside -- they were always somehow more than everyone else. Usually cashing in on the best of both worlds -- the long, "good hair" from hispanic mama; the "strong, athletic body" from black daddy; the sharp intelligence from Asian mother; or the beautiful light eyes from white father.

But I guess I tend to forget how some went way deep into the Ebonics to be black enough, or made sure they connected with a deeply pigmented boy/girlfriend to prove which side they were on...not too many went the other way (I guess if you are "tainted" with the blood of a darker-skinned parent then that's what you are).

The story was pretty good. The relationships seemed very real, interrelationships between mothers and daughters (as I've am told they exist) and between father and daughters were truly believable. Unfortunately the relationships and interactions that occur because of skin tones are way real too.

This is a great read, pick it up read it a couple of times.

Rating:
Summary: Canary in a Coal Mine
Review: WOW! I loved this book! Like Birdie, I am biracial and I identified with her numerous times throughout the book. The end is what hit me the hardest. I cried when Senna described the canaries in the coal mine. Since I finished the book, I can't stop thinking about how the coal mine (our society) is affecting me (the canary). On a selfish level, I'd love more of Caucasia...I honestly couldn't stop thinking about Birdie, her sister, her whole family. After reading some of the other reviews, I have to stress that this book, and the issue of being biracial can only truly be understood by people who are biracial. My mother, who is white can only understand a certain part of my existence, while my few biracial friends can immediately understand certain thoughts or experiences that I have on a daily basis. This is a great read for people who desire to understand the issue of being biracial.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Caucasia was an interesting book because it showed us what it was like growing up biracial in the 70s and early 80s. I like Birdie was living in one type of wolrd and lifestyle one minute and had to live a totally different one the next. She had a very unstable white mother and a militant black father. I thought her sister Cole was pretty cool but they didn't focus on her during a thick part of the middle. During the middle of book Birdie and her mother change their identity when they move to a small hick town, Birdie makes friends who are people who are totally different from the ones from Massachusetts but at the same time she doesn't forget where she comes from. I like how she reunites with her sister and father towards the end. It would be nice if they could make Caucasia into a movie because I did enjoy reading the book. They didn't focus on Cole that much, you know she should have also been the narrator so you could hear two sides of the story but overall I like this book and just about anyone could read this. END

Rating:
Summary: NOT about race, really...
Review: Caucasia By Danzy Senna

Our book club read this in October, 2000. I kept some of my notes here...

Carol said she thought this book was about identity, which I found more thoughtful than thinking about it as a book about race. It speaks about parenting, too - the destruction that a kind of self-absorbed parenting can do.

It was initially boring. I kept note of the places I found it especially so - p.101: "Something happened to her. It broke her." That's ALL the detail we get about that. Never mentioned again.

P.156: Does every noun have to have an adjective?

But then, I begin to get interested. There was some reflection on class (p.172 " blueblood upbringing spared her shame.") and I wonder what class has to do with shame. A lot, I think. (another note on class from p.308)

A little melodramatic in places - p. 357 "The job was mine to do alone."

There were historical dates (of fashion) that I thought she got wrong - p.245 - jelly shoes And when did we get hip to Zora Neal Hurston - not in the early 70s, I think...and belly button shirts were not then either.

Small things I like: P.238 p.244 p.315 - the freedom we feel in a culture not our own. p.329 - is white contagious? p.364 - the way we are stone cold to our families and flower before strangers... p.402 - the last paragraph

big things I like: p. 343, 381 - that this book is about telling the truth.

And this should have been what I said first, before all the nitpicking. There were some great scenes...especially the reunion with her sister. The description of emotional shock was perfectly rendered. And it was a truth full book, for all its flaws.

Rating:
Summary: More, Danzy, More!
Review: Caucasia is one of those books that held me into the night as I read and re-read paragraphs and entire chapters... not because the work was difficult to comprehend, but because of Senna's beautiful storytelling, and the wonderful way Caucasia unfolds. This exploration of "passing," the emphasis put on color and ethnicity in our culture exposes humans at our worst and best. Senna's sense of humor sparkles through amidst the confusion of Birdie's journey.

Rating:
Summary: engrossing read from cover to cover!
Review: I originally bought this book for the wrong reason-- the cover was appealing. However, once I got into it, the novel quickly became one of my favorites. Senna creates Birdie, the biracial child of a white mother and black father who are involved in the racial tension in Boston during the 1970's. Birdie is a reliable narrator and we get to watch her grow up and evolve as she watches her scenery with fascination. I personally loved Senna's writing style...it sort of rambles at times, which catches the innocence and rawness of childhood and adolescence. I own the hardcover and the paperback (so I can share it with friends). This book is a must-read!