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Summary: a book in a thousand
Review: this is just the book to give to your sister if she's a loud, dirty, boozy girl. Caucasia is a great book, a necessary one...if you factor fiction into your life, get it. A real book, a real writer.
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Summary: The Invisible Man is a Girl!
Review: This novel (though it reads like a memoir, rambling and real) is strongly influenced by the classic figure of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.Like him, Senna's protagonist, Birdie, disappears. However, instead of turning invisible she becomes white. She and her mother create an alternative reality, a fictional past, where her father and sister are not black, where racial tension in Boston has not shattered their lives. The strain of a lifetime of being other than oneself, of 'passing' for white or black, is made palpable; so it is no surprise that for Birdie the illusion cannot ultimately be maintained. As a meditation on the tortuous and tortured issue of race in America, this book is first-rate. However, the author repeatedly allows politics to speak louder than emotions, as though the feelings are too raw for her to express in words. In the end, though, it is feelings that make a good novel, even a political novel. Birdie's father Deck claims that mullattos are the 'canaries in the coal mine' of American society - their future is that of the nation. I can't help feeling that all the characters in 'Caucasia' stand for something else, when they would have done better simply to stand for themselves.
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Summary: Please Show me The way!
Review: In Caucasia, there is a mixed family. Mulatto Daughter's, a white mother, and blak father. In this tale, though hard to get into, I find that the story is decent and well thought out. Danzy Senna's perception of the girls os amazing, and how they were feeling as they grew up, and how they felt because their family was seperated! This is a awesome story of love, and the love we sometimes forget comes with being family!
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Summary: Bi-racial child of the 70's loved this book!
Review: I read this for a book club, and I really enjoyed it. My only gripe is that it read like a straight-forward memoir and not a novel. There weren't any literary elements in it. Other than that, I really enjoyed it. Senna created a very believable world, one which I thoroughly identified with being from a mixed-race background and having grown up during the 70s. The relationship between the sisters was beautiful, and one wonders how such selfish people as the mom and dad ever thought to have a child, let alone two. The sisters only had each other to rely on, and when they are separated, the narrator's life stagnates, even though she is always on the move. It is a fascinating story told with insight by a sage writer. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: The arduous in-between: black and white/girl and woman
Review: Caucasia was chosen by my book club, and I must say that it is probably the most profound book I've read on being biracial and growing up in race conscious America. As someone who lived in Boston, MA for many years, I was fascinated by Senna's analysis of the race issue in a city that is still extremely racial and extremely segregated. I absolutely adored the relationship between the two sisters. I particularly appreciated the sensitivity with which Senna dealt with the girls growing up with a white liberal mother, who had no concept of day-to-day "black issues," i.e. braiding hair, the necessity of lotion. I would have liked more insight into the parents' initial attraction to one another, but then again, the book was not about how an African-American male in Boston in the 1960s could marry a white woman from an old New England family. My hat goes off to Senna for her marvelous work. Thanks for bringing these issues to the forefront and forcing American readers to wrestle with the tough notion of being biracial.
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Summary: Amazing for a first time novelist
Review: This book was one of the best novels I have read in years. I am also bi-racial and can identify with the main character, but I don't think you have to be of mixed heritage to appreciate her incredible writing. I cried when I read this - Danzy Senna creates such imagery and life to her story - I felt like I was living her story as I read it! I could not put the book down. I cannot wait for her next work. Danzy Senna is the real deal. She is a true shining star in a sea of mediocre, yet somehow published, writers.
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Summary: Caucasia
Review: I am in absolute LOVE with this book! For my vocabulary class we were assigned to read a novel over the course of the semester. Silly me chose the book simply because of its nice looking cover (tisk tisk) Little did I know what a lasting effect this book would have on me. I can definately relate to the main character Birdie, growing up and dealing with the usual boys, partying, sex and all that good stuff. But there is maybe one thing that the majority of us don't experience...growing up the product of a biracial marriage and being seperated from the only thing we know and love. I just can't say enough good things about this book and I definately would recommend it to all!
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Summary: Race Matters
Review: Cole and Birdie are the daughters of a black father and a white mother in Boston, MA. Cole, the eldest, takes after the father while Birdie, takes after the mother. The parents, probably like more than a few of the mixed marriages of that time, consisted of a black intellectual with big ideas and theories and a rebellious WASP who was risking family ties to be a radical, militant whose views were diametrically opposed to her upbringing. Once the marital problems began, and the separation occurred, the mother's militant 'activities' put her in the predicament of having to flee. To expedite this, she took custody of Birdie and the father took custody of Cole and 'went underground.' The story is told in the voice of Birdie, the white one, and shed light on the pain of looking one way while one's heritage pointed to another. She had to 'pass' for Jewish while on the run with her mother and was privy to the subtle and overt racial prejudice harbored by those in the all white world she had to live in. In effect, she was 'undercover' and learned the secrets of those who would most certainly reject her if they knew her genetic makeup. The story speaks of a black father who flip-flops his racial views from the extreme of marrying a white woman to making racial remarks that are hurtful to his children. The mother almost seems crazy as she wallows in self-pity, feminism, and an overzealous interest in 'the struggle.' I think this is a great first novel. A great novel period. It is not for those seeking a quick or casual read as there is a lot to think about.
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Summary: Disappearing Girl
Review: Danzy Senna's first novel Caucasia is the story of a disappearance, not just the disappearance of Birdie and her mother, Sandy, but of Birdie's identity. In this strong, deftly written novel, Senna's thoughtfully constructed plot explores the nooks and crannies of race, family, and identity. Senna doesn't falter; as a young writer, she is admirably sure of her themes.
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Summary: GOOD TOPIC BUT?
Review: I enjoyed this novel in that it explored the issues surrounding a biracial child who was trying to find her place in society and her own personal identity. I felt however that the novel had major holes which if filled in, would have made for a better read and would have assisted in the flow of the novel. For example, one never really knew what Birdie's mother was involved in such that she was required to flee. Was it real as discussed by Cole or was it imagined as discussed by Dot. I also didn't quite understand why the father would allow Birdie to be under the care and custody of the mother (who was on the run)as opposed to taking Birdie along to Brazil. Notwithstanding the fact that Birdie could arguably "pass" it seemed like the greater concern would have been the care and welfare of his daughter and not splitting the children up according to which parent they favored the most. I wish this area would have been discussed a little more. Once again, although I thought the issue of biracial children finding their identity and place in society to be a very relevant topic, I thought that the author could have done a better job of "tying up some loose ends". Finally, although Birdie was the herione of the novel, the other bi racial child, Cole was totally ignored with respect to her issues of personal and racial identity. Although we saw some of that during the beginning of the book i.e., the interaction with the maternal grandmother and the mother braiding her hair, there were undoubtly other biracial issues faced by Cole which seemed to be ignored as she progressed into a teenager. The book just seemed to present one side of the biracial issue i.e., the passing, light skin long hair issues and pretty much ignored the other side of the issue.
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