Rating:  Summary: Waiting In Vain Review: I was pulled in primarily by the book cover, which was quite a feat as that doesn't usually work on me: but I was not disappointed. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading much more than a just a romance novel. This book has a depth that is surprising. It manages to capture the allure of the tropics without embellishments just for the sake of the storyline. The character analysis is acute and one of the things that really works in grabbing the reader, and managing, in my case, to capture me wholly on many levels.I've got to admit that I actually got in contact with the author, (as he had the foresight to print an email address at the back of the book) just to let him know how deeply I was moved by his debut publishing: I was just so overwhelmed. This lead me to wonder whether there is any truth in the seeming habit of authors in the use of personal experiences as the basis for their primary piece of work. Finally I would like to reach out to both men and women to take the time out and read this text if only to become acquainted with the characters that Colin Channer has developed for you: don't just take my word for it! Pleasurable reading is something to be valued, and I am looking forward to finding out about the characters in the new novel.
Rating:  Summary: Great Read Review: Satisfy My Soul explores love on many level and does not stop on the surface but gets into the blood and leaves the reader with many lingering questions long after the final page has been turned, about spiritual believe, friendship, love and what one is willing to sacrifice for love. A master chef with words, Colin Channer will have you tasting of his words and living through his characters in this deep dark story filled with love, betrayal and mysticism.
Rating:  Summary: Caliente! Review: Excellent! Bravo! Mr. Channer has done it yet again, pleasuring us with an incredibly riveting and soul-stirring novel. It's always a pleasure to read thought provoking works. The pages sizzle as you read on. Maybe the next book should be waterproof?! Keep satisfying our souls Colin. One Love.
Rating:  Summary: Pulitzer is down the road Review: This is one of Mr. Channer's best work to date in print. The characters are very well developed. His knowledge about Africa and Jamaica came to life on his pages. His description of these places transported me there instantly. This is definitely a tale of intense romance which ends in tragedy. Very refreshing these days given the "happily ever after" endings I am used to. This book is littered with poetry. His ability to weave his poetry into his story telling adds a deeper meaning to his work. I am a true fan and I hope to see his works nominated for a Pulitzer rather sooner than later.
Rating:  Summary: Truly Satisfied. Review: This is one of the best novels that I have read since WAITING IN VAIN. In fact, it is the best novel that I have read since WAITING IN VAIN. I didn't think that Channer could top his debut. It was an incredibly beautiful rendering of a complicated story. But he has. SATISFY MY SOUL is a book that asks some difficult questions. It answers some of them and leaves us to ponder the rest. It is a novel that will transform you, a novel that will pull you out of yourself into a higher consciousness. Carey, Kwabena, Frances and Nazia are some of the most frighteningly alluring characters in recent fiction. They are frightening because they are so much like ourselves. Congratulations Mr. Channer, again you have made Jamaica proud.
Rating:  Summary: Judgement Day Review: Colin Channer's Satisfy My Soul is authentic and a refreshingly serious work of outstanding fiction. Mr. Channer has cleaverly and lyriclly weaved a story about love, lust, and wet maons around vivid scenery and some of our most controversial and unforgiving life experiences. What do we believe? How do we think? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Who do we love? Satisfy My Soul will leave you looking deep into your reflection in your mirrors wondering how you would answer these questions and more if tomorrow was judgement day and the Lord was asking you what you were doing with your life. Satisfy My Soul is a must read--an important read. It will haunt your psyche long after the last word is read, for this one was written for the soul. President of Sister 2 Sister Book Club Hartford Connecticut
Rating:  Summary: The words will sing you there Review: Collin Channer has moved beyond romance. This story is set almost entirely in Jamaica & South Carolina, yet it is about Africa. Why is this sexual story of two extravagant characters so exhilarating to me, with no African ancestry? Why am I so involved in these characters? Through the lens of a question important to black Americans, my questions come to light - questions of violence and impulse, what is spiritual & what substitutes when it is missing, how do I move past old patterns, what do relationships that matter require, what value is my intellectual heritage.... And of Africa - there are so many subtle perspectives here, not the idealized village of communal values. And none of this would matter, except every word reflects the story of these particular characters in their particular moment. From the very first page, it is going to tell their truth, even if it dispels the magic, even if it shows the out-of-sync moments, even as it ends in a very different way than I expected. At times the story is told out of sequence, which can be confusing; yet through the language of seduction and sensuality I am drawn into their realm, and then I am allowed to see much more.... So, be challenged. The words will sing you there if you go with them, and the questions will remain to transform you.
Rating:  Summary: a lovely and charming book Review: Satisfy My Soul is a beautifully written novel, one that satisfies the soul because it is written with humor, passion, and heart. Colin Channer weaves a multi-layered story that is complex and engaging, one that does not succumb to the formulaic conventions of the romance novel. The characters are believable in their complexity. The story is given substance by the characters' quests for faith as they move between Africa and the diaspora, and between Christianity and the myths and religions that should have been theirs, but have been lost to them with the transport of their ancestors to the West. The sensual, erotic, lyrical, and poetic elements of the narrative combine with an imaginative plot and Carey's ongoing revision of his feelings for his lover Frances to create a novel that is written like music as much as prose. And just as I would listen many times to a favorite piece of music, I have reread parts of the novel with more appreciation for the work each time. Colin Channer's first novel, Waiting in Vain, is a book that for any writer would be a hard act to follow. But he is a preternaturally gifted writer, one who has also worked hard to perfect his craft. He has matured as a writer, and brings us a novel that is more sophisticated and beautiful than his first. His writing is always -- in the word Carey Francis uses to describe his lover Frances Carey -- lovely.
Rating:  Summary: My Soul is Satisfied Review: Colin Channer's Satisfy My Soul is a remarkable novel in many ways. First, he compounds the theme of identity in Caribbean literature with a protagonist who is a Cuban Jew who is the grandson of a Guyanese physician. As if this wasn't enough, he frames the action within a love story that moves between memory and geography and the novel is written in the present tense. Only a novelist of Channer's talent could have pulled that off. And he does this with dexterity, wit, and the usual Channeresque charm. It was a pleasure to go along with him on this ride. It is easy give to give oneself over to the pleasure of Channer's prose for he puts us at ease and we soon realize there is nothing to fear for we are in the hands of a young master of the craft.
Rating:  Summary: Real men, real issues Review: Satisfy My Soul does what few Caribbean novels have attempted. It examines the relationship between strong caring black men, through their love for their women. It depicts complex men who love, envy and admit to their own duplicity. It explores real human emotion outside the box, confronting everyday issues of loyalty, religion, sexuality and surrender. In short, the characters are believable and engaging. The language, poetry. At the very last moment Satisfy My Soul turns, giving the reader a glimpse of what it must mean to be more than human, less than devine.
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