Drown
2 journalers for this copy...
With ten stories that move from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, Junot Diaz makes his remarkable debut. Diaz's work is unflinching and strong, and these stories crackle with an electric sense of discovery. Diaz evokes a world in which fathers are gone, mothers fight with grim determination for their families and themselves, and the next generation inherits the casual cruelty, devestating ambivalence, and knowing humor of lives circumscribed by poverty and uncertainty. In Drown, Diaz has harnessed the rhythms of anger and release, frustration and joy, to indelible effect.
***
This is without doubt one of the best debuts I’ve read, a novelistic collection of short stories. Voices are utterly honest and the language is direct, sharp and brutal just as the characters themselves but in spite their raw surface all of them are full of tender which Diaz reveals in beautifully subtle way. Struggle in Dominical Republic, absence of the father, utter sacrifice of the mother, brotherhood, immigration struggles, 16 hours shifts, betrayal, poverty … etc there is no easy topic in this book but even though the atmosphere is indeed bleak, hope never perished. It’s not living an American dream all immigrants are dreaming but living a life as it is: cup of honey and then cup (or a few) of bitterness. I really enjoyed and would recommend to everyone.
***
This is without doubt one of the best debuts I’ve read, a novelistic collection of short stories. Voices are utterly honest and the language is direct, sharp and brutal just as the characters themselves but in spite their raw surface all of them are full of tender which Diaz reveals in beautifully subtle way. Struggle in Dominical Republic, absence of the father, utter sacrifice of the mother, brotherhood, immigration struggles, 16 hours shifts, betrayal, poverty … etc there is no easy topic in this book but even though the atmosphere is indeed bleak, hope never perished. It’s not living an American dream all immigrants are dreaming but living a life as it is: cup of honey and then cup (or a few) of bitterness. I really enjoyed and would recommend to everyone.
Journal Entry 2 by zzz at BookObsessed.com, A book trading site -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Released 13 yrs ago (10/20/2010 UTC) at BookObsessed.com, A book trading site -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This goes to MsJo for Oct-BallySwapper.
I hope you'll like this (actually I'm sure you will). It'll be interesting to hear your impressions since I believe you've read "Oscar Wao" and folks who read his novel before his stories are not as impressed as we who started with "Drown".
Cheers!
I hope you'll like this (actually I'm sure you will). It'll be interesting to hear your impressions since I believe you've read "Oscar Wao" and folks who read his novel before his stories are not as impressed as we who started with "Drown".
Cheers!
Yay! I've been wanting to read these stories since reading Oscar Wao. I guess we'll see if I'm spoiled by high expectations based on the novel. When done well, I really enjoy short stories.
Yay! I've been wanting to read these stories since reading Oscar Wao. I guess we'll see if I'm spoiled by high expectations based on the novel. When done well, I really enjoy short stories.
