| Author | Message | ||
     Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 183 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Oh. My. GOD!!!!!!!! This book is SOOOOOOOOO good...stop everything you are doing and purchase it at once. I got my copy on Friday and have not been able to get a thing done; I put it down and have to pick it up again. The writing is incredible, the dialect, the characters...the plot keeps you turning the pages, the wisdom of these amazing strong women on that plantation is crazy. Thumper mentioned James's other book and I must get that one ASAP. I am BEYOND pissed that I missed his signing two weeks ago and have been googling interviews so I know more about him and HOW he wrote this! I had to come rave about it and that's the only reason I put it down - I can't wait til you all are ready to discuss it. WOW. | ||
| Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3462 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
Almost bought this book the other day. Now you've convinced me! | ||
| Soul_sister Regular Poster Username: Soul_sister Post Number: 92 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I am reading it and appreciate the reviews. I love historical fiction and am digging the use of dialectic speech -- peace soul sister | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13582 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I am about to start "Blond Roots", my kind of book inasmuch as it it a satirical novel about slavery wherein things are reversed. Blacks are the masters and whites are the slaves. I will give my "review" when I'm finished. | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 184 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Cynique, that sounds funny as hell! I'm about to go look it up. Soul_sister, glad someone else is loving it as much as I did. I finished the book that night! I'm tempted to read it again!! Let me know who else buys and wants to discuss when finished... | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 817 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, I'm in the middle of The Book of Night Women. And I'm sorry Nom, you know I love yawl, but hon, are you into S&M or what. I'm afraid that like that Chaka Khan-Rufus song say, Whatever's Thrilling You is Killing Me. James is killing me. If I knew that the slave violence was this strong, I don't know if I would have started this book. I'm not into pain. I can take some slavery stories but none that are too strong on the violence. I done lived through Roots, and once was quite enough. I got the message. To show how James got mad ass skill, I'm hooked never the less! But, I will say this, if James sends me through 400 pages of whippings, rapes and dismemberments only to do 50 pages of uprising, I'm GOING TO BE PISSED!!! | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 818 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All Nom: I'm on page 228. I AM HAPPY NOW!! *LOL* | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 185 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Thumper, he is writin some REAL shit! Ain't no dancin around the campfire when massa ain't lookin, no happy darkie bullshit...just imagine how it was to LIVE it and we can hardly bear to read about it. Hooked indeed! That's what I appreciated most about the novel, its ferocity...yet it is so beautifully written...it also made me see my STUPID ASS "problems" for the silliness they really are compared to that. I am getting the audiobook too - I would LOVE to hear it read as I hear it in my head but could never pronounce with such cadence. I love Jamaican accents! LOL | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 186 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
LOL I'm on the mobile so I'm just seeing your most recent post...OH YES!!! YES!!!! Yooooo....you shoulda SEEN screaming at the book, "Get his azz gurrrrrl!!! Get him! GOOD!!" That was what got me interested in the book cause I don't do slave narratives either, for real for real - this Lilith and her ways that scared other people...her power...I love being evil so I could totally relate! LOL | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 820 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, Nom: YEAH!!!!! *LOL* *LMAO* Oh, I am feeling you now! I totally know that the stuff James is dropping is real and that's what was getting me the most. It's naked, unblinking real. Reading the book feels like someone is pushing my head down in time and I can't get it back out. You know, what is really tripping me out is that I feel like Dana from Octavia Butler's Kindred. James has transported me back into time and I can always get back to my time and place. Strange, I know. But, I'm caught up. And you are so write, his writing is beautiful. I love the narrator's voice. In my opinion, the book is better than Beloved! | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 187 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Oh man. I can't stop raving about it, I am glad it is taking you THERE! That's what it did to me! I absolutely COULD NOT put it down. It kept callllling me back over to it...just pulls you in deeper and deeper, totally in awe of the characters (I just loved Dulcimena's in-your-face resigned resilience and Homer too - she reminds me of my great grandmother)...I haven't read a novel in a long time because I'm on short stories so hardcore but that made me want to go back to some of the novels I have lying around that I haven't even started yet. And a bit sad because I know it will be hard to top that shit THERE! WHOA! Marlon James has a terrific blog too! I *think* it's Marlon-James.blogspot.com - lots of old posts to catch up on. I am obsessed with this muthafucka now. I'm almost afraid to read John Crow's Devil. LOL I just loved the language...so different, yet perfectly easy to understand. It's why I loved Sea of Poppies so much too. You are going to finish this book by tomorrow afternoon, if not sooner! | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 821 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, I did not go to bed until 6:30 AM this morning. I have not sacrificed sleep for a book in years! I'm a little sleepy right now. I was up and I kept the dogs up because I was talking, laughing, and screaming at the book. Nom, the book is one of the top books I have read in YEARS! The book did not end as I expected...and that's a good thing. After I get some sleep, I going to issue a spoiler banner and we are going to have to talk about this one. I have a question about your white girl Isobel, with her crazy ass. Marlon James done work the hell out of this book. When you read John Crow's Devil, you'll understand why I kept looking for his next one to drop. But, never in my wildest and most optimistic imaginings would I have conjure up James dropping The Book of Night Women. He goes to the front of the class. He has become an author that of the stature that I reserved for Toni Morrison in that I will willingly wait 5-7 years for him to drop another title. What a writer! What a book! I know its March but I am ready to proclaim The Book of Night Women as the best book of the year! | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 188 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: |
DUDE. I'm SO glad that you feel that way. I completely agree. I swear I had a DREAM that I was telling someone about how good this book was and I thnk it's cause I was posting here right before I fell asleep! I'm going to see if I can't find John Crow's Devil TODAY. LOL What question did you have about Isobel? Wasn't she a MESS? And didn't you love the names of all the characters? I'd just love to know how he tackled all that research, all of it just seemed so painstaking but PERFECTLY done. He put his FOOT in that book! I'm excited about reading 2666 soon to see if it lives up to its hype...what made me reconsider Night Women was Maud Newton gushing over it on her blog. I'm so glad I did go and read the first few pages. I knew I had to have it! Isobel definitely had me confused though. I had to do some googling to find out what her "problem" WAS exactly, but still am unsure of the significance of the man in the purple hat unless he was just preying on her. I was curious about her background too...wondered if she was actually a daughter of a slave, given the way she spoke before she caught herself...LMAO! Yes! Tell me more!! | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 822 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, ***SPOILER ALERT**** I hope that you all are going to read the book. In that case, no one except Nom and I are allowed to read the posts from here on this thread. Nom: Did Isobel have the baby and if she did, what color was it and what did she do with it? Shouldn't that heifa have been a straight addict? To confirm, Homer was the blind woman at the end of the book? I guess I'm a little confused, since Homer was giving the old mistress a tea that makes her crazy and forgetful, what was the purpose of Homer beating that woman about her kids when she had already made her crazy? I can understand the fact that Homer had been holding it in for all of these years and finally letting that old ••••• know how she felt, Homer felt better. But, it seem to me since Homer already made her crazy, just to shoot that old heifa in the head and move on. The book left me wanting more. I am not complaining, because most good books leave me with a wanting more feeling. I hate that Humphery went back to England. I wonder what his relationship with Lovey would have been. | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 189 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Thumperrrr! I'm so sorry I'm this late in responding; was out of town last week and crazy with work all week. I will have to look and see if Isobel had the baby? I wasn't left with the impression that she did...but she may have and it would have been that dude in the purple hat's for sure. Homer's children meant the world to hear and I would have gotten every lick I could get outta that woman as well. You read what they did to her! What other questions did you have? I loved how James had me so conflicted about Lovey and Quinn's relationship but you just knew it couldn't end well. I also loved how her character grew so much towards the end of the story, her conflict was so beautifully rendered and had me fucked up too! LOL Guess what? I went and bought the audiobook tonight as a treat to myself and it is FANTASTIC. Unabridged, 16 CDs. I'm going to enjoy listening to it with that fabulous accent! | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13587 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Well, so much for my enthusiasm for "Blonde Roots," which I had intended to discuss on this board. It fell victim to my malaise. I didn't finish this book about reverse slavery because it was predictable, and slavery was used as a gimmick. The novel's whole theme was predicated on the idea that slavery is demeaning no matter who does the enslaving and that what traits are considered superior is determined by who is in control. Duh. So what else is new? This single satirical premise can only carry a book so far, especially if the author does not handle it in a way that I found to be effective. I would not, however, argue that what I consider the book's flaw is, in fact, my own flaw, - the result of the previously-mentioned "malaise" that is afflicting me. Much to my regret, as I have grown old, reading has become more of a chore than a pleasure for me. I have become so jaded that very few books draw me in or hold my interest; especially fictional ones. I'd venture to say that I am suffering from a mild form of depression and that this is stifling my curiosity. Woe is me. | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 190 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Oh Cynique, you have to read The Book of Night Women then!! It will blow you away! | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13590 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
If it's a long, drawn out book, - I don't know... | ||
| Soul_sister Regular Poster Username: Soul_sister Post Number: 93 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: |
hey y'all, I have just finished reading the Book of Night Women. WOW is all I can say. I think James gives a new meaning to the character known as the tragic mulatto. I love the fact that he shows the complexity of this persona through the use of sisters and their individual experiences. I also love the fact that he uses the lense of womanhood and enslavement to incorporate the influence women had on the plantation and within the revolt movement. Several years ago there was a book entitled Shoot the Women First, it documented the suicide terrorist and the nature of sacrifice convicted and determined women bring to the mix. WOW. No, I did not read that title but browsed and remembered that much. As for James, I would like to know about the nature of sadistic sexual pervertion employed to "keep slaves" in their place. It seemed overwhelming, yet again, we live in the age of a Jeff. Dahmer and have known other perversion ooze out of Europe with the man holding captive his daughter and fathering her 5+ children. Clearly, perversion is not limited to race, but what about geographic proclivity?? I missed my chance to speak with James, it is my hope that he will cycle through my town again - I have soooooo many questions - any insight y'all can offer would be appreciated. peace Soul Sister | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 829 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, Soul Sister: The Book of Night Women is an awesome book. It's the first book by a black author that I've read in which I would call EPIC! It has an epic scope. I have no problem putting it on the same shelf as, dare I say it...I think I shall, the great epic novel of all times...Gone With The Wind! Not just GWTW, but the Dr. Zhivago and all of those types of books. | ||
| Soul_sister Regular Poster Username: Soul_sister Post Number: 94 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Thumper, Your sage opinion is valuable currency in my literary world - and I appreciate your insight. Funny thing I have never read GWTW - I suppose from the movie - I was not motivated - but your reference makes me curious. I did not read James' first work John Crow - I think I might have to peep it -- did you check it out?? Hey what are your reading now?? I would love your opinion on the new one out about Mrs. Dred Scott by Vandervelde -- peace Soul Sister | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 195 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Soul Sister, What a great post! I have John Crow's Devil but I haven't started reading it yet. I'm off my Richard Yates kick and you just reminded me of it! I may start that this weekend. Ask your questions, I'd love to hear what's on your mind about this book, and be sure to check out Marlon's blog too! Cynique, if you don't read this book we are going to FIGHT. LOL | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13657 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
OOOKaay, Nom de plume. Ill make "The Book of Night Women" my summer reading project. | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 830 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello All, Soul Sister: It's OK if you don't get the GWTW reference. I'm one of the abnormal black folk who love the story. So, if the GWTW reference doesn't work for you, how about a James Michener story, or one of those big David Lean movies. John Crow's Devil is MARVELOUS. It's a wonderful character driven story. Check it out and let me know what you think. I did not know about the Mrs. Dred Scott book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. | ||
| Nom_de_plume Veteran Poster Username: Nom_de_plume Post Number: 197 Registered: 07-2006 Rating: N/A |
Here's an interview with the author on Maud Newton's blog: http://maudnewton.com/blog/?p=9295#more-9295 | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13663 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I read GWTW twice, Thumper. Once when I was in high school and again about 10 years later. What can I say? It's a classic love story and a saga which truly captures an era, depicting the way life was back in those days. I have to have seen the movie at least 50 times starting out as little girl when it originally came out in 1939! Just saw it recently on the TCM cable channel and I've always found it remarkable how well the performances of Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable hold up after all these years! And Hattie NcDaniel certainly deserved her Oscar because she managed to project more dignity than servility in her "Mammy" role. | ||
| Thumper Veteran Poster Username: Thumper Post Number: 832 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Hello, Cynique: You just blew me away. I am in total agreement! But, then again, I am a major fan of GWTW. I must have seen it about 50 times myself. I do admit that ever since the invent of movies on video tape, I have own every possible media that GWTW has been made available, VHS, Laser Disc, two DVD sets. The only thing that I have multiple editions of one item is Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13664 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
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| Crystal Veteran Poster Username: Crystal Post Number: 491 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
OK you guys. I'm on page 79 and I have to say that Lilith has just about gotten on my LAST nerve. I haven't read any of the comments in this post yet or Thumpers review but somebody Please tell me it's gonna get better and I'll start appreciating this little think-she-knows-it-all. I'll be back. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13736 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
I'm half way through the book and Lilith is certainly the forerunner of the annoying smart ass teen-agers of today. All I can say about this is that it's a testament to how well the author has developed this character. I would describe Lilth as a work in progress and I anticipate that she will grow into her destiny. I am having a hard time picturing her. She is supposedly a mulatto but is described as darker than midnight. And green eyes??? | ||
| Crystal Veteran Poster Username: Crystal Post Number: 492 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Thanks Cynique. I've read a little more and still not feeling ol'girl but I do want to see where he's going with this. Guess I'll have to trust Thumper, Nom and Soul Sister. |
