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BookChampions's Reviews > Breath, Eyes, Memory
Breath, Eyes, Memory
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This is a quiet but beautiful book. While it may not shimmer with literary acrobatics, its prose is clear as water, and the narrative structure literally tugs the reader through it. Had I the time, I could have read this in one sitting. It's that effortless. And yes, Danticat was only 24 when she wrote it!
At times I wanted Danticat to take me deeper into the complex lives of this multi-generational circle of women and the unspoken pasts that haunt them. Many of the 35 chapters are brief and/or fragmentary. The plot drives on when I wanted it to linger. Yet by the final third of the novel, I appreciated her sparse, crisp style. This is not a book heavy on style; much of it is dialog, for instance. Instead this novel is a celebration of storytelling and the bonds--both fractured and sound--between mothers and daughters. Breath, Eyes, Memory delves into issues of regret and anger and forgiveness and letting go the ghosts of our pasts and healing from hurt. And her characters are so brilliantly drawn, the message so profound. Stick with it to the end, and you'll be rewarded.
I couldn't help but think of other great novels while reading this one: Kingston's The Woman Warrior, Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter. Breath, Eyes, Memory certainly belongs in this esteemed group of novels. I also highly recommend her second work, Krik? Krak!.
At times I wanted Danticat to take me deeper into the complex lives of this multi-generational circle of women and the unspoken pasts that haunt them. Many of the 35 chapters are brief and/or fragmentary. The plot drives on when I wanted it to linger. Yet by the final third of the novel, I appreciated her sparse, crisp style. This is not a book heavy on style; much of it is dialog, for instance. Instead this novel is a celebration of storytelling and the bonds--both fractured and sound--between mothers and daughters. Breath, Eyes, Memory delves into issues of regret and anger and forgiveness and letting go the ghosts of our pasts and healing from hurt. And her characters are so brilliantly drawn, the message so profound. Stick with it to the end, and you'll be rewarded.
I couldn't help but think of other great novels while reading this one: Kingston's The Woman Warrior, Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter. Breath, Eyes, Memory certainly belongs in this esteemed group of novels. I also highly recommend her second work, Krik? Krak!.
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Reading Progress
January 17, 2010
–
Started Reading
January 17, 2010
– Shelved
January 20, 2010
–
Finished Reading
January 30, 2011
– Shelved as:
contemporary-literature
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by
Babs
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rated it 4 stars
May 17, 2016 10:12AM
Thanks for a well thought-out review! I just finished this book and I had a similar impression to yours.
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Exactly... i wanted more!
That's right! The mother-daughter relationship is arranged very well, from two people who have never met and then live together but feel alienated and then separated again by problems and end up together again. understand each other better, but not for long, they are separated by life and death. Like you, I was also very curious and wanted the story to be longer, the story at the end of the post was quite sparse and not too focused on the issues, so I wanted it to be longer. The characters described by the author have personalities and problems with each other but their common emotion is that they are both tired and gloomy, they wanted to be relieved of stress and sadness about what they have been through.
