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Kincaid's Mad as Hell, and She's Not Going to Take it Anymore
The lovely tourists
A Small Mind Writes A Small Place
An island paradise
It is a Small place

A Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0374527075

Book Description

A brilliant look at colonialism and its effects in Antigua--by the author of Annie John

"If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V. C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him--why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument. You are a tourist and you have not yet seen . . ."

So begins Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay, which shows us what we have not yet seen of the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up.

Lyrical, sardonic, and forthright by turns, in a Swiftian mode, A Small Place cannot help but amplify our vision of one small place and all that it signifies.

Customer Reviews:

Kincaid's Mad as Hell, and She's Not Going to Take it Anymore.......2007-01-11

Published in 1988 Kincaid's "A Small Place" is an unflinchingly angry portrayal of post-colonial, post-slavery life on the island of Antigua. To put it simply: Kincaid is as mad as hell, and she's not going to take it anymore. If you're white and can shelve your defensiveness for a moment this book is actually really enjoyable, it's written in first person and directed at "you," the British colonizer and/or the fat white tourist. Kincaid's sense of humor is wonderfully dark, and there are a lot of moments of humor if you keep an open mind. Still, at the heart of the matter is the story of Antigua's decay, left to rot by the British colonizers, with a population that doesn't vote openly corrupt officials out of office. She openly points out the irony of the celebration of emancipation alongside the valorization of the Hotel Training School, which teaches the residents of the island to be servants. In the end Kincaid concludes that no one is to blame, that after slavery the masters are no longer evil and the slaves are no longer "noble," but that everyone is merely human. She problematizes the matter, but offers no solutions, which might irritate those concrete sequentials among us. Also, she refers to Columbus, and the explorers in general, so adored in American culture, as "human rubbish" on multiple occasions. You might not agree with Kincaid, but this is one topic someone should be angry about, and her unapologetic narrative is about as honest as you can get.

The lovely tourists.......2006-05-01

I had to read this book for a Multicultural Literature class at my Uni, and, far from being informative, all it did was fill with me a contempt of my own. I am not a racist by any means, but when confronted with such a bitter, snide voice as the one Kincaid displays, I find myself unconsciously getting defensive. When she says, "you are a tourist; you are ugly," I find myself saying, "Fine, I'll keep my money and let you trade with seashells and beads." Kincaid is a master of the self-fulfilling prophecy: she says Antiguans are so oppressed and so downtrodden and so angry, and rather than doing anything to help it, she's exacerbating it by using such a bitter, over-the-top voice.

Other reviewers have stated that the vision of Antigua portrayed is a warped and extremely limited one, biased by Kincaid's apparent small mindedness, and I must confess that I'm glad to hear that. To think that the entire island is solely occupied by bitter people who imagine themselves to be ex-slaves would make me steer clear of the area any time I go on vacation.

Because, yes, I am a tourist. And no, being a tourist does not automatically make anyone ugly, despite what Kincaid's bitter rant might say.

A Small Mind Writes A Small Place.......2006-03-04

A major failing of this essay, which claims to be non-fiction, is Kincaid's sole reliance on her own memories of Antigua. As an eye-witness, Kincaid has the chance to provide a unique perspective on the issues of slavery, corruption, tourism, colonialism, and SIDS (small island developing states). Yet, she ruins this chance, in my opinion, with her complete disregard of any perspective other than her own.

A Small Place presents a biased and incomplete account of many of the issues facing Antigua and other islands in the Caribbean. Some of Kincaid's criticisms are certainly valid; however, others have been blown completely out of proportion. If one really wishes to know the history of Antigua and to understand the lingering consequences of colonialism, I suggest looking elsewhere.

What this book lacks in factual information, it does not make up for with a strong emotional appeal. Kincaid's story line is incomplete and unengaging. She repeatedly wanders from topic to topic and back again, giving no sense of what is most important or relevant. Additionally, whatever sympathy she may gain from the Western reader is repeatedly lost with her hateful generalizations.

I am sorry that I have to write such a negative review of this book. I believe that it is important for people in the West to understand the plight of developing countries, especially SIDS. However, I do not believe that A Small Place is at all helpful in promoting this dialogue.

It is important to understand the past. And I can sympathize with Kincaid's intense hatred of those who have and continue to oppress "her people". However, I think this text is short-sighted in its desire for change. After repeatedly criticizing tourists for their greed and laziness, does she really expect them to want to understand Antiguan society? I see the hatred and dualism expressed in A Small Place as a major obstacle in achieving a better tomorrow.

An island paradise.......2005-02-05

Antigua, an awe-inspiring vacation spot for Europeans and North Americans, takes on a different aura when discussed by native Jamaica Kincaid. Ms. Kincaid describes how the Antiguans feel about the tourists who visit: ugly people. Ugly because they invaded, then brought slaves to work for them so they could become rich while ignoring the needs of those who made them wealthy. Ugly because of what they've done to the island and the people who live there. Jamaica talks about the corrupt government and the hand that North Americans, British, Syrians and Lebanese play in that corruption. She describes how England paved the roads the Queen of England would travel when she visited, but left everything else in poor condition. Ms. Kincaid also mentions the drug dealers that the government ignores and those who build ugly condos for the wealthy and rent business space to the government who should be building their own space.

In a very few pages, Jamaica Kincaid says what a lot of former slaves would like to say but are perhaps too politically correct to utter. She does the job for us. Ms. Kincaid does not mince her words when it comes to what the British Empire did to the people of Antigua and the world for that matter. Frequently, I found myself wanting to stand up and cheer as I read her words of disgust and anger. While Ms. Kincaid is specifically speaking of Antigua, her words describe the slave trade and the destruction and poverty left in the wake of it no matter what country. It is well worth reading - more than once.

Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

It is a Small place .......2004-09-21

In "A Small Place", Kincaid leads the western reader through Antigua, while invoking feelings of guilt. Kincaid draws the reader in by narrating through the reader's perspective. She does this to engulf the reader into the setting and workings of Antigua and its government, including it's abused cultural history. This is the style of narration that Kincaid uses in the first thirty-seven pages of the book, and is very effective in captivating the reader. I felt guilt and ignorance while reading through Kincaid's description of Antigua and the abuse it is subject to by a regressive white moderate. She passionately unveils the crimes and injustices that her people have suffered from. The read is passionate and truthful while forcefully shedding the ignorant presumptions of the reader about what a western reader would consider a "resort area." She skillfully illustrates how foreign landowners rob the economy and further suppress the Antiguan population. She combines the individual reader into a collaboration of his/her personal/cultural histories to make that individual feel responsible for his/her cultures actions. So not only do you read the book as yourself, but you read the essay as western cultures history. She doesn't stop there, but uncovers the evils committed by her own western placed government and calls into question the morality that the whole island revolves on. This is the reason the book has been banned in Antigua. Not only would the book have inflicted damage on commerce and tourism, but also it would have uncovered the committed evils of the persons in power there.
I thought the book was far from enjoyable, but an essential read that helped erase certain ignorance held by the western population. I would suggest the book to scholars and activists or anyone interested in the repercussions of cultural memory. All in all I enjoyed the read but wished that Kincaid had followed through with the "reader narrator" format, which she uses to pull the reader in but abandons after the thirty-seventh page.

Average customer rating:

alluring, seductive, and entertaining
Enlightening
Where's the story?
A Complicated Work
Jamica Kincaid, a story of family and loss

My Brother
Jamaica Kincaid
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0374525625

Amazon.com

Compassion only occasionally lightens the grim tone of Jamaica Kincaid's searing account of her younger brother Devon's 1996 death from AIDS. As in novels such as Annie John, Kincaid is ruthlessly honest about her ambivalence toward the impoverished Caribbean nation from which she fled, her restrictive family, and the culture that imprisoned Devon. That honesty, which includes chilling detachment from her brother's suffering, is sometimes alienating. But art has its own justifications. The bitter clarity of Kincaid's prose and the tangled, undeniably human feelings it lucidly dissects are justification enough.

Book Description

Jamaica Kincaid's incantatory, poetic, and often shockingly frank recounting of her brother Devon Drew's life is also the story of her family on the island of Antigua, a constellation centered on the powerful, sometimes threatening figure of the writer's mother. Kincaid's unblinking record of a life that ed too early speaks volumes about the difficult truths at the heart of all families.

Customer Reviews:

alluring, seductive, and entertaining.......2007-04-16

I'd only ever read a short short story of Jamaica Kincaid's (that I wasn't too impressed by) before picking up this memoir. I enjoyed her memoir thoroughly. Wonderfully crafted and skillfully written, this rendition of her memories surrounding the life and death of her brother in Antigua, Jamaica, are emotionally moving, to say the least. I'm not giving much away by revealing that her brother dies of AIDS, something that is revealed in the first few pages, so I'm okay to say that this story of a sister and family's grappling with the immiment death manages to handle the AIDS story with beauty, poise, and compelling writing.

She highlights the stigma that surrounded anyone who contracted the disease. Were they a drug user? A philanderer? A homosexual? What kind of lifestyle does that person live that allowed them to contract such a deadly disease? Those are the questions people in Jamaica, and elsewhere, thought and asked themselves at the time, and even today. The sick were labelled, ostricized, deemed outcast, and refused help. A sad plight, indeed.

Simply put, Kincaid has a simple way with language that turns up on the page as alluring, seductive, and entertaining.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Enlightening.......2002-08-29

I first read Jamaica Kincaid's work in "Talk Stories", and I loved it.

I discovered this book (My Brother) when reading the book "Writing as a Way of Healing" by Louise DeSalvo. I was curious about Jamaica's life and her writing style intrigued me.

Through her writing, Jamaica brings beauty to even the most difficult of life's experiences. She writes, "That sun, that sun. On the last day of our visit its rays seemed as pointed and unfriendly as an enemy's well-aimed spear."(p.73)

Her writing is honest and balanced between expressing the hard aspects and the kindness within her family life. This book is mostly about her brother dying of AIDS, a very difficult subject matter to read. I also enjoyed reading about how she became a writer, and what it means to her to be a writer.

This book also tells about life in Antigua, which I was especially interested in learning about. The next book I will read by Jamaica is "A Small Place", to learn more about life in Antigua.

Where's the story?.......2002-06-28

Normally a fan of Jamaica Kincaid, this book was terribly disappointing. Kincaid tells the story of her brother's battle with AIDS . . . well, sort of tells it anyway.

This book tells the reader surprisingly little about any story. Kincaid, wrapped up in age-old animosity toward her mother does not tell the story of her brother's fight with a deadly disease, or the story of her brother's death, or the story of her brother's life, or even her own story of how she dealt with all of this--all of which would have been fascinating stories had they been told. Kincaid's feelings toward her mother seem not quite unfounded to the reader but certainly a bit mysterious. There is deep conflict between the author and her mother but as readers we have only two or three explanations for the mother/daughter difficulty. If this were only mentioned in passing we could overlook this flaw, however, Kincaid is extremely hung up on the issue and the ill feelings toward her mother cloud the true story of the book (whatever that may be).

Kincaid's style, usually quite interesting, was lacking in this book. Her wandering, redundant sentences build her excessively long and redundant paragraphs, which are full of distracting and also redundant parenthetical comments.

However, the book is not without a few strong points. There are some good detailed descriptions--particularly of her brother's physical condition and of specific places. Kincaid also does a fine job of describing her various feelings when she realizes toward the end of the book that she knew her brother even less than she had previously thought (and she never claimed to know much about him to begin with).

My advice is to pass this book by and pick up one of Kincaid's novels, or--even better--get your hands on one of her short stories.

A Complicated Work.......2002-04-14

I'm still thinking through the issues raised in "My Brother" -- and I suspect that it will be one of those books which, though it feels a bit hollow as I read it, will turn out to haunt me in the future. Only time will tell. The most remarkable thing about it, I think, is the way that Kincaid refuses to valorize any of the characters she describes. The incredible ire towards her mother is the only emotion that feels puzzling, given the lack of context for it -- I kept waiting for a revelation there that never came. With this exception, however, Kincaid seems committed to presenting a balanced portrayal: she does not heroize the dead, nor does she portray herself as particularly wise or noble in the face of death. It is this commitment to a human, complex portrayal that makes the description unique.

I just want to add that I am only posting this to counteract what appears to be a long list of high school book reports that make up most of the "reviewing" on this page. ...

Jamica Kincaid, a story of family and loss.......2002-01-22

Jamaica Kincaid tells the story of her ill brother and his encounters with the virus HIV. The story has the title of My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid. The story is essentially written to save Jamaica's own life. Whenever there is a tragic happening in her family, she writes about to let her feelings out and she also tries to exclude herself from her family. She moves away from Antigua once she became old enough to do so. Jamaica goes through sever years without connection to her mother and her siblings. Jamaica struggles to find feelings for her sick and dying brother as he spends his last days in an old run down hospital in Antigua. Jamaica is only able to let her own feelings out in a comfortable manner to Dr. Prince Ramsey. Jamaica is unable to communicate with her own mother. This is due to Jamaica's feeling that her mother was only a mother at certain times. Jamaica is driven on the idea that her mother only wants to care for her children if they were sick or in need of caring. Any time other than that, Jamaica thinks she had a poor mother. Jamaica is pleased however with few things her mother did. When Jamaica was only fifteen years old, she was forced to look after her younger brother who was only age two. She decided to read her books all day long and decided that looking after her younger brother was not a number one priority. Jamaica realized at the end of her reading that her mother would be home soon so she tried to clean up the things she thought her mother would realize first. One of these things was her brothers diaper but Jamaica did not have enough time to change so once her mother found this out, she took all of Jamaica's books, took them outside, doused them with kerosene, and burned them all, every last book. Jamaica recalls this event as driving her to become a written to make up for all for all of the books that she had lost at a young age.
Throughout the book Jamaica conveys her struggle to find love for her dying brother, Devon Drew. She never was close at all to her younger brother and as her brother became more sick, Jamaica knew she need to do something to redeem her self for all of the years she was absent in the presence of her brother. On page 72, Jamaica and her mother have a conversation about bringing her brother the medicine that prolonged his life several months more. Her mother said to her that god would bless her richly for providing her brother with the medicine, AZT. Jamaica was not sure if what her mother said was true but she was really not concerned with gods or being richly blessed. Jamaica was constantly thinking about how her brother was sick and how much Antiguan society shunned HIV positive people. Even though her brother was feeling better from the AZT, Jamaica knew that eventually her brother would die. On January 19th, 1996, at the age of thirty-three, Devon Drew died.
At certain times throughout the story, Jamaica thinks that it is perhaps better if her brother would just die, but when Devon was no more, Jamaica did not know what to feel. At certain points throughout the story, Jamaica feels that Devon is becoming a burden to her, making fly from her home in Vermont to Antigua, every time her brother needed more AZT. On page 87 she states that it seemed that his dying was a good thing, she was relieved when her brother finally did die. She says " when that moment came, the moment I knew he was no longer alive, I didn't know what to think, I didn't know how to feel" I think that this sentence conveys the struggle Jamaica has internally about her brothers illness and about how she felt about him when he was alive. During the story Jamaica also remembers the death of her father. She got word of his death right around Christmas time and she felt increasingly depressed. On page 119 Jamaica says " In the letter telling me that my father is (that is, the man who was not really my father but whom played I thought of as my father, and the man who had filled that role in my life) had died, my mother said his death left them impoverished, that she had been unable to pay for his burial, and the only charitable of others allowed him to have an ordinary burial, not an extraordinary burial of a pauper, with its anonymous grave and which no proper mourners attend". Throughout the second half of the book, Jamaica demonstrates her increasing anger toward her father and her brother. She becomes very angered at the thought of anyone dying and she keeps feeling that she really did not care about the loss of her father, only how to try and make up for the lost time with her brother, who in retrospect never really seemed to love Jamaica as a sister, just perhaps someone who provided him life with more AZT. Jamaica has difficulty dealing with all of the tragic experiences that has happened to her family, that is why one could feel that Jamaica isolated herself from her family. She feels that at certain times throughout the book she feels that perhaps she is to blame for being in the absence of her ill brother.
One could feel that Jamaica Kincaid does represent a hero but in defined terms. At times the only reason she is able to provide her brother with AZT is because she has had a better life than the rest of her family and she also has more money than the rest of her family. She tries her hardest to find love for her brother, even though she really cannot relate to any of his problems. She buys him temporary relief with the AZT medicine, but she knows that is not enough to make up for all of the lost years she had been without her brother. One might not necessarily think that Jamaica wanted to reconnect with her brother and the rest of her family, one might think that she just wanted to see him again before he died. While visiting her brother the experiences Jamaica had with her mother did make her more stressed out and more prone to mental and physical breakdowns. One could say that Jamaica did triumph all of the death and stress that was associated with her mother and the rest of her family.
One cold imagine that this story is heartfelt at times and a very good read. Some parts of the story were somewhat confusing when Jamaica puts things like my father (not my father but my brother's father) in parentheses. It seems as though she does want a mother and father but at times is seems as though Jamaica knows that maybe they do not want to be parents to her. This book is touching on several levels and anyone who has family members who are sick can relate to this book. This book was moving and really from the heart (of Jamaica Kincaid). One could feel that this book could be given to almost anyone and that person would be moved emotionally as well as physically. This book tells the story of hardship and death a young girl inspired to write her feelings in order to save her own life. Jamaica was inspired by the acts of her mother burning the few items she truly loved in live. Her books. She is familiar with the act of saving herself, so when she found out her brother was sick and dying. She started to write she knew that was the only was to understand his sickness, and she also began to write so she would not die with him. This book was amazing and is truly one of the best works of all times. It deals with emotion and real life situations. One feels that anyone who wants to learn the story of a girl who overcame the impoverished life of her family and the way Jamaica tried to save her own brother even when she could not relate to him, and she did with grace and inner strength that is unprecedented and amazing. She tried to keep a smile on her face and have a strong heart through it all.

Women Who Live Evil Lives: Gender, Religion, and the Politics of Power in Colonial Guatemala, 1650-1750

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Women Who Live Evil Lives: Gender, Religion, and the Politics of Power in Colonial Guatemala, 1650-1750
Martha Few
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0292725493

Book Description

"This is a significant intellectual contribution that has the additional merit of being thoroughly readable and appealing to a broad [audience].... The case studies are riveting, detailed with intensely personal, often sexually and socially charged examples, and clearly integrated with Few's overarching theoretical and conceptual framework. This is wonderful historical ethnographic material."

—Grant D. Jones, author of The Conquest of the Last Maya Kingdom

Women Who Live Evil Lives documents the lives and practices of mixed-race, Black, Spanish, and Maya women sorcerers, spell-casters, magical healers, and midwives in the social relations of power in Santiago de Guatemala, the capital of colonial Central America. Men and women from all sectors of society consulted them to intervene in sexual and familial relations and disputes between neighbors and rival shop owners; to counter abusive colonial officials, employers, or husbands; and in cases of inexplicable illness.

Applying historical, anthropological, and gender studies analysis, Martha Few argues that women's local practices of magic, curing, and religion revealed opportunities for women's cultural authority and power in colonial Guatemala. Few draws on archival research conducted in Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain to shed new light on women's critical public roles in Santiago, the cultural and social connections between the capital city and the countryside, and the gender dynamics of power in the ethnic and cultural contestation of Spanish colonial rule in daily life.

The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean (Vol. 2) Anguilla, St Maarten/Martin, St. Barts, Saba, Statia, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua, Guadeloupe (Complete Diving Guide)

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Yet another first rate publication from these two experts.
The ultimate dive guide
A must for the crusing yachts bookshelf.

The Complete Diving Guide: The Caribbean (Vol. 2) Anguilla, St Maarten/Martin, St. Barts, Saba, Statia, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua, Guadeloupe (Complete Diving Guide)
Colleen Ryan , and Brian Savage
Manufacturer: Cruising Guide Publications
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ASIN: 0944428487

Book Description

The Complete Diving Guides to scuba diving in the Eastern Caribbean, including descriptions of ALL dive sites, dive stores and operators. Island maps show the location of dive sites and stores. Dive sites are illustrated by underwater maps and photographs.

Volume 2 gives you everything you ever need to know about scuba diving on these fantastic Caribbean islands: Anguilla, St Martin & St Maarten, St Barts, Saba, Statia, St Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Guadeloupe.

Customer Reviews:

Yet another first rate publication from these two experts........2007-05-26

As I said when reviewing Vol. 1 of this series of book, it is always interesting to see which ones are preferred by the Dive Guides at the sharp end. Take it from me, they are all using this book and if it's good enough for them then it's more than good enough for me. Not once have I found any of the three volumes in my possession to be lacking in any way.

The book is well written and includes plenty of general information on diving, facilities, climate, sea, regulations, boats, cruise liners, resorts, hotels, flora, fauna, shipwrecks, photography and safety. The book then covers each of the Caribbean countries which form the main subject matter before concluding with a Glossary, Bibliography and Accident and Emergency Information.

If you want a book full of pretty pictures - then look elsewhere. This is a true guide which contains all the information you will require. It does not fool you by pretending to be something it is not - as is the case with far too many so-called "Guides," but instead concentrates on providing all the relevant and peripheral information that any Scuba Diver will want to know before and during a trip to any of the Caribbean destinations covered. The maps and diagrams are particularly useful - and very easy to follow.

My advice is to look at the "information" given in this series of books and don't get side-tracked by something more flashy. Do not be tempted away from this one - it is a straight forward, no nonsense guide containing everything you will want to know.

In summary, any book claiming to be "A Complete Guide" has to include an awful lot of information. This one has achieved just that and will not disappoint the purchaser.

NM

The ultimate dive guide.......2000-07-26

I'd definitely give this guide full marks. It's without doubt the most comprehensive of the guides I looked at for the area I was travelling to(the Virgin Islands). It had everything we could have wanted to know and it definitely meant we did some better diving than we'd have done without it. We particularly liked that it gave us information about the British and US Virgin Islands and as they are less than 5 miles apart it's simple to dive both areas. They have some really different types of diving and we'd have missed out on a lot without the guide. We bought the book before we went but we took it along with us and used it all the time. One of the things we enjoyed reading was the descriptions of the dives andthe sections about the marine life. We've been diving for over 10 years and I've learnt more from this book than I have in my previous years of diving.

A must for the crusing yachts bookshelf........2000-07-25

The Complete Diving Guide (2) is a must for anyone diving the Netherlands Antilles. I used it while cruising in the area on my yacht in St. Maarten and dived in Saba, Statia and Anguilla on the strength of the information in the guide book. It tells you where the best dives are and how to dive them. The maps show you where the dives are and there is a lot of general background about what the diving will be like. I was surprised how much information the authors included and there's no woffle, it's all good value for money.

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A Must Read
Not a Fluff Read!
Long Story Short
A new Caribbean Classic
Unburnable is a non stop read, excellent

Unburnable: A Novel
Marie-Elena John
Manufacturer: Amistad
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060837578
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Book Description

In this riveting narrative of family, betrayal, vengeance, and murder, Lillian Baptiste is willed back to her island home of Dominica to finally settle her past. Haunted by scandal and secrets, Lillian left Dominica when she was fourteen after discovering she was the daughter of Iris, the half-crazy woman whose life was told of in chanté mas songs sung during Carnival: Matilda Swinging and Bottle of Coke; songs about a village on a mountaintop and bones and bodies; songs about flying masquerades and a man who dropped dead. Lillian knew the songs well. And now she knows these songs -- and thus the history -- belong to her. After twenty years away, Lillian returns to face the demons of her past, and with the help of Teddy, the man she refused to love, she will find a way to heal.

Set partly in contemporary Washington, D.C., and partly in post-World War II Dominica, Unburnable weaves together West Indian history, African culture, and American sensibilities. Richly textured and lushly rendered, Unburnable showcases a welcome and assured new voice.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2007-03-27

This is a great book to kick back in silence and just immerse yourself into suspense, deep thinking, and a few tears. I was just a little disappointed with the ending, but all in all this was a great read.

Not a Fluff Read!.......2007-01-14

I have been blessed enough in the last week to read not one but TWO great books this one being the greater. I will admit I wasn't wrapped up in the book by page two but by page ten I was all caught up in this story. Marie-Elena John is an EXCELLENT story teller. Her words are beautiful and her descriptions come off the page so effortlessly. I could've easily believed this was her third novel instead of her first. I laughed, I cried and I called all my friends and advised them to please read this book. I did not know anything about Dominica before picking up this novel and now I cannot learn enough. This book intrigued me to no end and I cannot wait to read future publishings from Marie-Elena John. This story is not in the least predictable and her knowledge on the subject matter is outstanding! If you are looking for a mind challenging novel that will shock and educate you at the same time then look no further.

Long Story Short.......2006-11-08

Interesting story, you have to continue to read this book and not stop or you might get side tracked if you put it down for too long.

A new Caribbean Classic.......2006-10-04

This novel is destined for "Caribbean Classic" status.

While I am mindful that many writers hate being "compared" and although I concede that the literary styles, politics and and subject matters of the two novels are vastly different in many respects, there is a compelling case for comparing "Unburnable" with Jean Rhys' "Wide Sargasso Sea".

One obvious similarity is that both novels are set in Dominica (there must really be something magical about about that little rock); another is that both novels were authored by Caribbean women. The most important similarity, however, is that both authors insist that the Caribbean woman's (and by extension the Caribbean peoples') right to dignity must be acknowledged. Both authors are bellicose in their refusal to accept the self hatred which is part and parcel of the legacy of colonialism.

Alienation is an important theme in both novels. Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea and Lillian in Unburnable are women ill at ease in their environments, uncomfortable in her own skins, who nevertheless, fight tooth and nail to assert their right "to be".

Both novelists challenge the still prevailing view of polite Caribbean society that "obeah is wicked and its practitioners are charlatans; praise Jesus that our colonial masters liberated us with christianity". Christophine in Wide Sargasso Sea and Matilda in Unburnable are both healers and protectors; superheroines a la Wonder Woman, Mighty Isis and Xena Warrior Princess. They right wrongs, punish evil and defend the downtrodden. They are the christian god in earthly female form, with the appealing bonus of being strikingly beautiful. (An interesting aside: obeah is still illegal in most independent Caribbean states. In this very year there was a prosecution in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for "attempting to pervert the course of justice through the use of obeah". The magistrate agreed with the argument of counsel for the defendant that the charge was too absurd to be maintained and the case was dismissed on a no case submission).

The question which arises is, why are there such startling thematic similarities between a novel penned in the early 20th century by a white woman, born in colonial Dominica and one written at the dawn of the 21st Century by a black woman, a product of the Post-Independence Caribbean? Is the answer simply that the legacy of five hundred years of colonialism cannot be undone in under a century? How far does the truism of the universality of the human experience apply?

But I intended to discuss "Unburnable". Marie-Elena John is a natural story teller. Like all the other readers, I could not put the book down because the story was so gripping. What facinated me is that she manages to weave in discussions on gender relations, feminism, Caribbean nationalism, Pan-Africanism, the nature of faith, the nature of bigotry, Caribbean class structure and many other "heavy" themes without making the story suffer; without boring the reader to death with self conscious diatribe.

Although I am somewhat handicapped in the arena of making predictions (all the good obeah women having been driven underground by this year's prosecution and, therefore, unavailable to offer assistance) I will venture this; Unburnable will appear on the book lists of CXC, CAPE and UWI's degree programmes in English in a very short time.

Unburnable is a non stop read, excellent.......2006-07-26

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time. Excellent job especially for her first novel. The characters were intriguing well researched and portrayed and true; the entire read was unpredictable which I loved. The flow was good and it was a book you find hard to put down. Looking forward to her next novel. Great job Marie-Elena

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a guatemalan story!
A Multicultural Holy Week

Sawdust Carpets

Manufacturer: Groundwood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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The Most Beautiful Place in the World

ASIN: 088899625X

Book Description

The Lau family travels to Antigua, Guatemala to visit their cousins. Although the Laus are Chinese and Buddhist, they adore the pageantry of Easter, and Easter in Antigua is exciting, with long, elaborate processions of penitents wreathed in incense and carrying colonial Spanish statues down the cobblestone streets of the city. The best part is seeing the elaborate carpets made of colored sawdust, which the processions walk over and destroy. On the morning of the most important procession, the heroine is invited to make her very own sawdust carpet. But why, she wonders, make something so beautiful, only to have it be ruined?

Guatemalan and Chinese religious observances, dragon boat races and Easter processions, piñatas, baptisms, and Chinese tamales all weave in and out of this story, which celebrates beauty, religious celebration, and tolerance.

Customer Reviews:

a guatemalan story! .......2006-07-19

Our family has enjoyed this book.
We spent 8 months living in beautiful Antigua last year and this book brought back memories for us!
As a mother of 5 Guatemalan children - I found this book a delightful way to introduce our children to the tradition of Semana Santa ( holy week).
We have enjoyed Ms. Carling's book and would recommend it to anyone hoping to introduce young children to the traditions found in Guatemala.

A Multicultural Holy Week.......2005-08-19

The girl's family is visiting her aunt's family in Antigua for Holy Week because her baby cousin is going to be baptized on Easter. The tradition of glorious sawdust carpets, temporary art (like Navajo sand paintings) meant to be destroyed by the processions, is seen though her eyes. She is sad at her carpet's destruction, but able by Easter to plan next year's design. The rugs, a neighbor tells her, are "offerings to life."

There are very few good picture books about Easter, outside of retellings of the Easter story itself, that give a hint at the feast's religious depths (Eric Kimmel's The Birds' Gift, Patricia Polacco's Chicken Sunday). This belongs on that select list. It's not for the sort of conservative Christian who looks negatively at other religious traditions. (On a shelf in the cousins' house, there "stood the Virgin of Guadalupe next to the Kuan Yin, our Chinese goddess. I thought they looked like friends. Incense swirled around them, bringing them together.") Liturgical Christians will appreciate it as the only picture book that connects Easter with baptism!

Antigua and Barbuda: A Little Bit of Paradise

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Antigua and Barbuda: A Little Bit of Paradise

Manufacturer: Hansib Publishing (Caribbean) Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Antigua and Barbuda | Caribbean | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1870518578

Jamaica Kincaid: Writing Memory, Writing Back To The Mother

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Jamaica Kincaid: Writing Memory, Writing Back To The Mother
J. Brooks Bouson
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0791465233

Antigua Guatemala: The City and Its Heritage

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Good History Lesson
Elizabeth Bell's Antigua Guatemala
A must have book for anyone visiting Antigua, Guatemala!

Antigua Guatemala: The City and Its Heritage
Elizabeth Bell
Manufacturer: Antigua Tours
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9992270691

Book Description

An in-depth description of the city of Antigua Guatemala including its history, 33 monuments and historical sites, museums, houses, fiestas and holidays. It also covers the physical environment and historical figures, and provides a record of earthquakes and Fuego Volcano Eruptions and has an extensive bibliography. This is THE source for visitors' information on the colonial capital of Antigua Guatemala.

Customer Reviews:

Good History Lesson.......2007-01-26

I thought the book was going to give 'insider' travel and touring tips for those visiting Antigua and surrounding areas today. Perhaps I should have read the book summary more closely; it is actually a detailed look at the city's development and its history, describing all the places to see from an historical perspective. For those who are interested, the author presents a fascinating yet singularly focused background on the city's development. Her expertise is unquestioned, however I found the writing somewhat dry. Still, I look forward to visiting Antigua soon and I am sure I will share her love and fascination with this beautiful place.

Elizabeth Bell's Antigua Guatemala.......2006-11-25

Are you planning a visit to Antigua Guatemala? Read Elizabeth Bell's Antigua Guatemala: The City and its Heritage first! If you aren't planning a visit, leaf through this book and you will reserve a ticket as soon as possible. Bell's book is a marvelous introduction to the history, architecture, and art of this important colonial city. In addition to an excellent historical introduction, the book includes monument by monument descriptions, museum summaries, and references to specific art objects. Photographs, a comprehensive bibliography, and a charming map are also included. Bell's devotion to the scholarship of the area and the restoration of this beautiful city are remarkable. The book is a terrific introduction to an intriguing city.

A must have book for anyone visiting Antigua, Guatemala!.......2004-02-04

Antigua has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the New World. Once the darling of the Americas, she was virtually abandoned after a devastating earthquake in 1773. Thus, we have one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the Americas.

I became smitten with Antigua while on a holiday from missions work in December 1995. What began as an innocent walking tour with Elizabeth Bell, became a lifelong love of this beautiful city and her people. With Bell's book (and candle, in case night set in), I visited almost every building or ruin and soaked up the romance of this beautiful city.

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