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dylan2219's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
fascinating, troubling, deeply strange. Feels dramatically ahead of its time, but also further evidence that much of Caribbean art + literature around this time was dramatically modern, indeed many people there were doing things way ahead of similar movements in Europe and the US. This is like tropical Dylan Thomas , or William Faulkner; very impressionistic, short, tense little sentences rich with sensory detail and wordplay. Many of the passages in this book are incredible, even when some of the stories don’t work super well, getting too carried away in the details. Like many other works from this period - esp in the Caribbbean - it displays a fixation on race that I assume existed culturally at this time, but now reads as both cruel and bizarre, it gives a dark and gothic sensibility to the way in which these islands have been shaped by colonisation and slavery, every person’s backstory has a complicated and often traumatic past that can be literally read on their body. You never get the sense Waldron is writing for anyone other than his own community, and also, is uninterested in playing into or responding to any preconceived ideas about the Caribbean and it’s people. It’s not realism - if anything it’s surreal - but it is not didactic, and you just have to get on the wavelength, which I’m so glad I did.
hvv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Read for uni, short stories surrounds the experiences of caribbean migrant workers in the building of the panama canal. the ecology of the short stories are weirdly gothic, highlighting the destruction of colonial and capitalistic conquests on the colonised subjects (environment and people). the dialect is confusing at first, as is the region - takes a while to adjust to what’s happening and as soon as you get used to it the short story is ends and the next begins !
madelynelizondo's review against another edition
4.0
Breathtaking imagery. I loved having to re-read to delineate the real from the surreal; in doing this you realize that they are all too similar. Sheds light on the beauty of Caribbean multiculturalism and the subsequent blending of culture, language and identity. Framed during the construction of the Panama Canal, this text also highlights some of the fallouts of American imperialism/exceptionalism and how this is manifested in the black experience outside of America- really interesting imposition of U.S. racial categorization on a society incompatible with such compartmentalization. Also, really interesting depiction of post-colonial identity formation.
madpiff's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of shorts by Eric Walrond. At times it was a bit challenging to understand the accents he portrayed, but overall I feel it embellished each story. You really feel like you're in the Caribbean through each of these tales — the good, the bad, the ~tropic death~.
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