Susan Straight has beautiful prose. I will say that first because it is true and I liked how natural and unique her descriptions were because they brought color to the story. Her story was also very complex (which I always like to see in a book) but no loose ends were left over. I don't mind loose ends, but it's also nice to see an author who has thought through every aspect of a story.
However, Straight's novel was very difficult to read. When I first began reading it, I first noticed the language but not soon after I realized I was constantly floating around between time and space because I had no idea where/when I was in the story. The first chapter is a family tree and though I know this is to set the premise and context of Fantine's past, it was hard to keep track of later on. Eventually I gave up and just went along for the ride alongside Fantine and let her tell me who was related to who and if I couldn't remember later, it didn't matter because it was hard enough to keep track of everyone's names. At the end of the book, I can only say that Victor was Glorette's son.
Normally, I love a book with a lot of background story, it gives it life and context and makes it feel more real, but it felt as though Straight went a little too far with it, or at least Fantine did. Fantine's obsession with the past was the reason I was always confused about the when. She often (and very naturally) slips into her memories and memories of memories. The fact that Straight can weave this in before we even notice it is 20 years prior shows her talent as a writer, but made the reading experience full of questions and confusion. Which made the ending even harder to understand because it's so... succinct. Everything was solved suddenly with no loose ends, it was a bit jarring after all the problems and loose ends Fantine had been struggling with all along.
Nevertheless, I admire Straight's ability to write about a culture/race that is not her own and have it be so compelling and convincing. Her novel is a good one, if only hard to read and probably not meant for the casual reader looking for something they can read for ten or twenty minutes at a time every so often. I tried to read the book this way, taking maybe 30 minutes to an hour at at time to chisel away at it, but I always had to back track to remember where Fantine is or if Fantine is even the subject at that point in the story.
Justyne Marin
Justyne! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who got lost in the novel. "Memories of memories" is a good way to describe it. I had trouble keeping track of certain characters, partly because of the history we get and partly because of their names and partly because they weren't major. Also, I'd get startled sometimes when I realized I didn't know what was going on. The journey to Louisiana threw me off a bit, as we came across characters and locations suddenly, but it was also the car ride itself that confused things. FX would think of things, and then we'd be pulled to the present in a new setting. Thanks for reassuring me that I wasn't the only one.
ReplyDelete-Alexander Hirata