clouds come

0 Comments

1. 

   susan

   15 May 2009 Reply

   Great review and I think sometimes we speak too negatively of spoilers. I think they can motivated a reader to check out a read. Maybe that's just me. I read the review. I am convinced only more good things are going to happen with this book.

   Congratulations!

2. 

   elliottzetta

   15 May 2009 Reply

   Thanks, Susan! And I agree--a detailed review doesn't necessarily diminish the joy of reading a good book...

3. 

   Andromeda Jazmon

   16 May 2009 Reply

   Thanks for the love. I didn't think about it being spoilers until after I hit publish... hope it wasn't too much information. But the more I think about your book after reading it the more I wanted to talk about the complexity of the characters and relationships. I am still puzzling over how Genna got along with the doc even as he made her see rage red (for good reason). I wish I was in a book club with this book!

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  elliottzetta

  16 May 2009 Reply

  Not at all! I'm so impressed that you picked up on all the contradictions...neo-slave narratives allow us to really humanize the players, and I didn't want to paint all blacks as good and all whites as evil; the two races lived so intimately, and yet still were strangers in fundamental ways. Dr. Brant was interesting for me to write b/c I wanted to think about the ways we're all socialized to revere whiteness and the authority/expertise of white men in particular. Genna learns from Miss Holme that Dr. Brant "matters" somehow, and then she finds it hard to shake that impulse to seek his approval. It's very hard for us to stand back and say, "Your opinion doesn't matter any more than mine," b/c most of the power (wealth, status) in this society backs HIM up and warns us to defer...Dr. Brant isn't a bad man per se, but he's been socialized to think of women and all people of color as his "charges," dependents who need his paternal care. He truly does want to help Genna, but his racist, sexist views limit his ability to see her as his equal...a book club would be great!