Everything Inside

 

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A short story collection about Haitian immigrants (mostly). Really stories about human life--love, death, families, struggle, but infused with the culture and view-point of Haiti, especially those first -generation and second-generation immigrants. Relatable and compelling read.


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Another type of priest, cantor, vicar, or layperson  might have performed a different ritual, but the basic idea would have been the same: the try, with with will and desire alone, to influence something you could not. 

Washington Black

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Washington Black is a slave in Barbados when the story opens. Chosen to be the companion to Titch, the son who is driven by scientific curiosity, Washington becomes educated and begins to see the truth in his subjugation. When circumstances require that he flee, Titch goes with him for he feels just as trapped as Washington. They soon start an odyssey of sorts, seeking shelter and help from Titch's eclectic scientific friends, and traveling to the ends of the earth where Washington is abandoned and must make his own way in the world using the knowledge and skills he has acquired. What is freedom? How can education and scientific knowledge emancipate someone? Are there limits to what you can achieve beyond your control? Are there things that science simply cannot answer? These are some of the questions in this novel and it is an entertaining and thought-provoking read. It was a little too ambiguous for me to feel fully satisfied; I felt like it needed a bit more cohesion but still a worthwhile read.

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You were more concerned that slavery should be a moral stain upon white men than by the actual damage it wreaks on black men.

We had been estranged from the potential of our own bodies, from the revelation of everything our bodies and minds could accomplish.