We meet him late in life: a quiet man, a good father and husband, a fixture in his Brooklyn neighborhood, a landlord and barber with a terrifying s...
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reviews
Jun 11, 2008
Savvy Suz
rated it: 
Agony and Atonement...
The Dew Breaker is my first taste of the gift of storytelling by Edwidge Danticat......but it won't be my last!
As the novel opens, revealing shocking secrets of the past, it's clear that the reader will not be disappointed.
The Dew Breaker's title comes from a Creole phrase referring to `Tontons Macoutes' (Haitian volunteer torturers) during the regime of the Duvaliers in Haiti. They would often come in the early dawn to take their victi More...
The Dew Breaker is my first taste of the gift of storytelling by Edwidge Danticat......but it won't be my last!
As the novel opens, revealing shocking secrets of the past, it's clear that the reader will not be disappointed.
The Dew Breaker's title comes from a Creole phrase referring to `Tontons Macoutes' (Haitian volunteer torturers) during the regime of the Duvaliers in Haiti. They would often come in the early dawn to take their victi More...
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Jan 21, 2012
Olivia
rated it: 
The Dew Breaker is a book organized into 9 sections (chapters), which are all perfectly able to stand alone as short stories. Each chapter features different characters and different points of view, and seem random at first, but by the end you realize they’re all interlocking and related in some way.
The novel is about an unnamed prison guard/torturer who was part of the Tonton Macoutes, the voluntary militia under Jean-Claude Duvalier’s reign in Haiti. The book is just as much about h More...
The novel is about an unnamed prison guard/torturer who was part of the Tonton Macoutes, the voluntary militia under Jean-Claude Duvalier’s reign in Haiti. The book is just as much about h More...
Dec 07, 2011
Zack
rated it:
i can never put my finger on what exactly i love most about edwidge dandicat's novels. her language is perfect. i feel a magic in her words - the same that i feel when reading rushdie or eco (what little eco i've read) - it's a kind of magic that isn't illusion at all; it's all completely real. these voices that make the ordinary seem incredibly important. yes it's true that all relationships are complicated. and that daughters disagree with their parents. and that children can't always know or
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Nov 25, 2010
Jenny
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/bo...
Haitian lives, Haitian scars
BOOK INFORMATION
The Dew Breaker
Our Rating A
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 242 pages
Genre: Fiction
Price: $22
By Jenny Shank, Special To The News
March 12, 2004
Despite her youth, Edwidge Danticat has always written with the gravity and insight of a wise old seer. Still, she could not have foreseen that civil unrest would break out in her n More...
Haitian lives, Haitian scars
BOOK INFORMATION
The Dew Breaker
Our Rating A
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 242 pages
Genre: Fiction
Price: $22
By Jenny Shank, Special To The News
March 12, 2004
Despite her youth, Edwidge Danticat has always written with the gravity and insight of a wise old seer. Still, she could not have foreseen that civil unrest would break out in her n More...
Dec 15, 2009
Tony
rated it: 
Haiti has always struck me as a place with fascinating history, and since my grandparents lived there from 1967-69, I've been curious to learn more about that particular period. This slim novel, which deals at least partially with that era, seemed like a good way to get a taste of life under the repressive dictatorship of "Papa Doc" Duvalier. It opens with the story of a young woman who's just sold her first sculpture, a mahogany statue of her father. She's on her way to Florida with h
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Feb 07, 2012
Maggie
rated it:
The Dew Breaker reads like a dream, in both senses of the phrase (silky smooth, and like the nocturnal neuronal firings). More like a recurring dream in which every night you take the place of a different character and watch the same scene with different eyes. You have to let go of your usual waking-hours desire for continuity and consistency of characters.
The book is beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Danticat. Beautiful and nearly perfectly crafted. I've heard the sto More...
The book is beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Danticat. Beautiful and nearly perfectly crafted. I've heard the sto More...
Jan 04, 2011
Lea Ann
rated it:
Generally this was a good book. I enjoyed reading about Haitian and Haitian American culture and I will probably be looking into more of Haiti's political past that makes up so much of the story.
I wish I had approached the book differently when I began reading it, because I started out with the impression that all the stories were connected, and somehow connected to one of the characters in the first chapter. However, each chapter jumped around so wildly in time, place and setting th More...
I wish I had approached the book differently when I began reading it, because I started out with the impression that all the stories were connected, and somehow connected to one of the characters in the first chapter. However, each chapter jumped around so wildly in time, place and setting th More...
Apr 03, 2010
Alison
rated it:
I'm glad I gave this a chance, because I didn't feel very pro-Danticat after reading The Farming of Bones (too sentimental--but after reading this one I may give it a second chance). But these are well written and immediately gripping interlocking stories that mostly manage to overcome their awkward bits (little bits of sentimentality again, artist daughters having artistic crises, etc.--the kinds of flaws that you'll find in a lot of writing--but most writing isn't redeemed by Danticat's confi
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Dec 18, 2009
Laura
rated it:
Edwidge Danticat is still one of my favorite writers, but this was not one of my favorite books of hers. I listened to it on audiobook, and it took me a while to realize that each section was a different short story rather than a different chapter. While the writing is still beautiful, I wasn't sure how some of the stories tied in. They were definitely thought-provoking, particularly since we get to see what is a simultaneous sympathetic and condemning look at a former Haitian macoute who wor
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Jul 31, 2011
Quite possibly one of the worst books I have ever read. And I actually wanted to like this. I wanted to understnad the Hatian experience better. I get the whole French Feminist inspired stream-of-consciousness type flow of the novel, but this goes beyond that and is peicemeal at best. There is no structure to the storyline and half the characters are incidental at best. For all the horror that the "Dew Breaker" is supposed to have inflicted, you get no real sense of any real emoti
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Aug 10, 2010
Tsehay
rated it:
I just finished this book last night and am mostly impressed with the strong lyricism of Danticat's writing. The moving back and forth between 1960s Haiti and present-day New York was enjoyable. However, I am not a big fan of multiple narrative perspectives/stories in books because I feel the flow of the story has been interrupted, which annoys me. In the case of The Dew Breaker there were multiple stories that I had difficulty linking together. The stories seemed isolated with no obvious connec
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Mar 26, 2011
Kaitlyn
rated it:
This novel is about a young girl discovering her father was a dew breaker, or someone experienced in torture who usually works for a prison, with other stories about the his victims, the victims family and those who years later recognize him as a dew breaker. Danticat has a way of using short, sharp sentences that really make an impact on the reader. I usually write longer sentences full of description or imagery, which I know can get long and boring. If I can use Danticat’s technique of th
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Aug 31, 2011
Siria
rated it: 
The Dew Breaker is not quite a novel, not quite a selection of short stories. Some of them are connected to the eponymous character who served as a torturer under the Duvalier regime in Haiti; others don't seem to connect at all. (Or perhaps too obscurely for me to connect the dots; rereading might make connections more obvious.) Danticat's writing style is clean, elegant and descriptive, but it lacked something I can't quite put my finger on—a certain level of emotion, perhaps. Given the subjec
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Sep 22, 2010
Kelsey
rated it:
"Dew breaker" is a Creole term for a torturer; "one that breaks the serenity of the grass in the morning dew" is one of the Tonton Macoutes that wrecked havoc upon the country of Haiti during Duvalier's reign. This book tells not only the story of the torturer himself but of his family, of those who lived in Haiti during that time, of those that were tortured themselves. It can be read as a collection of short stories that are all tied together or as a novel with chapters wr
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Jan 13, 2009
Alberto José
rated it:
Read more in my blog (in spanish): Abadía Vernaza, lector.
"(...)El desgarro de una dictadura, la violencia y el desarraigo crea estos intrincados laberintos de dolor que Edwidge Danticat explora. Aunque el libro peca por lento, se sostiene la expectación al entrelazar las historias y eso es un mérito por sí mismo. Al final, cuando se ha reconstruido una intrincada madeja de relatos se dimensiona el dolor y el sufrimiento que los haitianos vivieron por tantos años. Es difícil, a More...
"(...)El desgarro de una dictadura, la violencia y el desarraigo crea estos intrincados laberintos de dolor que Edwidge Danticat explora. Aunque el libro peca por lento, se sostiene la expectación al entrelazar las historias y eso es un mérito por sí mismo. Al final, cuando se ha reconstruido una intrincada madeja de relatos se dimensiona el dolor y el sufrimiento que los haitianos vivieron por tantos años. Es difícil, a More...
Jun 28, 2008
Mary
rated it:
This author is a one-woman Commission on
Reconciliation whose insider knowledge of
recent Haitian history supplies both the need for
reconciliation and its painful possibility. Great
storytelling with many light touches among the
somber facts.
Reconciliation whose insider knowledge of
recent Haitian history supplies both the need for
reconciliation and its painful possibility. Great
storytelling with many light touches among the
somber facts.
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Apr 12, 2011
Babydoll
rated it:
The Dew Breaker is a complex story, which can be read as a novel, as well as a collection of short stories. The Dew Breaker is a Creole nickname for "torturer". The novel opens with an introduction to the main characters, Ka and her parents. However, as the book progresses, Danticat includes several short stories before revisiting the main characters at the very end of the book. Some of the short stories included were irrelevant to the main plot, and could easily confuse and/or aggrava
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May 24, 2010
Lisa (Ravenswood)
rated it:
In this book Edwidge Danticat tells the story of survivors of the regime of the Duvaliers. I felt the perspective she used, with each chapter narrated by a different survivor, to be brilliant. The characters were very vivid. The agonizing memories of the survivors were described with profound sensitivity. The main narrator, Ka, describes her relationship to her parents - a mother who is very spritual, and a father (a former militant Tauton Macoute under Duvalier) who has hidden his past from
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Jul 14, 2008
Michael
rated it:
Not a novel, but a bunch of stories related to a torturer in Haiti, a Tonton Macoute (literally means Boogeyman) during Papa Doc Duvalier's tyranny from the 60s to the 80s. Several fantastic stories, with some filler.
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Nov 27, 2010
Kimi
rated it:
my good goodreads friend janet gave me this book, and i just found it in my stacks. oops, sorry to have taken so long in reading it! i'm familiar with danticat from the new yorker, though i hadn't read any extracts from this novel. really enjoyed it. the themes of torture and violence, the after affects on both the victim and the perp, possible redemption: she handles all this with skill, no drippy sentimentality, nor gratuitous violence. the writing is so good, it is a pleasure to read, desp
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Oct 26, 2011
Beth
rated it:
Simple. Heart breaking. Yes.
Danticat set out to write a devastating collection of stories about what it means to be a Haitian American and boy did she deliver. Her language is simple which only brings out the heaviness of this topic even more. It's pretty damn obvious that she was a poet before she set down to write a book.
"Night Talkers" and "Dew Breaker" made me sigh out loud in a content with a good book/my heart is on fire way.
Some of her sto More...
Danticat set out to write a devastating collection of stories about what it means to be a Haitian American and boy did she deliver. Her language is simple which only brings out the heaviness of this topic even more. It's pretty damn obvious that she was a poet before she set down to write a book.
"Night Talkers" and "Dew Breaker" made me sigh out loud in a content with a good book/my heart is on fire way.
Some of her sto More...
Dec 01, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
While I feel that "Brother, I'm Dying" and "Krik! Krak!" are much stronger works, this collection of short stories by Danticat is heart-breaking with moments of beauty.
Overall, the book deals with the question of freedom: what it is, what it can accomplish and what it does for humanity. The characters all seem unsure that liberation from their secrets/pasts/iniquities will gain for them what their hearts desire. This conundrum brings to light the larger probl More...
Overall, the book deals with the question of freedom: what it is, what it can accomplish and what it does for humanity. The characters all seem unsure that liberation from their secrets/pasts/iniquities will gain for them what their hearts desire. This conundrum brings to light the larger probl More...
Dec 22, 2009
Lucy
rated it:
A high school friend is a Dandicat devotée, but this was my first foray into literary Haiti. Dandicat creates a web of tales that spiral towards a central character, one of the "dew breakers," or volunteer torturers of Papa Doc's regime. I have a bad speed-reading habit, so I didn't know that the stories were connected until about 3/4 of the way through! Dandicat skips through place, time and voice, bringing vignettes to the surface but obscures the majority of the rich history and
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Dec 16, 2009
Alexandra
rated it:
This is an absolutely astounding book. It is a poignant amalgamation of stories that seem disconnected, but eventually come together to create devastingly beautiful and haunting story.
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Feb 24, 2011
Bethany
rated it:
I was initially interested in this book (given to me by my boss) because of its ties to Haiti. As a Florida resident, I have had the chance to interact with Haitians and am interested in finding out more about their country and culture. I must say that I was left a little disappointed with Danticat and her writing. The flow was confusing, as it jumped each chapter between different people and time periods. The beginning was interesting and drew me in, and the end tied everything together ade
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Apr 14, 2011
Samantha
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I love short stories and I especially love when all the stories somehow connect to each other (kinda like how the movies Crash and Love Actually are set up) because of that I really enjoyed reading through this book. This novel centers around several Haitian people trying to escape or come to terms with past experiences revolving around a group of prison guards/torturers that they call Dew Breakers. The thing I liked best about this book was probably how Danticat made everything into one huge gr
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Sep 12, 2009
Greta
rated it:
Absolutely breathtaking-- twisted, dark, skin-crawlingly disturbing, and, inevitably, heartbreaking. Not quite certain how I feel at the end of it though, and it is definitely the type of story, written in fragments of lives, from a variety of perspectives, that is a puzzle, requiring a reread and a re-reread in order to piece it all together; perhaps doing so will help me clarify how the tangle of deeply inhumane huminty in these pages makes me feel,to which character I feel most connected with
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Nov 14, 2009
Carrie
rated it:
Interesting story with many perspectives that all come together in the end. The Dew Breaker, a Haitian torturer, has immigrated to the US. He has his regrets and now waits for the right moment to come clean and tell his daughter about his past.
In the beginning I felt empathy, not only for the daughter but for her father as well. He felt unworthy of life and sorry because of his crimes. I wanted give him mercy. As I read how the Dew Breaker affected other lives, my mind began to c More...
In the beginning I felt empathy, not only for the daughter but for her father as well. He felt unworthy of life and sorry because of his crimes. I wanted give him mercy. As I read how the Dew Breaker affected other lives, my mind began to c More...
Aug 18, 2011
Florence
rated it:
This group of loosely related tales gives the reader a glimpse of Haitians, some living in the United States and some in their homeland. At first their stories seem ordinary and benign. The denouement combines the personal travails and political horrors that Haiti's citizens have endured during the last half century of their history. "We are free" some shout when Baby Doc flees the country, but it is only a temporary illusion. Danticat's prose is uncomplicated and direct bringing t
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Jan 07, 2010
Ariel
rated it:
This is an exellent short story cycle that was a qiuck and rewarding read for me. If you don't know about short story cycles (I didn't, alice told me)they all can be read independently but all cycle back around to relating to the same place, story etc. This one is all about Haitian immigrants to New York. It starts with a daughter discovering that her father was not the prisoner in Haiti she had always thought he was, but the dew breaker, the guard. The stories all relate to around this man who
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