Based on National Book Award-winner Joyce Carol Oates' novella about the Chappaquiddick scandal, this tragic and beautiful new opera enthralls as a...
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reviews
Oct 30, 2011
mark
rated it: 
Oates inexplicably squanders her gifts in this dream-like, stream-of-conscious exploration of a young woman’s state of mind, her attraction to a powerful older man, and her eventual doom. The writing is poetic, evocative, and certainly challenging – which is to be expected from a novelist of Oates’ caliber. Unfortunately, despite the attempt to give the characters an almost mythic stature, the ideas on display are rather pedestrian – and are certainly not helped by the very basic, near-formulaic
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4 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Feb 08, 2008
Christopher
rated it: 
I appreciate the concept/conceit of this novel: giving a voice to the woman who died in the notorious Chappaquidick accident which briefly engulfed Ted Kennedy's life in scandal. A scandal, which largely sensationalized the life of Mary Jo Kopechne, who died in a car accident whose circumstances are reasonably suspect. But Oates' novel (or what I can recall, having read it in high school), seems less intent on realizing Kopechne's life as it is intent on villainizing Ted Kennedy or rather the ar
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6 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 11, 2011
How do you keep a reader interested in a story that everyone already knows the ending to? The Senator crasges the car into the water; the girl drowns. The only way is to get into the girl's mind. Certain phrases or ideas are repeated in the way one's thoughts continually dwell on a certain subject. In that way it's stream-of-consciousness, but I found it easier to follow than some writing in that style. The girl's life in a sense flashes before your eyes, but not in order from birth to deat
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Jan 11, 2012
Cheryl
rated it: 
Joyce Carol Oates, in one hundred-sixty pages, takes readers into the mind of a twenty-six year old woman facing certain death in the depths of BLACK WATER. The car, driven recklessly by a drunken US Senator, leaves the isolated and unfamiliar road while trying to make the ferry. From the first of thirty-two short, intense and beautifully realized chapters, we are strapped in the front seat, shoulder broken, head bleeding, with the air bubble evaporating.
Each chapter revisits the ho More...
Each chapter revisits the ho More...
Oct 15, 2011
Roberta
rated it: 
Mentre l'acqua nera le riempiva i polmoni, e lei moriva.
Incredibile romanzo breve che ci racconta la storia di una ragazza ventiseienne, seduta in una macchina a fianco di un non meglio specificato Senatore. I due si sono incontrati a una festa per il 04 luglio a casa di un'amica comune in un'isola del Maine, e da lì se ne sono andati in macchina diretti a un ferry che li avrebbe portati, presumibilmente, a una stanza d'albergo. Purtroppo lungo una scorciatoia basta una brutta curva pe More...
Incredibile romanzo breve che ci racconta la storia di una ragazza ventiseienne, seduta in una macchina a fianco di un non meglio specificato Senatore. I due si sono incontrati a una festa per il 04 luglio a casa di un'amica comune in un'isola del Maine, e da lì se ne sono andati in macchina diretti a un ferry che li avrebbe portati, presumibilmente, a una stanza d'albergo. Purtroppo lungo una scorciatoia basta una brutta curva pe More...
Aug 14, 2011
Thompson
rated it:
This is a fictionalized account of Ted Kennedy and the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne. Most of the book is the thinking of the fictionalized Mary Jo. Much of the thinking is the confused ramblings of a liberal who substitutes feeling for thinking. This feeling keeps the drowning woman sure that the senator who abandoned her will rescue her. Typical of the lack of real thinking of the drowning liberal is her thinking that the support of abortion by liberals is nobel, but by conservatives is rac
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Mar 08, 2011
Book: Black Water
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Pages: 154
Series: none
Who: Elizabeth “Kelly” Kelleher, The Senator, Buffy, Mom & Dad
What: Seeing Kelly’s day and the accident.
Where: Buffy’s house and the swamp waters.
When: The Fourth of July
Why: Kelly plans to spend the week with Buffy & has fallen for the Senator.
How: The crash happens because The Senator decides to drink and drive.
Kelly’s story is one like any young girl who meets a famou More...
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Pages: 154
Series: none
Who: Elizabeth “Kelly” Kelleher, The Senator, Buffy, Mom & Dad
What: Seeing Kelly’s day and the accident.
Where: Buffy’s house and the swamp waters.
When: The Fourth of July
Why: Kelly plans to spend the week with Buffy & has fallen for the Senator.
How: The crash happens because The Senator decides to drink and drive.
Kelly’s story is one like any young girl who meets a famou More...
Mar 03, 2011
Engl
rated it:
Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938. She grew up in a working class family in the countryside of Lockport, New York. She attended a one-room schoolhouse in elementary school. As a child, she told stories through her drawings and paintings before learning how to write. After receiving a typewriter for a gift at the age of fourteen, she began writing novel after novel throughout high school and college. In 1953, at age fifteen, Oates wrote her first novel and it was rejec More...
Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938. She grew up in a working class family in the countryside of Lockport, New York. She attended a one-room schoolhouse in elementary school. As a child, she told stories through her drawings and paintings before learning how to write. After receiving a typewriter for a gift at the age of fourteen, she began writing novel after novel throughout high school and college. In 1953, at age fifteen, Oates wrote her first novel and it was rejec More...
Jul 23, 2009
Robert
rated it:
Though Joyce Carol Oates has been for many years a literary lioness, this is the first of her novels I’ve read. It is very powerful. Closely based on the Chappaquiddick incident, it’s about a young woman who at a Fourth of July party meets “The Senator” (aka Ted Kennedy); they hit it off and decide, in the evening, to go to his motel; since they are on an island, they make for the ferry. Running late The Senator, a lot more lit up than the road, tries a shortcut, misses a turn and the car sl
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 02, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
A very long time ago in a distant land known as the 90's, I was working with a woman who also liked to read during her lunch. She asked me if I had any interest in going with her to hear an author she liked go speak. I had never heard of this Joyce Carol Oats woman. (Seriously.) So we went to this huge church in St. Paul and the place was packed. I was surprised - This many people for some author? Hu. Cool. (I know - I was young and pretty darn clueless.)
We were all just sitting the More...
We were all just sitting the More...
2 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Oct 19, 2011
Joanne
rated it: 
A strange little book based on the Ted Kennedy / Chappquiddick incident in 1969. This story is updated a little for a 1988 setting in Boothbay Harbor, ME over 4th of July weekend.
What is unique is it’s Kelly’s (the vulnerable girl) story and thoughts of basically her life flashing before her as she is submerged in the black water after crashing. She still tries to maintain the goodness of the senior iconic Senator as she believes he will come back to rescue her since he chose her t More...
What is unique is it’s Kelly’s (the vulnerable girl) story and thoughts of basically her life flashing before her as she is submerged in the black water after crashing. She still tries to maintain the goodness of the senior iconic Senator as she believes he will come back to rescue her since he chose her t More...
Apr 11, 2010
Jeanne
rated it:
Sometimes Joyce Carol Oates takes real stories and fictionalizes them. For example, My Sister, My Love is based (loosely) on JonBenét Ramsey’s life and death. Black Water is her fictionalization of the Chappaquiddick incident.
Written in 1992, our story takes place on Grayling Island, Maine in the present. Elizabeth “Kelly” Kelleher has just met her political hero at a 4th of July party. Her idol, of course, is the unnamed senator, who is clearly Teddy Kennedy. He is older and ex More...
Written in 1992, our story takes place on Grayling Island, Maine in the present. Elizabeth “Kelly” Kelleher has just met her political hero at a 4th of July party. Her idol, of course, is the unnamed senator, who is clearly Teddy Kennedy. He is older and ex More...
Feb 04, 2011
Paul
rated it:
Real good. Great writing. Good rhythm, appropriate to the subject matter, etc. The big problem here is the way Oates toys with the reader. Can't really say a ton without giving too much away, but, we're sort of tugged back and forth and back and forth for the sake of narrative tension, and I didn't really like it. I didn't feel respected -- though I don't usually feel respected by Oates when I read her stuff. As soon as the book reached its apex, the story was done, and yet the book continued an
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Nov 24, 2009
Sterlingcindysu
rated it:
(copied review) “She was the one he had chosen.'' This is Kelly Kelleher's thought as she leaves the party with a senator, as much a symbol of her desire to change her life as it is the fulfillment of a romantic dream. She's a young woman struggling to assert herself, but this rash move ultimately ends in tragedy. Oates makes readers feel that they are along for the very frightening ride in the car with Kelly and her senator in this shocking, all-too-familiar story. It's fast paced, almost as if
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Jul 25, 2011
Gretchen
rated it:
. You don’t realize how good this book is until Oates finally reveals where it’s going. It’s loosely a fictionalized account of Chappaquiddick – the relationship of The Senator and girl (Kelly) who only meet that afternoon on Grayling Island, then their rush to catch the ferry, then the wreck, etc. It is strangely structured. The events are told repeatedly with different information included. The repetition is reminiscent of music composed of variations on a theme. Backstory is worked in.
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Mar 30, 2009
Shelley
rated it:
I believe that Joyce Carol Oates shows great genius. This short but powerful book was disturbing to read – so I’d have to say that even though I appreciated the writing, I would be very careful recommending it to anyone.
Based on the true story of Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquidick accident in 1969. Told from the viewpoint of the young Mary Jo Kopechne, these 154 pages were designed to replay the crash scene over and over again, each time from a slightly different perspective. I was l More...
Based on the true story of Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquidick accident in 1969. Told from the viewpoint of the young Mary Jo Kopechne, these 154 pages were designed to replay the crash scene over and over again, each time from a slightly different perspective. I was l More...
Aug 09, 2011
Aimee
rated it:
A suspenseful book loosely based on the car accident with Senator Ted Kennedy and a 26 year-old woman he met at a party.
It is told from the hopeful perspective of a woman Kelly who is so enamored to be chosen by a Senator that she puts her life in his hands despite her own better judgement.
She maintains hope while drowning in the "Black Water". Will he go back to save her?
In every relationship, there are two different views of that relationship. I enjo More...
It is told from the hopeful perspective of a woman Kelly who is so enamored to be chosen by a Senator that she puts her life in his hands despite her own better judgement.
She maintains hope while drowning in the "Black Water". Will he go back to save her?
In every relationship, there are two different views of that relationship. I enjo More...
Sep 15, 2011
Fabian
rated it:
Impressive, poignant. At the top of her game, this IS J.C.O.
The entire novel is about one single awful moment, and everything that splinters from it and before it takes place. Crystallizing the moment impeccably.
The entire novel is about one single awful moment, and everything that splinters from it and before it takes place. Crystallizing the moment impeccably.
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Jan 21, 2011
Paul
rated it:
If I judged this book by its cover, I would have given it five stars for sure. But unfortunately, although very well written, the book itself didn't work for me. The whole story is focused on the final moments of the life of a fictionalized Mary Jo Kopeckne (sp?), the young woman who drowned in Ted Kennedy's car in Chappaquiddick (sp?). It is made up of a kind of collage of flashbacks, some going back just to the afternoon of the tragedy, others going back much farther in her life. Yet somehow,
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Jan 28, 2012
Misha
rated it:
Black Water is a haunting narrative of the final moments of Kelly Kelleher, a young woman whose impulsive decision to pursue her attraction to an older man leads to her death in a car accident. Kelleher, of course, is a stand-in for Mary Jo Kopechne, the young woman who lost her life in a car accident with Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick in 1969. I found it interesting that Oates chose to update the story to the early '90s (contemporary for when the book was written) and write The Senator as Kenne
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
The second book I've read now from Oates. Didnt enjoy it as much as the other but it was okay. She runs on from one sentence to the other and at times this is suitable and at other times, it can be very confusing. You know from the very beginning, this book is about Kelly dying in this car, beneath the black water. There were timehen I had a sense of hope, like maybe the ending would change. There were times as I read, I could feel myself lose my breath, the descriptions of water filling her lun
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Aug 04, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
Joyce Carol Oates' writing is more like poetry than anything else. Sometimes I love it, sometimes it drives me insane. "Black Water" fits into the latter for me. It's a short book and a quick read, but I like dialogue and the suspense of something building up...I think Oates is very creative in her telling of such a horrible account but her innovation in this case just wasn't for me. I'm sure it's the sort of book that peope either love tremendously or hate with a passion, so I don't w
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Mar 10, 2011
Jane
rated it:
This story is different from most of JCO's work in that it is based upon easily recognized historical events. When I read Black Water, I could not stop thinking about the very real person, Mary Jo Kopechne, who was left to drown when Ted Kennedy panicked and left her without getting help. At the time of the historical incident, I was young and idealized the Kennedys and could not reconcile his actions with my idealized vision. I tried to understand how the Senator must have felt, must have panic
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Mar 11, 2011
RE: _Black Water_ by Joyce Carol Oates
I found the following comment made by GR member, Judith, to a review at
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/220... :
===============================================
"i highly recommend that you try: Black Water; Zombie; The Falls; We Were The Mulvaneys; or The Tatooed Girl. in that order. the first 2 are so short that you won't get discouraged and they are really good, suspenseful and fascinating---real story telling..." More...
I found the following comment made by GR member, Judith, to a review at
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/220... :
===============================================
"i highly recommend that you try: Black Water; Zombie; The Falls; We Were The Mulvaneys; or The Tatooed Girl. in that order. the first 2 are so short that you won't get discouraged and they are really good, suspenseful and fascinating---real story telling..." More...
Oct 22, 2011
Silletta
rated it:
Non ci siamo proprio.
Questo racconto della Oates si ispira ad un fatto di cronaca realmente accaduto (link), un fatto che di per sé non offre molti spunti. Quindi complimenti a lei per esserci cimentata nel tentativo di romanzare la vicenda, cercando di presentarla dal punto di vista della ragazza, mostrandoci lei e il suo passato. Ma forse avrebbe potuto evitare, visto il risultato finale veramente mediocre.
Confusivo, è il primo aggettivo con cui lo descriverei. Ma non quel confus More...
Questo racconto della Oates si ispira ad un fatto di cronaca realmente accaduto (link), un fatto che di per sé non offre molti spunti. Quindi complimenti a lei per esserci cimentata nel tentativo di romanzare la vicenda, cercando di presentarla dal punto di vista della ragazza, mostrandoci lei e il suo passato. Ma forse avrebbe potuto evitare, visto il risultato finale veramente mediocre.
Confusivo, è il primo aggettivo con cui lo descriverei. Ma non quel confus More...
Oct 26, 2011
Bonnie
rated it:
This book is based on the Chappaquiddick Incident, which I didn't even know had happened before I heard of this book. When he was younger, Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge into the water. He escaped but his young female passenger drowned.
This is a fictionalized version of events, told from the young woman's point of view. The Senator Kennedy figure does not come off well--he's a sexist horndog, who drunkenly drives his car into the water and leaves the girl to her death More...
This is a fictionalized version of events, told from the young woman's point of view. The Senator Kennedy figure does not come off well--he's a sexist horndog, who drunkenly drives his car into the water and leaves the girl to her death More...
Jul 26, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
Why, oh WHY do I keep trying to like JCO? When I read Blonde in high school, maybe I was sixteen or seventeen, I remember thinking: this lady *gets it*. Probably because I was a very vulnerable, often isolated gay teenager, I found JCO's portrayal of Marilyn Monroe (a favorite actress and icon of mine) to be an incredibly resonant understanding of a sexually fucked up, perpetually abandoned, manhandled and exploited figure.
I should probably re-read that one & see if things have More...
I should probably re-read that one & see if things have More...
Mar 08, 2010
Taryn
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 29, 2009
Roozbeh
rated it:
I read the Persian translation by Mehdi Ghabrai, and oh! My god! What a terrible translation it was! He had spoiled the whole novel, and he had done it bad! Actually, I guess reading this version of the book, I can't claim that I've read the book written by Oates. This surely was something else!
The novel is based on a true event. A car accident in which a young girl was sank with the car in the black waters of a small rural river. Her company was a senator who survived the scene but did no More...
The novel is based on a true event. A car accident in which a young girl was sank with the car in the black waters of a small rural river. Her company was a senator who survived the scene but did no More...
Sep 06, 2008
Gregory
rated it:
“You love the life you’ve lived, there is no other.”
For a scant 154 pages, “Black Water” packs quite a brutal punch. Oates will have you squirming in discomfort as you read about Kelly Kelleher, who after a car accident on page one spends the entirety of the novella trapped in a car underneath the titular black water, helpless and alone and waiting for help that very likely will not come. She has been abandoned and left to die by her companion, an unnamed but familiar Senator who More...
For a scant 154 pages, “Black Water” packs quite a brutal punch. Oates will have you squirming in discomfort as you read about Kelly Kelleher, who after a car accident on page one spends the entirety of the novella trapped in a car underneath the titular black water, helpless and alone and waiting for help that very likely will not come. She has been abandoned and left to die by her companion, an unnamed but familiar Senator who More...
