The chosen place is Bourneville, a remote, devastated part of a Caribbean island; the timeless people are its inhabitants--black, poor, inextricabl...
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reviews
Aug 14, 2007
Vanessa
rated it: 
help me:
i love paule marshall.
reading brown girl, brownstones counted as a major life-event. BUT rereading the chosen place this summer was difficult-- what an interesting book, given marshall's deep (and valid) critiques of anthropologists and their work in "small" places, but good gracious-- how could i have missed the crazy gender and sexuality politics the first time around? granted, i was in high school, but...have been searching google scholar frantically for some a More...
i love paule marshall.
reading brown girl, brownstones counted as a major life-event. BUT rereading the chosen place this summer was difficult-- what an interesting book, given marshall's deep (and valid) critiques of anthropologists and their work in "small" places, but good gracious-- how could i have missed the crazy gender and sexuality politics the first time around? granted, i was in high school, but...have been searching google scholar frantically for some a More...
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Aug 30, 2009
Nettie
rated it: 
My favorite book of the summer! A great story that brings in so many of the threads of Caribbean culture and politics a beautiful story of humanity.
May 28, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
Yep! A great read. Interesting because it talks about social science research in the late 1960s. Precious characters.
Aug 30, 2008
Karen
rated it: 
This book has a lot of good things going for it:
interesting, deep characters
beautiful imagery and language
deep insight into a different way of life
But I can't rate it highly just because I had such a hard time reading it. It was very slow-paced with many difficult, sad moments and not many happy moments. I found it too unrelentingly depressing and very long.
interesting, deep characters
beautiful imagery and language
deep insight into a different way of life
But I can't rate it highly just because I had such a hard time reading it. It was very slow-paced with many difficult, sad moments and not many happy moments. I found it too unrelentingly depressing and very long.
Jul 27, 2008
Marian
rated it: 
Very slow start but well worth the effort. Has a beautiful logic and flow, captivating characters that become only better more complicated versions of themselves as the story progresses Deep and full of radicalism - especially in the ways it creates coexistence with subtlety and honesty across and among races. That might be rambly as it is 2:30 a.m.
Jul 07, 2008
Betsy
rated it:
Really glad I held out and finished this on my vacation. Moving, extremely well written, no characters are left undeveloped. A good book to read while reading Traces of the Trade (the book). Slavery just took on a new face.
Sep 28, 2008
Kristen
rated it:
It took me 2 months to get through this book -- it was OK but not great. I appreciated it as a critique of anthropologists and outside-directed development schemes, but otherwise didn't enjoy it that much.
Dec 28, 2007
Emily
rated it:
The book was difficult for me at first, but stay with it. It is a novel you enter into relationship with, and will stay with you forever.
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