Homegoing - Background and General - No Spoilers (May 2018)

[Hugh]

This is the general thread for the discussion of Homegoing - please do not post spoilers here. There are two spoiler threads, one for each half of the book - I don't have the book with me in the office but will expand this later. It would be useful to know who will be participating in this discussion.

Homegoing is Yaa Gyasi's first novel, and it tells the story of the descendants of two half sisters in eighteenth century Ghana (Gold Coast) up to the present day. One marries an English slave trader and the other is sold into slavery. Each chapter focuses on a different member of the family and they alternate between Ghana and America.

A few reviews (which may contain spoilers):
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
https://www.ft.com/content/5d49d15a-e...
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/bo...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/bo...
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/bo...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ho...
https://www.npr.org/2016/06/07/480477...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
http://www.washingtonindependentrevie...

[Whitney]

I read this a few months ago, will certainly be popping in on the discussion.

[Hugh]

A bit of background info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Co...

[Hugh]

It is very quiet here so far...

[Kathleen]

It is! I just got the book and will be reading. Hoping for some company though. :-)

[Sue]

I'll be joining in with this book. Looking forward to reading. Just need to finish up another book. Story of my life!

[Ying Ying]

I read the book last year and quite enjoyed it. The genealogical tree at the beginning of the book was definitely helpful to keep track of the story!

[Caroline]

I read this about a year ago - I'll likely follow along with the discussion but I'm having a hard time remembering the specific stories. From what I remember, I liked it while reading it but didn't fully appreciate it until I had finished it and could reflect on the piece as a whole. I'm curious to see what others think of it.

[Marc]

Ditto what Ying Ying said about the genealogical tree being very helpful. Not sure how legible this version will be, but if you can't see it below, you can use this link:
http://knopfdoubleday.com/2017/05/02/a-tale-of-two-sisters-the-characters-of-homegoing/

[Hugh]

Thanks Marc - that looks legible enough to me.

[Meike]

There's are great interview with Yaa Gyasi about the book on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoEAW...

In it, Gyasi converses with poet Roger Reeves at the Chicago Humanities Festival and gives lots of background info - I think Reeves does a terrific job, because he asks real in-depth question instead of the usual promo stuff.

[Kathleen]

Love that interview, Meike--thank you so much for sharing.

At one point Reeves mentions the family tree, and compares her to Tolstoy--emphasizing the bigness of the story. Thanks for putting the tree here, Marc. So excited to get into this read.

[Hugh]

I am not sure that Tolstoy comparisons are good for anyone - they set up impossible expectations for a modern writer.

[Sue]

Just started this one. I'm up to page 50 and already really engrossed in the characters.

[LindaJ^]

I finished this a month ago as I was flying to Southern Africa. My husband then read it and we passed it on to another member of our tour group. Three or four others in the group of 13 had also read it and everyone, including us, thought it was a very good read. Now that I'm back home and have access to a computer, I intend to participate in the discussion.