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Title: Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison ISBN: 0-452-26957-1 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: March, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (110 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Powerful and Heart-Wrenching
Comment: I read this book as part of a college literature assignment. Bastard Out of Carolina is a well-written, deeply moving, and unforgettable novel about a young southern girl's struggle with physical and sexual abuse, along with the stigma of being labeled "white trash" and "illegitimate." Ms. Allison's characters are vibrant and alive, especially the young girl, Bone, who poignantly tells the tale of her tormented youth. For all its literary worth, this is not a book that I would have read on my own. The story is deeply disturbing, not only in its content but in the underlying hopelessness of tone. One feels an overwhelming instinct to cradle Bone in one's arms to protect her from her frustrated, jealous, and emotionally disturbed stepfather and from her mother's senseless abandonment. Bone's reactions of burning anger, festering hatred, and perverted fantasies, along with her resultant self image, compound the hopelessness of her young life. Salvation and vindication can only be acquired through her love of gospel music...and although she's told repeatedly that she can't sing, her heart yearns and pleads to God for the gift of song. But the gift of salvation through Jesus that God freely offers is never accepted, and only Bone knows why. Instead of salvation, Bone finds a haven in the home of her lesbian aunt, Raylene. While Raylene is a compassionate, strong, and loving woman, the reader is left with the impression at the conclusion of the story that Bone struggles with her experiences for the rest of her life. Perhaps the quote by James Baldwin at the beginning of the book says it best: "People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead." In the end, no matter what injustices we face in this life, we all will have to answer for how we choose to live our lives. We can choose to be defeated, or we can choose to overcome. Bone's true vindication remains irretrievably in her hands.
Rating: 5
Summary: this tragic and inspiring novel pulls heavily at our heart
Comment: This tragic yet inspiring novel is one that is based on Allison's background. Once I picked up this book, I could not stop reading it. I would read until late into the night. This book was a required reading for my college English class, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end of the book, tears came to my eyes; I felt I had know Bone all my life. She is a survivor, a heroine. At first, she feels that illegitimacy has defeated her, that her life is already what it's going to be. She is jealous of her younger sister, Reece, because she knew her father. Bone's emotional, painful struggle squeezes our hearts until it feels like a lump of grief. Bone finds that storytelling and fantasies are the only places where she can find solace and control. It is a place where she can escape her cruel stepfather's abuse. Her mother is slowly torn apart from her family by her husband,Glenn. He abuses Bone both sexually and emotionally. Bone feels that she deserves this abuse since she is illegitimate. I really liked the quote at the beginning of the book, from Baldwin: " People pay for what they have allowed themselves to become; and they pay for it simply, by the lives they lead." This is especially pertinent to Bone's story, becuase by the end of the book, Bone's anger has forced her to accept who she is and the life she has been handed. There is a hint of redemption in this quote, by the mention of the word "allowed." This suggest that people may be born into undesirable lives, but that they can be whoever they want to be. I wrote a paper on this book,and I found that I never wanted to stop writing; there was so much to say. Allison is a wonderful and inspiring novelist. Her stories hit close to home. This is definitely a book to be read several times.
Rating: 4
Summary: Age-old tragedy
Comment: In many ways, Bone's experience with child abuse represents the prototypical case. She is abused by an older male relative (here, her stepfather). Although there are multiple children in the family, she is her abuser's only victim. The abuser was abused himself as a child and suffers from self loathing. The mother turns a blind eye to the abuse and also suffers from self-hatred.
Yet this book is so richly narrated and characterized that it is anything but typical or standard. The description of the Carolina communities the Boatrights inhabit, the diner at which Anney works, the multiple shacks that the family lives in are so tightly drawn that the reader feels that she inhabits them. The characters are complex and diverse, especially that of Bone and Anney. The ending, while heartbreaking, is also probably realistic, and much better than one possible alternative: Bone returns to Anney and Glen for more abuse. That scenario is much more likely than yet another possible scenario: Anney, Bone and Reese create their own home and Glen simply exits the picture.
Many of these reviews judge Anney harshly, and in many ways rightfully so. However, I found her character to be both pathetic and sympathetic. Here is a woman without education, skills, or money, who has grown up in a culture of tolerating men's bad behavior. True, she should have removed her daughter from such a dreadful situation, but in many ways she lacked the resources to do so. Her only asset was a tight-knit family that failed to teach her that life without Glen was a real possibility.
This novel is dreary, tragic, and will make your stomach turn. Yet I found myself enjoying it just the same. This is both an indictment of child abuse and a sympathetic portrayal of the lives of the poor and uneducated throughout America, especially women.
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Title: Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison ISBN: 0452273404 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Trash: Stories by Dorothy Allison ISBN: 0452283515 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title:Dorothy Allison's "Bastard Out of Carolina": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students" ASIN: B00006G3LP Publisher: The Gale Group Pub. Date: 23 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $3.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $3.95 |
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Title: Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison ISBN: 0452279690 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title:Bastard out of Carolina ASIN: 1572526807 Publisher: Fox Lorber Pub. Date: 25 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.48 |
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