Comments for The Arts in New York City

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Chinemerem Eze

Chinemerem Eze — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:09:25 +0000

With the Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat shows that she is really a seasoned storyteller. Each of the stories can stand independently on their own and she was still able to use all of them to tell one story. Knowing that The Dew Breaker is actually based on real events that happened in Haiti,is really touching. By using this medium to narrate a particularly trying time for a Nation, Danticat was able to narrate the gruesomeness that probably would never have been told, in a very open manner that gets the entire picture across to the reader.Its interesting how the characters all managed to start their lives over again in different ways in New York…. all of them having run away from Haiti. Its understandable that Edwidge would let her characters settle in New York as she grew up in Brooklyn herself. I must say anyway that most times, I did find some of the individual stories too listless for my liking. However The Funeral Singer is probably my best story ..maybe because of its pace or the lively show of camaraderie the girls put up given their predicament.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:42:19 +0000

I thought the Dew Breaker was a pretty awesome book. It was easy to read yet compelling. Danticat was able to efficiently convey the essence of the Haitian crisis. The stories were heart warming. Through the fictitious stories she made the reader understand history. Because the stories are interconnected it was hard to put the book down-I always wanted to see the next connection Danticat would reveal.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Colette

Colette — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:54:57 +0000

This book took me a lot longer to read than I anticipated. Everytime I opened the book I would fall asleep. I don’t think that it was because of the stories, because I like stories told from many different viewpoints. It might have been because it’s written in the present tense.
I liked “The Funeral Singer” the most, probably because I read it in the morning and didn’t fall asleep, so the story went by much faster than the others.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by sara

sara — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:48:55 +0000

I thought Danticat’s Dew Breaker was an excellent account of the time period because it was not only engaging through the various interrelated stories, but it was also fairly accurate historically. At first, I was somewhat unsure about the connections between the stories aside from the fact that the father appeared in some way. However, when we made those maps in class, it was obvious that just about every character was related in some way.
I think the best story was definitely the last because this story seemed to put all the pieces together. Though the plot may have seemed a little far-fetched, I still think it was engaging and well-crafted.
By revealing a lot about what Haitians faced at this time through a series of interrelated accounts, I think Danticat makes a creative, informative and well-presented novel. Danticat effectively reveals various accounts of this same historical period by relating all of the stories to one another. However, the only story I was sort of unsure about was “the Bridal Seamstress” because its characters aren’t as easy to distinguish.
Danticat also creates a connection between Brooklyn and Haiti. What is interesting is that though all of these people are in a completely different place where no one knows about their past, each person still must cope personally with what they have done, or what has been done to them.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Rakhilya Muslumova

Rakhilya Muslumova — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:46:00 +0000

I thought the novel showed the differences in mentality between different cultures and generations very well. This was especially evident in the story when the parents and thier daughter go to Christmas day mass and this is a very important experience for the mother while it isn’t for the father and daughter, judging by the way they dress and behave during the occasion. This and other incidents made the book very easy to relate to, for me at least, which made me enjoy the book.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Victor

Victor — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:50:32 +0000

I love how cohesive this story turned out to be, how every story somehow fit together in the end. I had originally assumed this book was a series of short stories, but was pleasantly surprised to find that all the stories matched up. The end was rather depressing though. I enjoyed many of the reoccurring themes and ideas that rooted into culture, race and history. How you can take someone out of their homeland, but never the homeland out of the person. I particular like the references to the actual historical aspects such as the funeral statue. Over all I’ve enjoyed the dew breaker and can’t wait to see Dantcat speak!

Comment on The Dew Breaker by gpapadopoulos

gpapadopoulos — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:38:28 +0000

This was the first time I have read a book in the style that Danticat used, making numerous short stories fit together and explain one main plot line. The Jonathan Letham book was similar in having many short stories about his life but it was more of a collection of random events. This book collected all of the stories, using different narrators and various characters to very cleverly explain the plot line. It was nice to see how all the different characters related to one another and reading carefully and picking out the small details truly made the book a lot better when seeing the relationships the characters shared. It was very helpful to see the character web on the board as well as it helped me to see some of the connections i missed at first glance. Danticat’s stories are also historically accurate, I looked for the history of Haiti and found that Papa Doc Duvalier was truly the “leader till death” of Haiti that enforced all the strict policies and then left his son, Baby Doc, the country after he died. I found most of the short stories very interesting and found a few that I could not connect well with the rest of the plot however all together it was a very unique and gripping book.

Comment on The Dew Breaker by Derya

Derya — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:01:16 +0000

The Dew Breaker isn’t at all like what I expected. It’s interesting, shocking and a bit confusing at first, but the style makes it worth reading once the pieces come together. Danticat definitely highlighted imported issues about Haiti that seems to get ignored or forgotten about compared to larger nations. Even in h.s., I was exposed to the history of Russia, Japan, China, India, US…, but never Haiti.

I think The Dew Breaker is very well written. The book is filled with suspense and irony. The most shocking scene to me was the one about Danny and the barber (Ka’s father). Danny always expected his barber to sweat, feel uncomfortable and recognize who he was, but Danny always ended up being the one who felt awkward and scared.

I started reading the book annoyed and confused, but I ended it wanting to know more about the characters.

Comment on Joseph Cornell by Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:15:30 +0000

Joseph Cornell’s work, in addition to his biography, were very interesting and extremely unique. Cornell’s erratic lifestyle is reflected in his very surreal artwork. His combination of techniques makes for very original work. Many people have different opinions of Cornell’s work; to enjoy his art, one must have that special acquired taste. And to appreciate his art, one must also be open minded in what art can be interpreted as, even if it does involve junk and trash.

Comment on Maus by Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:09:27 +0000

Maus I and II have definitely been one of my favorite reads in the class. It was the first time I’ve ever read a serious novel in that sort of cartoon format. The drawing were very clear in the message they were trying to convey, and the black/white color used set the tone of he story. The different animals used to represent different types of people showed a what sort of rank or social stature each group of were people were considered in. Spiegalman clearly depicted the events of the Holocaust in clear, vivid detail. His use of a graphic novel style does not restrict the portrayal of the horrible events that occurred.
It was a great novel, with amazing illustrations that added to the overall experience.