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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How tragedy affects us..., February 9, 2007
Sometimes in life we don't appear to have a problem going from day to day, but in the crevices of our mind, pains of the past haunt us, affecting us in an unconscious sort of way. The emotional impact of events can make us into better people or break us down to our lowest levels. In AFTER by Marita Golden, we see an established family living in the near perfect world they've attained and enjoying life, or at least it seems that way.
But, for Carson Blake, a local black police officer in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., things come to a standstill when he pulls over a young black man during the end of his nightly shift. Though justified, since the driver is speeding and isn't using his headlights, Carson apprehends him, but doesn't expect the young man to reach inside his waistband; nor does he expect to fire shots, but he does. Later, he notices the man had reached for a cell phone. He has killed an unarmed man in an attempt to protect himself.
AFTER follows the aftermath of the fatal shooting, for both families, but focuses mostly on Carson and his wife Bunny and how they deal with the situation--how the accident impacts their lives. As they struggle through the feelings of being powerless, the reader is given a glimpse of the other family and their views. It is a tragedy that affects all of them, making each question their lives, the what-ifs, and more. Why didn't the young man just follow orders?
AFTER opens up the door for dialogue on many topics and themes, some of which are guilt and redemption. What I liked about this book was that it centered around how a split-second decision affected the characters emotionally. Carson's character was raw and almost naked as he faced what was an accident, but ended up being something he never fully got over. I also liked that the book opened with the immediate conflict and for the most part stayed focused on Carson, not just the fact that he was a policeman, but that he was also a victim to his past and emotions. The burdens, responsibilities, and human characteristics we each have are all forefront in this novel making AFTER an absorbing and thought-provoking read.
Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Golden Nugget!, August 21, 2007
This review is from: After: A Novel (Paperback)
The plight of the black man has never been as magnified as it is in recent times. Albeit, and with much fanfare, there have been a plethora of books detailing the ills but rarely solutions. Now comes a brilliant story told from the imaginative mind of erudite scribe, Marita Golden with a book entitled, AFTER. This, her latest offering delves into the life of Carson Blake fighting demons that threaten to consume him lest a plan of salvation can be part of saving grace. Urban angst, coupled with dysfunctional familial life can wreck havoc and leave scars that are definitive of years of strife. Much should be said about the brilliance of illuminating light when a stand is made for challenge and change. Blake's stupendous effort to do just that makes this novel worth reading for redeeming value and for the mere triumphant nature of another black man pulled up from the depths of despair.
For starters, Carson Blake is not a victim of sympathy; he inhabited circumstances that would have served him favorably had he made better decisions, and chose the right people for influence. Dismissed by an incorrigible father who was incapable of showing him affection, and given an early baptism in the mean streets of Prince George's County, Maryland, Carson endeavored to challenge the system and change his life. He married, became a police officer, and attempted to model his life for meaningful mantras. Not to bask in the idyllic life of change, bile comes to fore in the form of son Juwan facing problems of his own within his peer group, despite talents that clearly appear to be the greater of his whole. The story is a moderate moving work of fiction that allows the author freedom to tackle prominent issues on the face of family, race, love and identity. In my opinion, this is the best of her five books to date because it allowed me to feel as if I was closer to the action. I was able to identify, as I'm familiar with a lot of what is depicted here. How can you not feel pride and rejuvenation when Carson shows characteristics of a devoted father, determined not to be the father that his father was to him?
The turning point of this story comes alive when Ms Golden truly defines the nature of guilt, redemption, and forgiveness for Carson and his family. To wit: Carson makes a traffic stop, only to have the young black man turn as if to make an assault. The situation goes awry as Carson shoots in self-defense. When the smoke clears one man loses his life and two families are caught up in the emotional hand wringing of conjecture, accusation, acrimony, and second-guessing. Adding insult to injury, Paul Houston, the son of a middle class family of educators was only holding a cell phone. Carson's carefully woven world of change begins to come apart. I found this book to be a deep study into some of the same things that are happening, and have happened over a period of time in our communities that will give this work something for someone to embrace for their own chance at change. The open-ended conclusion gives much to the imagination and colors the outcome one that readers can add their own hues. Marita Golden has done it again, with all the belief that she just gets better with time! Buy this book and know that the Carson Blakes of this world can find salvation where redeeming value is imminent.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
What comes next?, May 5, 2007
The members of Turning Pages Book Club, unanimously state that they enjoy the writing style of author, Marita Golden, but there were mixed view points in terms of the book,"After"
The sensitive subject of the shooting and killing of another "black man" by a policeman, especially a black cop did not fair well.
"After", the shooting incident, which gives Carson, a chance to reflect through therapy on his troubled childhood and life up until his marriage, on some unresolved issues. The one main issue that kept surfacing was his unresolved problems(self-esteem issues), which stemmed from being raised by an unloving man (Jimmy Blake),whom he thought was his father until he was told at the age of 16,that he wasn't and about his Mother's affair.
The shooting incident causes Carson Blake to re-evaluate his whole life from his childhood up until the shooting. As a final result he decides to write to the parents of the young man he shot,(Paul Houston), who came from a upper-middle class background, who was doing something positive with his life as a school teacher.
The story goes into detail about the emotional affects for both families "after" the shooting which kept the story flowing because the reader is able to embrace the remorse that Carson feels and how it almost destroys him to the point of attempting to take his own life, then to the struggles that his family goes through as a result. The story goes into great detail to describe the varying emotions that the victims(Paul) parents go through;from trying to sue, to emotional shut down,anger,pain,unforgiving, wanting revenge to finally forgiving Carson was very well executed by Ms. Golden in a manner that makes the reader feel like part of the story as an observer. In this position, the reader starts to deliberate on the out come of the meeting between Carson and Mrs. Houston before she decides to actually meet with him because the outcome is so crucial to the ending of the story.
This was a very well written story with a lot of emotion.
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