Banana Bottom (Harvest Book, Hb 273) [Paperback]

Claude McKay (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest Book, Hb 273 | Publication Date: March 20, 1974

A Jamaican girl, Bita Plant, who was adopted and sent to be educated in England by white missionary benefactors, returns to her native village of Banana Bottom and finds her black heritage at war with her newly acquired culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Claude McKay (September 15, 1889 - May 22, 1948) was a Jamaican writer and poet. He was a communist in his early life, but after a visit to the Soviet Union, decided that communism was too disciplined and confining. He was never an actual member of the Communist Party. McKay was involved in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem (1928), a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo (1929), and Banana Bottom (1933). McKay also authored a collection of short stories, Gingertown (1932), and two autobiographical books, A Long Way from Home (1937) and Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940). His book of poetry, Harlem Shadows (1922) was among the first books published during the Harlem Renaissance. His book of collected poems, Selected Poems (1953), was published posthumously.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (March 20, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156106507
• ISBN-13: 978-0156106504
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #669,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brought black West Indian literature to bear on world scale, April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Banana Bottom (Harvest Book, Hb 273) (Paperback)

This book, while not a great work of literature, is notable for its ground breaking role in bringing black West-Indian writing to the attention of literati across the world. The plot is somewhat forced, with deus ex machina resolutions and an often painfully obvious didacticism throughout. McKay does lovingly detail early 1900's Jamaica, where he lived for the bulk of his young life, and the setting is vivid, if a bit heavy-handed. McKay was an adherent of Primitivsm insofar as he believed that black people should work to maintain a grounding in their atavistic roots at the same time that they absorb and learn from Western/Europeanized culture. "Banana Bottom" is his most successful attempt at integrating this ideology into his prose. The story is about a young black Jamaican girl named Bita who, sent to live with white missionaries at an early age, is commissioned to spend seven years at an English boarding school where it is expected that she will learn "proper" comportment and "civilized" modes of thinking. When Bita returns she has trouble integrating herself into the black community of her hometown, Banana Bottom, and ends up rejecting the Europeanization that was forced upon her in favor of asserting her independance with a return to her "roots." The West Indies have since produced better reads, but this book is enjoyable, and should please anyone looking to find out where McKay, commonly (and somewhat fallaciously) considered a progenitor of the Harlem Rennaissance, held his true allegiances. It is a must for anyone interested in anglophone post-colonial literature.