Customer Reviews

Black Water

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The premise for Joyce Carol Oates' tiny novel "Black Water" is the scandalous Chippaquiddick incident that anyone over the age of 40 should be familiar with. But what's remarkable about it is that Oates has transformed this "faction" into a beautiful ballad. The happenings of that fateful night when the black Toyota plunged headlong into the swampy river is told through the eyes of the drowning girl. There's a sense of real pathos in the telling cos it's painfully obvious the girl's impressed with the Senator for the wrong reasons and that he's a cad. The manner of the Senator's escape from the capsized car and his cruel abandonment of her as she awaits hopelessly for her own rescue is a wrench to read. The novel reads like a poem in parts. Maybe there's a song in there somewhere, with a verse, a chorus and a middle eight. By using the drowning girl's vantage viewpoint, Oates has created a powerful masterpiece that's so wonderfully compelling it bears reading over and over again. Truly great stuff !

The event itself is quite simple, and all too common. A drunken ride with a tragic ending. This is what Joyce Carol Oates gives us on the first page. From there her prose backpedals through Kelly Kelleher's childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood into the hours leading up to her death, which is described in nearly every chapter. The repeated death scene lends to the intensity of the novel. One would expect the book to go forward into the investigation of the accident, yet instead its narration goes backwards. Where, then, are the surprises? The surprises come in Oates's biting prose and in her portrayal of a female growing up in modern America with the ancient pressures of beauty and normalcy, as well as the more recent pressures of ambition and intellectual pursuits. In every chapter, there are thrilling sentences that left this reader in awe of Oates's strength as a writer. For example, this sentence leaves the reader feeling as thrown around as Kelly in the out of control Toyota: "In the jolting car they did seem immune to any harm, still less to a vehicular accident, for The Senator was driving in a way one might call recklessly, you might say his judgment was impaired by drink but not his skill as a driver for he did have skill, handling the compact car as if by instinct and with an air too of kingly contempt, so Kelly was thinking, though they were lost, though they would not make the 8:20 PM ferry after all, she was privileged to be here and no harm could come to her like a young princess in a fairy tale so recently begun but perhaps it would not end for some time, perhaps." The plot focuses on the interactions between Kelly and a never named Senator. They meet at a Fourth of July party, spend an afternoon filled with sexual tension together and decide to spend that night in a motel. It is the Senator's drunken haste that causes the accident, but this is not Oates's focus. Instead, it is the life forces contending within Kelly Kelleher that have made her make the decision to accompany a drunk man her father's age to a motel, out of part sexual desire, part political ambition. The plot is not the most gripping aspect of this novel. Instead, it is the character development. One chapter begins, "She did not believe in astrology, in the breathless admonitions and Ben Franklin-pep talks of the magazine horoscopes, nor did she believe in the Anglican God to Whom-in Whom?-for Whom?-she had long ago been confirmed." The reader glimpses into this woman's psyche and comes away feeling slightly disturbed. Not in the sense that one has seen into the inner workings of an imbalanced person, but because one has seen the inner workings of a completely `normal,' functioning person, whom we would herald in this society as a model of integrity and intelligence. These inner workings are rational and logical, yet at the same time damaging and frightening. The dichotomy between her outer self and her inner self is the most disturbing aspect of this book. What is most intriguing about this novel is its size. Not only is it short in length, but frequently its chapters are no more than a few pages, sometimes even a single paragraph. The effect is that one feels that before Kelly dies in each chapter, her life is flashed before her eyes and we are the witnesses to that event. I highly recommend this book. It is a quick, intense read.

With her novel Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates has taken a sad occurrence in American political history, the Chappaquiddick incident, and explored it from the perspective that most of America and the media did not consider when the accident happened, that of the young woman who lost her life in the car crash. She then utilizes that perspective to put forth a compelling statement of the deterrent effect such an incident should have on other "American girls" who would follow in the footsteps of Mary Jo Kopenkney, whom Oates bases the main character, Kelly Kelleher, upon.

The book's most striking feature is its unconventional structure. Though it is only 154 pages long, it is divided into 32 chapters, some of which are only a page long, and two parts. The chapters often repeat sections of the story over and over, adding a little more information or changing the perspective just a bit, until ultimately the reader receives a fully constructed picture of the incident and the preceding events.

Oates chooses to delve deeply into the main character, Kelly Kelleher, and leave the would-be antagonist with just a vague descriptive title, The Senator. There are several reasons for this, among them a kind of ironic objectification of the political figure in a way similar to the media's treatment of Mary Jo Kopenkney, and to focus the reader's attention in such a way that he or she realizes that the identity of The Senator is not what is important. It is what he represents, a glossy, distinguished portrait of American political success that is most vital to Oates's thematic concerns. Oates is addressing the attraction that some young women in our society feel for that political success, and the resulting ways that cold and selfish men can manipulate that attraction. Black Water is a wake up call for those who would be Kelly Kelleher, an "American girl" who is led into a dangerous, even fatal, situation by letting herself be controlled by a man's esteem and political power. Oates wishes that those who would follow in Kelly's footsteps to see the incident as a deterrent, a warning, and she makes this absolutely clear with her inclusion of a detailed description of the death penalty in chapter 30. The death penalty is intended as a deterrent to would-be criminals, and Oates wishes Kelly Kelleher's "death penalty" to be seen in this way as well.

The novel's prose style is simple and pristine. Oates leaves aside complicated, dense language in order to better communicate her thematic concerns. At times the structure can be a bit confusing because of the repetition, but the average reader should have little trouble. Its subject matter is somewhat dark in tone, but that is simply the nature of the theme, which inherently requires a grave and serious approach. With this novel, Oates has achieved an excellent balance of pleasurable reading with the exploration of a vital issue. I highly recommend this book to any reader, regardless of your favorite genre.

"Black Water" is one of Joyce Carol Oates' masterpieces. Being predisposed to lean toward her short fiction, I was surprised to find myself so in love with this book.

To answer a few questions, yes it does bring to mind a certain senator who is a member of "America's Royal Family." And yes, it does completely abandon the traditional guidelines for storytelling.

Howecer, only a truly magnificent writer can take these rules and throw them out the window with such skill. This novel begins with its central character drowning in a car accident. In fact, every single chapter details the exact same event. Oates' tale is like a memory. We are looking at the same thing over and over until we finally understand its origin.

This is not the only truly amazing thing about "Black Water." Oates makes us drown too. This is something that is said all too often about way too many writers; however, in this case, it would be true. It brings to mind earlier work. I find myself reminiscing over the way I felt for Connie when I first read "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" I am excited to see how fast she will make my heart beat in the future.

Joyce Carol Oates presents the reader with a simple story in "black water" !!
In every chapter, there are thrilling sentences that left this reader in awe of Oates's strength as a writer.
„If you're looking for a book different from many others in the way it's written, I would Black Water." ...

This novel was one of extensive study by my part, and the more I read, the more I appreciated the fear, the possible real life correlation to a US senator, and the momentum in which Oates carries us through the scene of this horrible accident.

The entire novel is barely a hundred and fifty pages, separated by thirty-two chapters. The speed and the brevity in which she writes makes it all the more believable, and is in my opinion the best dramatic choice Oates made as far as the convention of the prose. Although these thirty-two chapters were small, they were jam-packed. That question everyone wants to know is in there and seems to be answered, which I can't reveal or I would spoil the book.

The worldview Oates' is two dimensional to me. One part of the view portrays through the accident is something we all know, accidents happen. The main character being a younger female, interested in politics, and interested in starting her life while thinking in almost every chapter, "am I going to die-like this" really wakes the reader up and moves the common "accidents happen" theme to "accidents can happen to you too, at any time." The other most significant and compelling part is shown through a young woman who is violated when she trusts an older man. As she sits trapped in the sinking car, the Senator escapes and physically uses her body as a stepstool, leaving her behind. The most intriguing part of the story for me was that she was convinced he was coming back, and yet this is a smart character. A character who makes a conscious effort to discard anything as silly as a horoscope and one who is approach is intricate in design no matter what the circumstances. So what happened? The complications Oates made within the main character really move your mind in several directions. Any female reader can really relate to the dramatic choices in dialogue and characterization the Oates makes.

The element of fear is something that Oates really plays around with through the entire book. There is the stark fear of death, fear of talking out of turn, fear of consequences from men, fear of leaving a relationship, fear of putting somebody above you in the political world down on your level, and fear of life itself. And the fear that is still surfacing after finishing the novel is the fear of trusting people. The reader watches a spark between a man and a woman as Oates so simply and naturally creates the scene and this so thought harmless afternoon fling turns into a bloodcurdling accident that details the thoughts of the victim and the disbelief-it's amazing.

This novel has an element of truth, or motivation from the 1969 Chappaquiddick Island accident involving Senator Edward Kennedy and Mary Jo Kepechne, who was in a similar position as Kelly Kelleher. However, it is obvious fiction since no author can rewrite the thoughts of a deceased individual. Nevertheless, the prose by Oates was critical in creating a believable situation.

It all takes place in Kelly Kelleher's viewpoint; at the party, interludes from her past, spliced with the slowly sinking of the rented Toyota and Kelly's body into the black water. Because of this dramatic choice Oates really benefits the reader by revealing the intentions and motivations of the main character in her life and career. A common motif through the novel was that Kelly was an "American girl" which really set a degree of normality to the character, making it all the more realistic to the reader.

This book wasn't the only work of Oates that I have read and I can see a similarity in style and the same dimensional fear and gender inequality. I would recommend this to any gender however; it affects every human in the area of trust and death.

I was startled when I finished reading Joyce Carol Oates Black Water. What I found so astonishing was that I remained completely captivated, my eyes literally glued to a book that focused on one brief scene for almost its entirety. The book never became mundane or repetitious even though the reader is continually thrust into the front seat of a car being devoured by the water of a lake. Every scene that brought me back to the doomed wrecked Honda became more and more thrilling, all through Oates' talented writing. My suspense continued even after I learned the fate of the characters, because I wanted there to be more. The story of Black Water is a fictionalized rendition of the Chappaquiddick story, following Kelly Keheller, an American, politically active, sexually attractive young woman who becomes enthralled with the political actions of a Senator whom she has the honor of meeting at a friend's party. Keheller takes the opportunity and becomes acquainted with the man who could possibly offer her political leverage; however, her strife for political success leads her into the passenger side of a Honda that will soon be on a collision course. I think this novel is one of the best examples of how any story can become captivating and beautiful simply through a writer's talent. Though this story is in itself intriguing, Oates' talent with language exemplifies it. Kelly Keheller comes to life through simply snatches of conversation between herself and the Senator, or her friends, and brief memories of past lovers or family get-togethers. Also, in this small but extremely dense novel, are the readers presented with the struggles of a woman who chooses to be active in political parties in America. Her continual determination and idealism made me want to fight for her while I read. I also felt a continual frustration with the earnestness behind Kelly's struggles and her continual feelings of failure. The strength of this novel is its compactness. Oates says in so few words what could take other authors 400 pages to explain. Every description and scene is crucial to the understanding of Kelly as a character. Even as scenes tend to repeat themselves, Oates finds a way to make each scene new and continually awe-inspiring. I can honestly say I've never read an entire novel before with so many reoccurring scenes that continued to interest me. I highly recommend this novel. Not only is it a fairly short read, but the writing is genuinely wonderful. The plot is engaging and Oates finds a way to make even an "American Myth" new and interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a short yet enthralling read, as well as any avid writers, who want to learn how to make something new. Even within the first few chapters, all of which are short yet fascinating, can you see Oates' beautiful talent in taking one scene and recreating it for her readers over and over again until they understand every aspect, emotional and dramatically, yet without letting it lose its intensity.

For a scant 154 pages, "Black Water" packs quite a brutal punch. Oates will have you squirming in discomfort as you read about Kelly Kelleher, who after a car accident on page one spends the entirety of the novella trapped in a car underneath the titular black water, helpless and alone and waiting for help that very likely will not come. She has been abandoned and left to die by her companion, an unnamed but familiar Senator whose reckless driving got her into this mess, and who left her behind in his haste to exit the sinking vehicle.

"Black Water" is, as many undoubtedly know, based on the 1969 accident in which Ted Kennedy left young Mary Jo Kopechne to drown while he ran to get - not the police, not an ambulance - his lawyer. But Oates astutely doesn't use a sledgehammer to drive in her point, she simply focuses on the plight of Kelleher, an innocent woman trapped and flashing back on her life and the circumstances that led her to this place as the water slowly overtakes her, and allows the story to speak the volumes that it has to speak on its own.

Happy reading? Absolutely not, and I imagine that this will turn off a lot of readers. But one would be hard pressed to deny the power and intensity of Oates' writing. Entertainment Weekly recently named this one of the top fifty books of the last twenty-five years, and I can see why. I think "Black Water" will be haunting me for a long time to come.

I had never read Joyce Carol Oates before, but after this I will definitely be checking her out again - and soon.

Grade: A

Black Water is a fiction book by Joyce Carol Oates. This story is about a young woman named Kelly Kelleher. It was the night of July 4th when she was beginning to fall for a man, the senator. The author comes out right away, detailing this fatal attraction. She describes over and over again, the details of how their car went off the road and into the rushing water. They were hurrying to catch a ferry and the alcohol in the senator's system caused him to speed along the unpaved road recklessly. Oates is a very descriptive writer, most evident when she describes the water for you. "On all sides a powerful brackish marshland odor, the odor of damp, and decay, and black earth, black water." If you're looking for a book different from many others in the way it's written, I would strongly suggest Black Water. Oates skips around between events throughout the story, entering Kelly's past, present, mind, and body. One minute you'll be hearing about one of Kelly's childhood memories and before you know it, she'll be back in the water. Along with the variety, this could also be a bad thing. It causes the book to be confusing and hard to follow. The actual concept of drowning can be very disturbing, but this book covers more than that. Although you know the entire time how the story is going to end, Kelly's thoughts force you to hope it doesn't. Oates is also very strong in developing her characters to help establish a picture of them in your mind. "How tall he was, how physical his presence. And that dimpled grin, the big chunky white teeth." As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. There was something about the actions going on that kept me hooked. At the same time, this book may not be for you if you don't like stories that are somewhat hard to follow. I think this book is very interesting and would recommend it. The writing style is unlike other books and it's good to have change.

This chillingly claustrophobic narrative of a woman driven to her death by a senator she meets at an Independence Day party lies somewhere between Chappaquiddick and "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." According to Wikipedia, Mary Jo Kopechne "lived for at least two hours down there."

Two hours trapped in an overturned car in freezing brackish water. Two hours with shattered bones. Two hours of twisting her body into unnatural shapes to keep her mouth from being submerged... to keep what little oxygen was available continuing to fill her lungs. Two hours to recall bits and pieces of a life lived until suddenly it wasn't.

Joyce Carol Oates has a keen ability to pull the reader right into the black water along with the pretty young woman who went off a bit too eagerly with the senator and his two extra vodka-and-tonics for the road. The blackness closes in... And. She. Died.