The Book of Color [Paperback]

Julia Blackburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 1996

In the late 19th century, an English missionary arrives on a remote island in the Indian Ocean, intent on wiping our fornication among the natives. Instead he incurs a curse that strikes first his dark-skinned wife, then his son and grandson. But is the curse supernatural--or a white man's guilty fascination with an alien new world? "A hypnotic, cryptic, haunting exploration of the power of memory."--Boston Globe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Biographer Blackburn makes her fictional debut with a multigenerational tale concerning race, madness and identity.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

In the late 19th century, an English missionary arrives on a remote island in the Indian Ocean, intent on wiping our fornication among the natives. Instead he incurs a curse that strikes first his dark-skinned wife, then his son and grandson. But is the curse supernatural--or a white man's guilty fascination with an alien new world? "A hypnotic, cryptic, haunting exploration of the power of memory."--Boston Globe.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (August 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679758372
• ISBN-13: 978-0679758372
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,965,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Julia's best, September 3, 2005

By 

Desiree Troy (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Color (Hardcover)

I recently finished reading 'The Book of Color' by Julia Blackburn, which I didn't think was too bad. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that I didn't understand exactly who the characters were until part three and there are four parts to the book, so that wasn't good. I read the jacket of the book before I actually read the first page and now that I've finished the book I wonder if I read the book that the jacket was talking about. It was entirely different from what I expected. There were only a few things that matched up with the story. It's not a book that I recommend other people read although the pig's part in the story was amazing and the ending was brilliant. The storyline was confusing, the plot wasn't easily discernable, and the order of the scenes is all over the place. The story itself just wasn't good enough and I feel bad saying that because it was well written, interesting, and I loved Julia's book 'The Leper's Companions'.

5.0 out of 5 stars A poetic and profound meditation on history and race, August 18, 2009

By 

Natania Rosenfed - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Color (Paperback)

Julia Blackburn is wonderful. Old Man Goya was one of the best books about an artist I've ever read. The Book of Color is in the lineage of Genesis, of Shakespeare, and of Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea. Although it is heavily reminiscent of the latter, it does not seem derivative; Blackburn has her own, strong voice. The motifs of the book, its scenes and metaphors, encapsulate the process of its writing. The author is haunted, and tries to follow her ghosts to their origins; you could call this a ghost story. Its understanding of the pathologies of racism and misogyny is deep, yet no character is a one-sided villain. I've read this book twice, and found it hypnotically beautiful both times.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hypnotic, June 7, 2000

By 

Vernon Pua (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Color (Paperback)

This strange & hypnotic novel is told in a dreamlike state and lures the reader into a seamless stream of vivid images. Haunting.