Breath, Eyes, Memory [Audio Cassette]

Edwidge Danticat (Author), Robin Miles (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: RecordedBooks (2007)
• ISBN-10: 1419397362
• ISBN-13: 978-1419397363
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti in 1969 and came to the United States when she was twelve years old. She graduated from Barnard College and received an M.F.A. from Brown University. She made an auspicious debut with her first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, and followed it with the story collection Krik? Krak!, whose National Book Award nomination made Danticat the youngest nominee ever. She lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting look into another culture, May 4, 2001

By 

Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breath, Eyes, Memory (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

Wow. A pause while I catch my breath...

Edwidge Danticat has written an exceptional and beautifully crafted novel about a young Haitian girl and the family of women that surround her. A somber, spiritual story told with a feverish tenacity that will bewitch you and leave you aching for more from this talented and gifted writer.

After twelve years of being raised in Haiti by her aunt Atie, young Sophie Caco has been summoned by her mother to join her in New York. Sophie is terrified and does not want to go, especially since she does not remember her mother, who left Haiti when Sophie was just a baby. What follows is a painful rendering of horrifying secrets and Haitian tradition that deeply affects Sophie and the way she lives her life. Finally, frantic for justification and healing, Sophie turns to her homeland for the answers and refuge she so desperately needs.

The flow of the writing is smooth and lyrical, like music that rolls off the tongue. There is just enough description to make vivid pictures, but not too much to overwhelm. I do find it lacking in the development of the relationship between Sophie and her mother, although not enough to interrupt the beauty and quality of the story. Readers will be awed at the strong determination of the Caco women and the unbreakable bonds that hold them together. A very poetic and powerful novel that mixes a family, their culture, and a country in the midst of political upheaval. Breath, Eyes, Memory is extraordinary.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Haitian Experience, February 2, 2000

By 

Jenifer Wells - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breath, Eyes, Memory (Hardcover)

Breath, Eyes, Memory, Edwidge Danticat's first novel, is a stirring story of Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora. Sophie, the main character, has much in common with her native country: confusion about her parentage, difficulty adjusting to different people's rights of sovereignty over her, violence in her past, duty in her present, and hope in her future. As one reviewer below has said, the characters are dysfunctional. That's kind of the whole point: in a nation such as Haiti (set just before the fall of Baby Doc), where terrorism and poverty reigned, it's impossible for the majority of people to be fully "okay" psychologically and/or physically. Leaving for what one hopes will be a better life in the United States in many cases only adds to the sense of dispossession felt by immigrating Haitians. Read this book not to find the psychological connection between rape and sexual dysfunction, but instead to find the balance of fear facing the people of Haiti, both at home and abroad. Pay attention near the end and catch a "cameo" by Aristide while he was still just a rebel priest. Note: If you have read Danticat's The Farming of Bones, you will find this novel to be much more mainstream in its narrative structure. This may be a better first book to read by Danticat, as The Farming of Bones is less straightforward.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful story., March 10, 2002

By 

Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breath, Eyes, Memory (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book and the depth to which the author delves in order to allow us to have a glimpse into the life of a Haitian woman. Sophie is at the heart of this novel and we see her growing up with her aunt, in Haiti, while her mother lives in the U.S. Suddenly, Sophie is called for, by her mother, and she must go to a country that is foreign to her and live with a woman she doesn't know. Sophie then learns the truth about her birth and the trauma that her mother has endured for years while at the same time learning to become a woman in her own right.

The only flaw I can find in this book is that more character development was needed. I wanted to learn more about the aunt that raised her and the relationship between Sophie and her mother was never fully examined.

The writing however was beautiful and I enjoyed that aspect of it immensely. Danticat makes each of us realize that family can give us much strength but we need to make the change within ourself in order to become a stronger person. Sometimes a cycle within a family needs to be broken. Thankfully Sophie realizes this power and seizes it.

Definitely a novel worth the read.