Customer Reviews

My Brother

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm still thinking through the issues raised in "My Brother" -- and I suspect that it will be one of those books which, though it feels a bit hollow as I read it, will turn out to haunt me in the future. Only time will tell. The most remarkable thing about it, I think, is the way that Kincaid refuses to valorize any of the characters she describes. The incredible ire towards her mother is the only emotion that feels puzzling, given the lack of context for it -- I kept waiting for a revelation there that never came. With this exception, however, Kincaid seems committed to presenting a balanced portrayal: she does not heroize the dead, nor does she portray herself as particularly wise or noble in the face of death. It is this commitment to a human, complex portrayal that makes the description unique.

I just want to add that I am only posting this to counteract what appears to be a long list of high school book reports that make up most of the "reviewing" on this page. ...

This is a poignant book, written much like a journal. It is lyrical prose mourning the loss of Kincaid's brother from AIDS, and in a greater sense the loss of her childhood stolen by a demanding mother, ill father, and half-brothers who drained the family provisions. My eyes were opened to abject proverty that I, as an American, know so little about. Antigua is so improverished the hospital is just a holding place for death. Only through Jamaica's efforts, is her brother afforded any medications. The story is poignant and expressive. Perhaps, because it reads like a mourning journal, I never felt comfortable reading it, and was relieved to complete this short novel. Not my favorite book, but worth reading, not the least reason being education.

Jamaica Kinkaid's book My Brother, is an emothional, poetic, and surprisingly frank account of the life and death of her brother, Devon. Not only is this book about her brother, but it is also about the many hardships her family experienced in her birthplace of Antigua. Although there are many aspects about this book that may disturb readers, overall it is a wonderful book that keeps readers interested from beginning to end.
Living a normal life in Vermont with her husband and children. Jamaica receieves a phone call from a friend in Antigua. Her youngest brother had been diagnosed with the AIDS virus. Jamaica is forced to leave her home and help her mother and brother who are poor and cannot afford treatment for the AIDS.
While back in Antigua, Jamaica is met by memories from her past. Memories of her mother who she no longer spoke to, and memories of her Rastafarian brother who live a life filled with drugs and unprotected sex. These all led up to him ultimately getting the AIDS virus and facing death.
Jamaica returns to see her brother who she hadn't seen in over 20 years, only to find him ill. The author (Jamaica) gruesomely describes the pain and symptoms he experiences during this time, and his developed dependance on his mother. Jamaica writes, "He lived in death." (p.88). For he did not live besides the fact that he ate and breathed. Ultimately she knew he would eventually die.
The entire scond half of the book is based on a time after his death. Jamaic writes about her feelings toward her brother feelings toward the dead, and the affect her brother's death had on the people in his life. Jamaica writes beautifully about death. Her writing is poetic, and she makes many profound comments. She wrote My Brother as a way to cope with and understand his death. Even though she barely knew him or for that matter loved him.
Jamaica Kincaid writes beautifully, poeticly and thruthfully frank. It is a great book that makes you think about life and death. It is not a p[articularly easy read. The writer goes off on tangents which can be confusing. But that is because she wanted to fit in all details. Her frankness with the subject and use of dialect in her writing makes this book real. It's a good read and beautifully done.

Every week I flip through the book section of Entertainment Weekly mostly to see what's new. Those reviews are vicious they rarely have a good thing to say. In the past they have given terrible marks to some of my favorite books. So I was amazed to see they had rated this book an A-. I immediately put down the magazine and picked up a copy of MY BROTHER. I was not disappointed.

Kincaid is a brilliant writer. Her prose is tight, short, succinct, clear and to the point. In less than 200 pages she says what other writers might have taken twice that much space to convey. Her writing is enjoyable to read even when she is writing about unpleasant subject matter. She has a keen insight into the events in her life and her relationships with other people.

To dismiss this as merely an "aids memoir" is to overlook the main theme in the book which primarily deals with the relationship of the author and her biological family and the life she's left behind in another country along with them.

Along the way Kincaid asks many intriguing questions, (although she does not always answer them). Why do parents do and say such cruel things to their children? Why do parents sometimes see these acts and statements as loving acts for the child's benefit? Why does one child from the same household grow up to be "good" and the other "bad"? Why do the parents sometimes love the "bad" child more than the "good" child? Why do we as adults continue to have contact with our parents and siblings even though we despise some of their past acts and continuing "bad" behaviors?

If you have relatives that you love and hate at the same time (and perhaps think you're unique in this aspect) you owe it to yourself to read this book. The aids aspect is only a backdrop for a mesmerizing look at family relationships and what makes people tick and act the way they do in those relationships.

I'd only ever read a short short story of Jamaica Kincaid's (that I wasn't too impressed by) before picking up this memoir. I enjoyed her memoir thoroughly. Wonderfully crafted and skillfully written, this rendition of her memories surrounding the life and death of her brother in Antigua, Jamaica, are emotionally moving, to say the least. I'm not giving much away by revealing that her brother dies of AIDS, something that is revealed in the first few pages, so I'm okay to say that this story of a sister and family's grappling with the immiment death manages to handle the AIDS story with beauty, poise, and compelling writing.

She highlights the stigma that surrounded anyone who contracted the disease. Were they a drug user? A philanderer? A homosexual? What kind of lifestyle does that person live that allowed them to contract such a deadly disease? Those are the questions people in Jamaica, and elsewhere, thought and asked themselves at the time, and even today. The sick were labelled, ostricized, deemed outcast, and refused help. A sad plight, indeed.

Simply put, Kincaid has a simple way with language that turns up on the page as alluring, seductive, and entertaining.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

I have read Annie John, and The Autobiography of My Mother. This is deffinetly Kincaids best novel yet. She offers herself in her book. This is what makes her writting so wonderful. Her hatered for her mother is caputered in all her writing and is especialy in this true to life accont of her brothers trajic death.

After reading this book I couldn't come up with a good reason for praising it. It seemed repetitive and left me questioning whether this book was about the author's brother, or the author and her mother. I felt vey little connection with anyone except the doctor who treated her brother. What an example of human kindness and compassion!

I read this book a few years ago and I still think about it daily. With My Brother, Ms. Kincaid has taken a very personal matter, the death of her brother, and sliced it down to it's essentials.
Lean, just like Hemingway.

This book is written by Jamaica Kincaid.All though this book mainly focous on her brother Devon who is dieing of aids but it creates pictures to readers how she dealed with her family. mostly how she had so much problems with her. Her brother Devon a man with no self control over his own life. Devon is man who never seems to learn lessons from his mistakes. after being trated with AZT for having AIDS and being releasd from the Hospital he goes back to his regular act.The action that had already put him in treatment for AIDS. Jamaica aiso mentions her childhood with her mother. And how insensetive her mother was torwards her children. She aiso compares her life now and how it was then with her mother. And she broke the cyicle of being like her mother. This book is full of memories with different feelings. It's about life, happiiness and sadness that covers our daily life . I think from reading this book the main idea is that no matter how old we are and no matter how sad or happy memories had they are never forgetfull.

English Charlotte Wood
Book Review 1/4/02

The biography My Brother written by Jamaica Kincaid describes a heroic womens
life growing up in a poor household and a very difficult family situation. Jamaica possesses
nearly opposite qualities as the hero of the book The Odyssey. In mythology literature a
hero is strong, takes revenge, is powerful and has beauty. In todays society and also in
My Brother a hero is a person who helps others and is a positive role model.
The story is told by Jamaica herself, in first person. When her brother is diagnosed
with the HIV virus she is quickly reunited with her family and her past. A past that she left
behind at age 16. She travels back to her home in Antigua. There she finds her mother. A
women who she respected but did not love. I had sympathy for her then, but still no love,
only sympathy, and some revulsion, as I felt what had just happened to her-her child had
died, she would be burying one of her children-was a contagious disease and just to be
around her, just to be so near her meant I might catch it. (Page 173)
During her many trips to Antigua Jamaica learns many things about her family and
her life. It also reminds her of many dreadful childhood memories. Such as the time when
her mother burns her most precious possessions, her books. I insisted on reading books.
In a fit of anger that I can remember so well, as if it had been a natural disaster, as if it had
been a hurricane or an erupting volcano, or just simply the end of the world, my mother
found my books, all the books that I had read, some of them books I had bought, though
with money I had stolen, some of them I had simply stolen, for once I read a book, no
matter its literary quality I could not part with it. (Page 132)
Although the story is titled My Brother it mostly illustrates Jamaicas perspective
on his life and her own. She greatly portrays a hero figure. She is taken out of her ordinary
world and put into a controversial situation. She chooses the path to go back to her
childhood home and help her family and her brother. Although she does not love her
brother she pays for very expensive medication and takes care of him. At the beginning of
the book her brother denies having the virus, Me no get dat chupidness, man. Jamaicas
willingness to help her brother and determination shows that she is generous enough to
help someone just recently brought back into her life, that she hardly even knows.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it. It is a gratifying story of
heroism and family. It reminds people of what is really important in life and that one
person can make a difference.