Customer Reviews

Rattlebone

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm currently studying at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. Reading Rattlebone is one of the requirements for our English 102 class. I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that the author, Maxine Clair, graduated from KU. Anyways, it is pretty much a thrill to be able to read about the past of a place where you're living right now. It's not only that, it kind of takes you back through time to the 50's and lets you experience or see a young African American girl's (Irene's) life back then. How family problems, social conflicts, and major political changes affected her life as she went through puberty and early teenage life. I think Maxine Clair does a pretty good job in using and creating different, but unique characters in Irene's life which influences her in their own unique manner. I think that if you're looking for a book to take you back into time, Rattlebone is a must-read book, especially if you live in Kansas or in the midwest. I know everytime I go down to Olathe or Kansas City, I will not look at it the same way I used to.

At first, I could not get used to the transition between chapters/stories. I was finding it difficult to follow and get to know the characters. As I continued to read, the characters began to reappear and become interesting. Also, in the beginning, I was not in the mood for reading in prose. With the author's compelling writing, that quickly changed as I enjoyed her rhythmic phrases. She has a tremendous gift for relaying information in a story without directly saying it. For instance, description of Irene not being able to deliver her "Creation" speech due to racial prejudice was adeptly told without using incendiary descriptions.

Some of the chapters were so engaging, and the ending so unexpected that they left me really feeling like I wanted to somehow interact with them. I wanted to maybe scream at someone or impact them in some other negative way. Overall, I enjoyed reading Rattlebone, and would recommend it.

Rattlebone, Kansas. Circa 1950. A group of related short stories paints a picture of the town of Rattlebone, Kansas and its inhabitants. Driven by strong characterizations, Maxine Clair's Rattlebone introduces us to Irene, a young girl living there as she grows, experiences, and blooms. Other notable characters include the Red Quanders, a group of people living together in a kinship environment, reminiscent of Igbo and other West African traditionalists, October Brown, Irene's grade school teacher, and Nick, Irene's introduction to love and all things pre-pubescent.

In essence, the tales tell two sides to every story, first relaying how a character is perceived by others and also how a character perceives himself or herself. The stories and characters all tie together if they do not pronounce themselves with novel-like fluency. Clair even continues a character's (October Brown) story in her second fiction title, October Suite. Each of these stories has its own moral, its own personality, its own undercurrent of emotion and is, thus, worthy of any reader's attention.

Reviewed by CandaceK

First off, don't think that the title of this review is referring to this as question and answer book, that would be incorrect. This is more of a book that gives an in-depth idea of what it may have been like living and growing up in 1950's as in African American, in an area of Kansas City. As far as the question part of my review title, I simply mean to a reader there might be a question of who is the nararator of each chapter. Don't look down on this aspect, it is what makes reading the book so enjoyable. You get a diffrent view from each person in the story, giving you even a more in-depth look on each situation.

I read this book for an assignment, and initially thought that it was a novel. Considering that the first two stories were both about Irene, I saw the short stories simply as chapters, until I read further on.

While the connections between the stories are excellent, I found that I had a hard time identifying with the characters. Primarily, this was due to the fact that the author never explicily gives the stories a setting. After a few minutes, one can derive that the book is set near Kansas City, and by reading between the lines, one discovers that the time period is set at some point during the fifties.

Despite this bit of ambiguity, however, I felt that the stories themselves were excellent. The problem with the setting is easily overcome by the excellent storytelling. Rattlebone is an excellent book.

I thought this was a wonderful book revolving around the life of African Americans in the Midwest during the 1950's. I enjoyed the format of intertwining stories as seen through the eyes of the differant citizens of Rattlebone. I think my interest was peaked since I was born and raised in Kansas City (MO) where the fictional town of Rattlebone was and where Maxine Clair, the author, is also from. I am anxious to read other books by this author.

This is the best book! Once I started it I didn't want to stop. Towards the end of this book, I started to read slowly so it would not end. This book is really cool in that all of the stories inter-twine and come together by the end of the book. Some parts made me want to cry, while other parts made me want to stand up and shout YIPPIE! I HIGHLY recommend this book.

Rattlebone is great book to read, not for just African-Americans, but for the many people who have encountered a moment of being different. Maxine Clair used many different interviews she had to come up with the different chapters she had in this novel. In doing so, she opened my eyes to another world that I had yet to discover. Her stories made me realize that society today, has way more than what it had in the past. We need to stop blaming one another for the past, and make what we have now, so much better so that we don't have to live the lives of the characters in Rattlebone.

This novel is really one story as told by many players in the story. Some chapters are great others are good. I enjoyed this book.

I was truly upset when I thought I lost this book. I was a little more than half-way through it and I couldn't find it anywhere. I am happy to say I found it and was able to finish it!

I wish Maxine Clair had 5 more books like this. I would read every one. By relating the stories to one town and connecting the characters through separate events, she brings character development to a new level. Not only did I feel like I knew the characters, but I also felt very empathetic toward their situations - almost at home with them. It really is an amazing little book.

After you read it (and I highly recommend you do), you may understand why losing the book upset me. It was like getting a phone call from a family member in trouble and not getting an answer when you call back. I felt THAT connected to the characters of Rattlebone.

Great book. I want it in hardcover.