Customer Reviews

Sweetbitter (Voices of the South)

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

 

 

This book is the story of Ruben S. (for Saved) Sweetbitter, a half Choctaw boy who meets and falls in love with Martha, the well-to-do daughter of a white lawyer in Three Rivers, Texas, at the turn of the century. Though they know their love is forbidden, Martha loves Ruben and sees him secretly until a young man, who works with Ruben at a sawmill, and who has designs on Martha himself, sees them together and reports back to Martha's family.

Martha's mother pleads with her daughter to denounce the Indian boy but Martha refuses, being too much in love to care about the consequences. Because of her refusal, Martha's father kicks her out of the house, causing her to run away with Ruben, thereby saving Ruben's life from a band of vigilantes. After traveling many miles on foot, the two finally find what they believe to be a safe haven.

This book moved me intensely. It is the best book I have read in probably five years and I read upwards of forty novels a year.

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover! I had to choose a book quickly since I had two small children with me at the library. I lucked out with Sweetbitter. It is an enchanting love story about two people from different cultures who fall in love and try to raise a family. Not only is it romantic but you can't wait to read what happens next. I am still thinking about the ending. I would certainly like to read any future books written by this author

Couples may not have to trek through the woods and hunt for food now, but for those who dare to cross the racial lines here in the South, it can be lonely, and even brutal.

I was intrigued by the cover description, and I did enjoy many things about this book. I liked the way Gibbons wrote different view points of different races, and how he realistically portrayed the running away of Reuben and Martha-it was not a sugar-coated adventure. Their love had it's ups and downs. However I did not like the ending because I personally like neat and tidy endings (even though those are unrealistic!), this ending was too abrupt, and nothing else was written about what happened to Martha and their children.

If this one of the best books that contempory fiction writers have to offer, then the TV set and old, worn-out movie plots have little competition from the literary world. This book is poorly written and constructed. It is not intersting. It has a liberal slanted viewpoint and racial connotations. It was a disappointing read, good enough for an A++ on a high school term project, but grossly deficient for a published work of fiction.