Krik? Krak! The Fiction Addiction

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat is a great book that gives an insight into Haitian culture that I personally have never seen before. Each short story gives a different aspect of Haitian life and Haitian history. I think one of the best ways this is done is by making it so that certain details of earlier stories return in later stories. It shows how Haitians' strong connection to their heritage and history causes them all to be interlinked. A good example of this is in "Caroline's Wedding", during a funeral for Haitians who lost their lives on a ship the mother begins to cry. "'Did Ma cry?.... 'It's not like she knows these people.' Caroline said. 'Ma says all Haitians know each other.'" Later on during the funeral the priest starts to speak of a woman who lost her baby on board. Of course if you've read Krik? Krak! you would know that this is referring to Celianne, a character in the short story "Children of the Sea"....

Newspaper Story of Parsley Massacre, 1937 * Rafael Trujillo Unfortunately, the study of history gets a bad reputation, perhaps justifiably so, for being a dull recitation of  dates and names. Lost in the stew of facts is the idea that this discipline is all about people's lives--their joys, heartaches, memories, dreams, and stories . The talented Haitian fiction writer, Edwidge Danticat, rescues history from itself by embedding it in works about her homeland. For an example, you need read no further than her story "Nineteen-Thirty Seven" if you really want to understand the terrifying human cost of tyranny. In the story, the narrator, Josephine pays prison visits to her mother who has been wrongly accused of witchcraft (in an absurd manner that recalls the darkest hours of the Puritans). It's revealed that three generations of Josephine's family were forever altered by the 1937 date of the story's title. In that fateful year, Dominican dictator Ra...

Krik? Krak! was a very interesting book to read and one thing that I enjoyed the most was how realistic the stories were, regarding Haitian life. However, this is unfortunate because most of the book revolved around death. Some interesting plot twists or transgressive topics include: Guy jumping out of the hot air balloon Marie's baby turned out to be dead Prostitution in 'Night Women' Célianne jumps out of the boat to die with her baby -These all made Krik? Krak!  extremely interesting and it was actually not painful to read, unlike most other books assigned to us in class.  IMAGES: EDWIDGE DANTICAT (AUTHOR) A WALL OF FIRE RISING CHILDREN OF THE SEA  1937(MASSACRE RIVER&DOLL)   BETWEEN THE POOL AND GARDENIAS THE MISSING PEACE SEEING THINGS SIMPLY NEW YORK DAY WOMEN CAROLINE'S WEDDING GREEN AND PINK SYMOLISM IN CAROLINE'S WEDDING: One important theme throughout  Krik? Krak!  that I believe must be discussed is the presenc...