There is much to admire about Shani Mootoo's first novel, Cereus Blooms at Night. In telling the tale of Mala Ramchandin, her sister, Asha, her childhood sweetheart Ambrose "Boyie" Mohanty, and the other inhabitants of the fictional Caribbean island of Lantanacamara, Mootoo has created a cast of remarkable characters capable of charming the reader. Narrated in part by Tyler, a young male nurse at a home for the elderly, Cereus begins with Mala's admission to the alms house in Paradise--the main city on Lantanacamara--under a cloud of mystery. The old lady won't speak and is suspected of a multitude of crimes, causing the head nurse of the home to keep her in restraints. Only Tyler is willing to care for her; it isn't long before Tyler, an outcast in Paradise because of his sexual orientation, and Mala, a pariah for other reasons, develop an unusual friendship.
For the first half of the book, Mootoo moves easily between Tyler's narrative and a third-person account of Mala's life as a child. The chapters covering the adoption of Mala's father, Chandin Ramchandin, by a white missionary and his wife and Chandin's obsession with his foster sister, Lavinia, offer a telling perspective on race and colonialism; later chapters detailing Chandin's descent into alcoholism, madness, and child abuse are occasionally overwrought, but the strong, child's-eye point of view of young Mala keeps the novel grounded. The second half of Cereus abandons both Tyler and the omniscient narrator, choosing to focus, instead, on Otoh Mohanty, the son of Mala's childhood friend, Boyie. Here Mootoo also introduces, for the first time, elements of the fantastic: a girl who "wills" herself to become a boy; a man who sleeps for weeks at a time, only waking one day each month; a mysterious, locked room that holds a horrifying secret. The result is pure melodrama wrapped up in lovely prose.
Even though the last half of the book seems too suddenly freighted towards the magical and improbable, and the happy ending is a trifle too contrived, Cereus Blooms at Night showcases Shani Mootoo's impressive mastery of language. And in Mala Ramchandin, she has created a tough and tender heroine who commands the reader's interest and sympathy from first page to last. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
發表於2024-11-27
Cereus Blooms at Night: A Novel 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: violence, english, 長篇小說 第三世界 文本 psychology family LGBT
口味較重~~~ 集結瞭亂倫同性戀變性精神病謀殺gender vs. sex/殖民地/種族主義為一體~~~但是,是以美的形式呈現齣來,隻是有一點點點點過份修辭~~~plus, not my type~~~
評分口味較重~~~ 集結瞭亂倫同性戀變性精神病謀殺gender vs. sex/殖民地/種族主義為一體~~~但是,是以美的形式呈現齣來,隻是有一點點點點過份修辭~~~plus, not my type~~~
評分幾乎不能讀完,流瞭好幾次眼淚,在巴士上讀眼淚都齣來瞭。
評分幾乎不能讀完,流瞭好幾次眼淚,在巴士上讀眼淚都齣來瞭。
評分幾乎不能讀完,流瞭好幾次眼淚,在巴士上讀眼淚都齣來瞭。
Cereus Blooms at Night: A Novel 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載