From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

Start date: May 1, 2017

Finish date: May 31, 2017

Discussion: Literary Prize Group Read

Why we're reading this: Winner of the Literary Prize poll
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Literary Prize Group Read

2018 Literary Prize Group Discussion
By WndyJW · 16 posts · 30 views

last updated May 14, 2018 12:31PM

Literary Prize Group Read 2018
By WndyJW · 61 posts · 36 views

last updated May 07, 2018 03:01PM

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What Members Thought

May 04, 2017 El rated it liked it

Shelves: hear-me-roar-and-gender, library-borrow, peer-pressure, 21st-centurylit

The story begins with the introduction of half-sisters Effia and Esi in Ghana. The reader is introduced to them in the first couple of chapters, and then each subsequent chapter involves one of their descendants, so what we wind up with is a bit of a family epic, but not in a traditional sense. Each of the chapters can really stand on their own if they were removed from the larger context, which I'm sure was intentional, and once the story moves beyond the first few chapters, the connections to The story begins with the introduction of half-sisters Effia and Esi in Ghana. The reader is introduced to them in the first couple of chapters, and then each subsequent chapter involves one of their descendants, so what we wind up with is a bit of a family epic, but not in a traditional sense. Each of the chapters can really stand on their own if they were removed from the larger context, which I'm sure was intentional, and once the story moves beyond the first few chapters, the connections to the original family are not as strong, nor really that important either.

While I appreciate what Gyasi did here, and can fully respect the story she told, a lot of the book felt formulaic to me, and there were few surprises. A lot of really bad things happen, yes, but those who know much about history will not be surprised, per se. Saddened, yes, because the history seems to be accurate. Gyasi didn't necessarily need to make anything up to make the experiences her characters went through particularly traumatic. But nothing new was really brought to the table, either.

The best that can be said is that because of the individual chapters, the layout is different from other novels that touch on the same issues. I don't disagree with that. But as I read I found myself thinking that story might have been more interesting going in the other direction - starting with the contemporary stories, working backwards to end with Effia and Esi and seeing in the end how these people were all related and how vastly different their experiences were at times. When we look at our own individual family histories, we need to work backwards from ourselves before things become fully apparent to us in the grander scheme of our lives; I think this book would have benefited from that slow unfolding of the story as well, instead of starting us out with the beginning, where we already know the family dynamic.

In any case, it's a fine enough book, and it certainly reads quickly. It's not always an easy read, and it shouldn't be considering the subject matters. History is a disgusting place, filled with people who were not treated like the humans they were. If anything, Gyasi's story is a good reminder that we should always be aware of our pasts to try to prevent ourselves from repeating past mistakes. But as we all know, people like to turn a blind eye to events in history that are gross and assume things like that would never happen again... even though they keep happening in one form or another. ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2016 Irene rated it really liked it

This novel begins in the Gold Coast in the mid-18th century with a pair of half-sisters who have never met. One becomes the wife of a British soldier stationed in Africa to protect the slave trade, the other is captured and sold into slavery by the same British forces. In alternating chapters, we follow the generations of both women’s descendants. Gyasi brilliantly captures a character, a time, a cultural setting, in a single chapter. As Gyasi looks through the wrong end of the telescope to focu ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Nov 01, 2016 Gill rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge, netgalley

'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi

3 stars/ 6 out of 10

This is Yaa Gyasi's debut novel. In it she is attempting a novel of vast scope, which she develops through the story of two half sisters and their descendants, over several centuries and two continents.

I found the earlier sections relating to the Ashante, the Fante and Cape Coast the most interesting, because these were the areas I knew least about.

I also liked the story of the two half sisters and their descendants in the earlier sections. However I ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2017 Nadine in California rated it it was amazing

This novel is a great story beautifully told, but also so much more. As the generations of these two families unfold chapter by chapter, it builds a powerful picture of the slave trade, slavery and its aftermath, told through the lives of characters who were viscerally real to me. This novel is a smack in the face reminder that slavery can't be reduced to a series of historical facts and artifacts; we live in the enormity of it now - it's an invisible dark matter deforming American society.

At ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2017 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, civil-rights-slavery-racism, africa, group-read-roundtable, read-in-2017

I had two complaints about this book. 1. Every time I started getting into the story of a character, the chapter ended and then the book moved on to someone else. 2. The characters from both lines of the family just happen know each other at the end (and don't know it). What are the chances of that??
But I liked the writing and the stories. 3.5 stars. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2017 Heather(Gibby) rated it it was amazing

This is a relatively short book, spanning 5 generations of a family of whom half remained in Africa, and the other half were brought over to North America.

I listened it to audio, and if you are going to do that, go to Wikipedia and print off the family tree before you start to read, it will make the flow of the book much easier, as there are often great gaps in the timeline as the chapters move on from character to character.

I do hope Yaa Gyasi writes many more novels.

3 likes · Like · see review