Homegoing in Albany Public Library

Jul 25, 2018 Alicia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: black, family, dark, female, multiple-povs, historical, politics-justice, religion-folklore-myth, adult, male

The evocative storytelling is magical. You could reread sentences over and over again and indulge in Gyasi's lyricism. I am so glad I picked this adult novel up as it chronicles a family tree over generations spanning from Ghana in the 1700s through present day United States and by walking through each generation in a separate chapter moving up the ladder of time, stories connect the present with the past.

Gyasi's focus is on the African slave trade with culpable parties including the British (a ...more

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Oct 13, 2017 Susan D'Entremont rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club

Very much enjoyed this book. She tells the story of several generations of a family in both Ghana and the USA. The characters and their situations are realistically nuanced and complex. There are few characters that are completely "good guys" or "bad guys." Many people are complicit in slavery and racial inequality. And people's relationships are complicated. The stories of the first James - how he loved his African wife and kids yet made his money off of slave trafficking, and Robert Clifton le Very much enjoyed this book. She tells the story of several generations of a family in both Ghana and the USA. The characters and their situations are realistically nuanced and complex. There are few characters that are completely "good guys" or "bad guys." Many people are complicit in slavery and racial inequality. And people's relationships are complicated. The stories of the first James - how he loved his African wife and kids yet made his money off of slave trafficking, and Robert Clifton leaving Harlem and his darker wife to pass as white once he moved to NY were especially emotionally complex. I also found Willie's ambivalence about leaving Alabama to move to NY when she had originally been so ready to come to NY to be interesting.

It is a good novel that makes you curious to learn more. I am now reading more about Ghana, its tribes, and the activity around the Cape Coast Castle. We in the US are often taught about slavery within our borders, but we don't learn much about the international reach of this horrendous trade. I have much to learn.

In my exploration of this topic, I found a local working group's report on tourism in Elmina, the seaside town where the Cape Coast Castle is. It is a brutally frank report about steps that need to be taken to attract more tourists. The beaches look gorgeous, but the challenges seem huge. In any case, the descriptions of Marjorie visiting this area as a (semi) tourist seem to be right on the mark, from the tour of the Castle to the annoying little boys pestering her while being truant from school. I would love to hear the author speak about how she did her research for this wide-ranging book.

There are LOTS of characters, which made the latter parts of the book to be slower reading as I tried to remember how various characters were related and had to flip to the genealogy chart more and more. I listened to the first part of this book on CD, and it was engrossing, but I think it would become frustrating to listen to the entire book because the characters and their situations would become very confused in your head, and you don't have the text in front of you to easily flip back and forth to verify things.

Strange coincidence: I often read the acknowledgements because I know how much help goes into writing books. Imagine my surprise when I saw the name of someone I actually know here in Albany in the acknowledgement section! ...more

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Sep 08, 2016 Jenn rated it really liked it

More like 4.5 stars, because I feel like my small critique is more about my likes as reader than a flaw in the book/with the writer.

Homegoing is at times a hard book to read given the topic. It is also fascinating to trace a story that we all know much deeper into its history than we are generally accustomed to. And the characters...wow -- a week after finishing the book, and I still think about some of them and their sad, sad stories.

The book starts with a genealogy chart, and here is where I More like 4.5 stars, because I feel like my small critique is more about my likes as reader than a flaw in the book/with the writer.

Homegoing is at times a hard book to read given the topic. It is also fascinating to trace a story that we all know much deeper into its history than we are generally accustomed to. And the characters...wow -- a week after finishing the book, and I still think about some of them and their sad, sad stories.

The book starts with a genealogy chart, and here is where I knew that I was in trouble (but I'm thankful I didn't turn back and close the "cover" (Kindle user)). I tend to struggle with novels that have such a large cast of characters that one needs a chart to figure out the relations. And need the chart, I did. I went back to the chart at the start of almost every chapter (especially later in the book) to remind myself of which side of the family (Effia or Esi) and who the character's parents were. It is these familial connections that tie the book together and allow us to see the long-lasting impact of the institution of slavery. The importance of the book, I believe, is the commentary: yes, slavery technically ended 150 some odd years ago, but it never leaves us.

The book is structured so that each chapter is the story of a singular character (essentially. Though again, because it follows the ancestry, that character's story is always part of another character(s)' story as well). And here is one of my small issues: each chapter, despite its connections to the other chapters, reads a bit like a short story. That is, I didn't ever feel "done" with that particular character and just kept wanting to know more of his/her story. I would wait anxiously to get the chapter about one of the offspring, but that generally did not satisfy my desire to know more of the original character's story. (This, ultimately, is both quibble and compliment, I suppose).

Then there is the language. The unique turns-of-phrase and vivid analogies and metaphors make you feel like you are reading stories written by an aged and well-lived storyteller (as opposed to this young 20-something Iowa MFA). The language truly feels authentic to Ghanian culture. And it's beautiful.

I did find the reading experience at the beginning to be richer and more immersive than in the later chapters of the book. I'm not sure why, but Gyasi's clever and unique use of language becomes less frequent later in the book. Perhaps this is representative of the book's shift into American culture and away from Ghana.

On the whole, I did have trouble keeping track of all the characters (the book spans almost 300 years; what can I expect?), but it was a powerful enough read that I am still thinking about it (and ready to read Whitehead's The Underground Railroad!) a week after finishing it. ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Kate Caldwell rated it really liked it

This should be required reading for every high school student. Really powerful.

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Jul 10, 2018 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: faves

This is a huge huge book. It spans many generations while somehow making the reader feel close to each character. I usually shy away from books like these, for fear of losing track of the characters, or "missing" one when their chapter was over. However, that didn't happen at all. Highly highly recommend. ...more

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