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Paperback
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Tired of being labeled white trash, Ruth Anne Boatwright--a South Carolina bastard who is attached to the indomitable women in her mother's family--longs to escape from her hometown, and especially from Daddy Glen and his mean-spirited jealousy. A first novel. 15,000 first printing.
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| Definite Page Turner |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I could not put this book down! Dorothy Allison does such a great job of putting this novel together and keeping you wanting to find out what's next. When I was done with the book I was still itching to know what happened with the characters...I even googled Dorothy Allison to see if I could find more info. It's a must-read for anyone who is interested in something new & different. It is definitely not for the very reserved & conservative unless you're willing to open your mind a bit as she uses some very "out there" themes.
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| Depressing, but great. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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The only genuine criticism that can be said of this book is that it is too depressing. Yes, it is overwhelmingly bleak at points, sometimes to the point where I had to stop reading for bit before continuing. But, just because literature is depressing, doesn't detract from the quality. "Bastard Out of Carolina" remains one of my favorite books of all time. It tells a highly dysfunctional but realistic story about growing up in the South - something which I admittedly have no first hand experience in doing. The plot is compelling, the characters are developed sufficiently and I definitely care about what happened to the main character. I was disgusted, depressed, hopeful, anxious all because of this book. When literature can cause these full range of emotions, then I'd definitely consider it a success.
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| Tough to Stomach, but Worth it (to read all of my book reviews go to Beansbookblog.wordpress.com) |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I wrote down the title of this book when I was reading a book called Great Books for High School Kids. Yikes. I can't quite imagine teaching this to high school kids, but the teacher who wrote about it taught it in an elective women's lit class. She always had more students than desks and her students ranged from Ivy League bound to those struggling to finish high school. Clearly she's a brilliant teacher, and part of being a brilliant teacher is choosing materials that students will embrace and dig into. So here's the story of Bone. In chapter one we learn about her birth as a "bastard child" and by the end of the book she's maybe in her early teens. Her mom was 14 or 15 when she was born and a whopping 21 when she marries for the third time. Bone's younger sister has a different father--he's somewhere in between Bone's father and the man who enters their lives when Bone is 7 or so. There's some humor in the story--Bone's uncles and aunts are an eccentric bunch, but mostly this is just a heartbreaking story that's very hard to stomach. In a nutshell, it's a story of need, of sex, of drinking, of incest, of masturbation, of fear, of betrayal. Some really tough and uncomfortable issues to bring up in a class discussion. Then again, there's a lot to learn here. I admire the teacher who chose to start her year with this book. But I'd have to follow it with something lighter, a lot less depressing.
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| Intense but worth it |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Make no mistake, the events described in this book are intense. Knowing that they're loosely based on Allison's own life doesn't make them any less so. But it's well worth the read. Allison is a master story-teller, and her use of language is hypnotic. A must-read for any lover of serious lesbian literature.Verge
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| Wow . . . I guess men really suck . . . |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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I read this book as a favor for a self-proclaimed "southern" friend of mine who said it was her favorite. If it hadn't been for my friend, I wouldn't have finished the book. Not because I can't handle a disturbing read, but because I need there to be a reason WHY something is disturbing. The graffic content of the book seemed unnecessary. The story is depressing enough, it didn't need to be backed up with so many voyeuristic scenes.
I could forgive the too-explicit material if the book had a redeeming point, but I never found it. There was just an overwhelming theme that women are powerless against men and fate. Women are essentially doomed to whatever they are born into or whatever their jerk of a husband wants for them (and all husbands are jerks by the way). The book had an overwhelming victim attitude. It was so bad that at the end I was mad at the evil man-villian, but more mad at the so-called strong women who put up with his garbage. It's a good book for women who want to whine about how evil men are, but a woman who thinks that she is in charge of her own destiny would find it maddening.
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