Saturday January 22, 2005 The Dew Breaker
The Dew Breaker - Edwidge Danticat (2004)
*** 1/2 (out of 5)
The Dew Breaker is part short story collection, part novella. In this book, Danticat tells a series of nine interrelated stories set between Haiti and New York City and spanning periods of time from the 1960's to present day. The common thread of these stories is an enigmatic American immigrant that once served as a 'dew breaker' - a brutal prison guard and torturer - in Haiti and his effects on the lives of his families, acquaintances, and past victims. Standout stories in this collection include "The Bridal Seamstress" - the story of a retiring bridal seamstress in NYC that was arrested and tortured during her youth in Haiti because of her refusal to dance with the dew breaker - and "The Night Talkers" - the story of a young man, orphaned by the dew breaker, returning to a rural Haitian village to visit his blind aunt.
The stories of the Dew Breaker are evocative and the writing is excellent. The subtle lyricism of the prose in the Dew Breaker is one if its most compelling features. Also compelling is the profundity of the book's primary theme - redemption. I felt that Danticat did an exceptional job at presenting some deep questions related to theme: How can someone guilty of a horrific past find peace and redemption? How can one explain the apparent contradiction inherent in someone capable of both terrible cruelty and touching love? Danticat did not, however, make much of an effort to explore potential answers to these questions. This, and the ambiguous moral stance the book takes related to the 'protagonist', somewhat diminishes the book, in my opinion. Still, the Dew Breaker is a worthwhile work and I recommend setting aside a couple of hours to read it.
( Jan 22 2005, 05:57:25 PM PST )
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