Mention Books Supposing Owls Do Cry
| Original Title: | Owls Do Cry |
| ISBN: | 0807609560 (ISBN13: 9780807609569) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | New Zealand |
Janet Frame
Paperback | Pages: 210 pages Rating: 4.01 | 1303 Users | 139 Reviews
List Based On Books Owls Do Cry
| Title | : | Owls Do Cry |
| Author | : | Janet Frame |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 210 pages |
| Published | : | March 1st 1982 by George Braziller (first published 1957) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Classics. Mental Health. Mental Illness. Literary Fiction. Womens |
Explanation In Favor Of Books Owls Do Cry
Did I enjoy reading this? No, but that is because of the subject matter. This is a book about the mentally ill, the physically ill, aging and death. It records the darker side of human behavior; how humans behave toward the impoverished, the ill and the aging. The portrayal is uncomfortably accurate.This was Janet Frame's first novel and it has strong autobiographical elements. She was incorrectly institutionalized as a schizophrenic. She was institutionalized for a decade but avoided a lobotomy. Her writing had begun to be published and a doctor saw that maybe rather than being ill she was simply expressing a creative sensibility. Her life story is moving. But should one judge a book by the author's difficult life or the value of the book? I don't even judge a book by its value, but rather by my own personal reaction to it! I would give it five stars if I were to rate the book by the author's difficulties or as proof that what is defined as mentally ill is debatable.
How is the writing? Is it special? Yes, absolutely. Think free verse poetry. I personally have difficulty with poetry, but this is easy to read. Much of the book is written employing a semi-stream-of-consciousness narrative. You perceive how the character thinks. The author's decade in an institution and her own troubled thoughts (two of her sisters drowned) are used to good effect. The dialogs are perfect. You hear what people DO say.
Humor? Yes, even given the dark tone of the book, there is humor. Even on her deathbed the author has retained her sense of humor. When she was diagnosed with incurable leukemia she was told that they would do all they could to make the few weeks that remained comfortable. She jokingly responded, "No one has ever cared about my quality of life before!" Here are some lines that made me smile. Daphne, who is the central character in the book, is speaking of her father's hygiene routines and talks of, "....the powder that he sprinkled on his feet to stop them from becoming athletic." Or a depiction of a nurse "with her greet the visitor smile". Or the comment, "It must be in the family. Some of these visitors are queerer than the patients." There may be humor, but there is a lack of kind people. Maybe Daphne's mother....but she dies?!
Doctors. Should one trust doctors? This book is upsetting if you, as I do, immediately get psyched out in a medical institution. The author certainly shares my skepticism. When you enter a hospital you better be healthy if you want to exit.
And then there is the ending, the epilogue. It is very clever, and that left me loving the book. A message is left. Should I judge a book solely by the ending? Parts of the book do in fact drag.
Do you see how hard it is for me to decide on my rating?! In summary:
Good writing, poetic in tone.
A touch of humor.
Health issues, again hard for me....
Mental illness is portrayed with stunning insight.
People accurately drawn, but with an emphasis on the evil rather than the good.
The narration by Heather Bolton is outstanding. The dialect was genuine and not hard to follow. She beautifully sings the songs and recites the poetry. When Daphne sings and then her sister, you actually hear the difference. Daphne's father and mother and each sibling, each has their own voice. EXCELLENT narration which cannot be improved upon, but I insist on rating a written book and the narration of the audiobook separately.
I don't think I ever really came to feel for Daphne......so three rather than four stars. Definitely a book worth reading.
Oh yes, at the end of the audiobook there are two additional pieces, a "Biographical Sketch" by Pamela Gordon and a long, very long, "Introduction to the Author" by Lawrence Jones. I enjoyed the first but was put off by the second. I don't want to be told why I should like a book, so I stopped listening. I want to form my own opinion. I will now, having completed my review, go back and listen. This introduction, placed at the end, is more than an hour long. It has the character of a literary review. It felt promotional.
Rating Based On Books Owls Do Cry
Ratings: 4.01 From 1303 Users | 139 ReviewsAssessment Based On Books Owls Do Cry
Starting on page one... "The Day is early with birds beginning and the wren in a cloud piping like the child in the poem, drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe..." this book knocked the wind out of me, and did so on more than one occasion...I couldn't put it down, but forced myself to so I could absorb it in small bites...most definitely a "read it again someday" book. My copy is dog-eared with favorite bits, in some cases, if the bits spilled over to the next page, I dog-eared the bottom corner toAn unsettling and utterly original work of genius, Owls Do Cry heralded the arrival of Janet Frame on the international literary scene and kicked off a period of staggering creativity in which she would publish nine novels in fifteen years. Owls Do Cry chronicles the lives of the Withers siblings, Daphne, Chicks (Teresa), Toby and Francie. Growing up in coastal Waimaru (based on Frames home town of Oamaru), the children are raised by their well-meaning, unsophisticated parents in a home with few
This is genius writing. And, beautiful. And, brave.It's a bit squeamish-making, which is why I'm not putting this on my "favorites" shelf, but I vehemently recommend it, nevertheless.If you haven't seen An Angel at My Table, the film about Janet Frame's life, I recommend that as well.Thank you, again, Jo!
Janet Frame's first novel gets you right from the first chapter, just from the way she uses words. I went back and read that over a couple of times before going on, just because the rhythm and the sound of the words rolled around nicely.Overall, I think it was the language and writing most of all that appeals in this book, although there are also moments where bits and pieces of a character are neatly skewered and laid out for understanding that were great. The epilogue might have been a little
This is a very deliberate poetic & lyrical novel; unfortunately the interesting punctuation & italics is lost when read as an audiobook. However, overall, the effect is the same.This is a simple family drama- how will the family react to a death of an young adult child. All the characters are strong & believable. Father is laconic; mum only recognises one illness in the family - Toby's epilepsy; and the children grow up with various faults. No one is perfect in this book.My favourite
Owls Do Cry is one of those novels that is written very well, in an interesting manner, although I found it difficult to understand exactly what the storyline was. I decided to read Owls Do Cry for the topic studied in the 1st half of the year (social injustice) because my parents recommended it to me. This category is fairly interesting, it reveals the things that are/have been wrong with our society and world. It isn't a genre I'd particularly go for if I was book browsing. I am inclined to
This is the first Janet Frame book I have ever read so her writing took some getting used to at first - she has her own style which is kind of semi-stream-of-consciousness. She uses punctuation in a very interesting way and some sentences call for a re-read. Once you get the hang of it you realise how rich, deep and beautifully poetic her writing is. The book is based in 1950s New Zealand and follows the story of one family from Dunedin in the South Island, and goes in-depth into the characters
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.