In my opinion, Black Shack Alley was a great choice to read after Agostino. Both follow the story of a young boy, but the characters are opposites in many regards. Agostino came from a privileged upper-class community and never worked, whereas José was born into a marginalized, working class group. Agostino’s troubles were much more […]
Posted in Blogs, Zobel | Tagged with black shack alley, race
Black Shack Alley follows author José growing up in 1930s Martinique. The story is split into three parts, and each part follows José in a different stage of his childhood, in a different place. First of all, I really loved José’s grandma’s character in the book. I like how she’s portrayed as kind of […]
Posted in Blogs, Zobel | Tagged with Colonialism, education, poverty
This week the read was the Black Shack Alley, and it left me feeling heavier than I expected. Not in a dramatic way, more like the realization that settles in after you stop reading. Jose’s story is sad, but what really hurts is the world around him. Everything feels pre-decided, boxed in by systems he […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Uncategorized
After reading Deep Rivers, this book taught me how deeply culture, language, and environment can shape an individual’s sense of identity, as through Ernesto’s experiences, growing up is not only simply about age, but about becoming aware of social hierarchies, and cultural conflict. Ernesto’s connection to Indigenous traditions and the natural world made me realize […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with culture, identity, Jose Arguedas
To start off this post, I really appreciated how easy the words of this novel was to read; AND ONLY THE WORDS, this book was also a emotionally hard to get through due to the emphasis on the unfortunate discrimination towards marginalized racial and social groups. The descriptions in the book also never overwhelmed me […]
Posted in Arguedas, Blogs | Tagged with inequality
When i read Black Shack Alley it honestly felt less like reading a novel and more like listening to someone quietly telling the reader about their childhood. What stayed with me most wasn’t a single dramatic event, but the steady, exhausting rhythm of everyday life, the work, the hunger, the discipline, the waiting. The novels […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with book-review, book-reviews, books, fiction, Uncategorized, writing
Kinda ranted in this one…
Question: Is education truly freedom if you have to give up yourself to get it?
-LS
Posted in Blogs, Zobel | Tagged with classism, poverty, Priviledge, racism
It took me longer to get through this novel, but as I slowly warmed up to the setting and the narrative, I became drawn in by Zobal’s world and character building. M’man Tine’s character, in particular, was what struck me the most. Her sacrifices and strict expectations since the time of raising Delia are what allowed the later generations of…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with class, education, hope, liked, racism, regret, sacrifice, Zobal
Deep Rivers — José María Arguedas
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Reading Black Shack Alley felt heavier than I expected. At first, it seems like a familiar story about a smart kid escaping poverty through education, but the more I read, the more uncomfortable that idea became. José’s success never feels fully like a victory. Instead, it feels complicated, almost like a trade-off where something important […]
