Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
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Web ID: 4293376This Could Be Any American Black Family's History
"Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi is probably the best novel that I have read in 2022, so far, maybe tied w/ "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Each chapter in "Homegoing" features a different person in a family whose stories we follow down through the centuries, starting w/ the ancestress in 18th-century Asanteland in western Africa, and ending at Stanford w/ a man's doctoral thesis, the book ending before we positively find out that he is going to stumble across his family's beginnings in his trip to the Gold Coast w/ a friend. Neatly for us, but unwittingly to the two of them, they are both descended from this original ancestress. The story takes tragic, horrible twists and turns, yet the writing can be just lyrical. I have posted my Kindle highlights and a note, but I just HAVE to quote my favorite turn of phrase: "If she slept, she would do so lightly, dipping the ladle of sleep in to the shallow pool of dreamland..." I'm sorry that I don't have the exact page reference; it was 62% into the Kindle edition. But I just found that so original and lovely. 5 enthusiastic stars. I am SO SORRY I have not read this one sooner. 1 like
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Powerful and Insightful. Great read!
I came to this book after I read The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates because someone told me that if I enjoyed that book, then I would enjoy this one as well and I'm glad they steered me in this direction. I had a tough time putting this down. It is not set up like a typical book on purpose and it was suspenseful to see how the introduction to a new character would tie in with the previous characters and storylines. The author does a masterful job of making you feel connected to the characters and the arc of the family's developing story line. She also does a great job of making points about what the characters went through in a way that was at times tragic and at other times uplifting but seemed to be based on real experiences that people have had in different parts of Africa and America over the last several hundred years. This book will bring you in and you will thoroughly enjoy it! Highly recommend!!
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Attention Teachers and Professors!
This book is different from any other books I've picked up. To be quite frank, I'm lucky to be given the opportunity to read this book in class because I was able to read it and discuss it with my classmates. At first, I had a hard time reading the book because the genre was not what I usually read but towards the end, it was hard to put down. As you're reading each chapter, it ties in with the previous chapter. If you are wanting to learn more about slavery and Black history, this book is perfect for you. If you want something different from fantasy and fiction books, I totally recommend this. Everyone should pick up this book once just because there is so much to gain. I learnt so much from this book such as slavery and their suffering. It was sad yet amazing to see from their perspective. The author has a specific style that caters to delivering the message effectively. The way the author breaks up the chapters and uses imagery, it was so easy and clear to see what the theme is. Gyasi uses symbolism throughout the book to convey that message and in my opinion, it was an effective way to keep the readers interested. It showed up every chapter so as I was reading, I was trying to figure out why these symbols were important.The excessive amount of imagery helped me picture what was going on throughout the book. To be honest, some of the times she uses imagery, it was not that important but it was fun to picture whatever she is describing. If I had to give out some warnings for this book, it’s just to prepare for a book that’s more historic and realistic than most books. Overall, it’s a good book to read not only for leisure, but also great to learn from.
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Very immersive and eye-opening! Great book!
I often tend to read more science fiction and nonfiction books and don’t normally read fiction books, especially historical fiction. However, after reading Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing,” I’ve realized how beautiful and important books like hers are, especially when read in the classroom or just for pleasure. Homegoing was an amazing book and a joy to read; I’m inspired to read more historical fiction books now. This book covered sensitive topics that included racism, slavery, dissolution of native cultures, and family struggles in a way that tied in ancestry and human emotion into a story that really helped me as a reader experience the immense emotions, pain, and discovery of a lineage that lives through the era of slavery and racism. This book also ties in themes of loss, rediscovery, and ancestry through a third person omniscient point of view, exploring the points of views of descendants from two branching lineages. I strongly recommend others to read this book, especially those who are interested in expanding their perspective when it comes to the origins of African slavery and the impact it has had on African lineages. This book is definitely not for those who aren’t open minded or are very sensitive to the topics of racism and slavery. If you are interested in reading about the history of African slavery and racism through the perspectives of many generations and how this changes over time, this is definitely the book for you. I truly enjoyed the polarity in how the two branches of the family tree experience almost opposite fates throughout these centuries: one through slavery and the other through royalty and connection with their native tribes. Yaa Gyasi also uses a lot of symbolism and motifs in order to enunciate this polarity. She also enriches the story with imagery that is relative to the point of view of the current character and the timeline of that chapter. Descriptions of objects are related to the African native fruits and nuts before slave trade from Africa began to increase and objects described by the characters during 20th century slavery relate to the coal from coal mines and cotton from cotton farms. This really helped to plug me, as a reader, into the story and fully experience the timeline and emotions of the characters as they descend from their lineage through an era of slavery and racism.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved this book!
Homegoing, a historical fiction novel by Yaa Gyasi is a very well written and insightful read. Gyasi confronted the true horrors of slavery and freedom all while telling the stories of two separated bloodlines passing through each decade. Homegoing highlights the involvement of Africans in the slave trade, segregation, and the greediness of leaders doing “business”. Gyasi also does not hesitate to expose what is not told in our history books. Although the characters are fictional, one cannot help but feel empathy for them as Gyasi pulls the reader into their world. Gyasi uses a very unique, connect-the-dot writing style that follows Maame’s lineage beginning with her two daughters, Effia and Esi. She told the stories of the half-sisters and how they, and their bloodlines, led very different lives but ultimately had the same struggle. Each chapter switches back and forth between Effia and Esi’s lineage, which allows the reader to feel hopeful but also notice key differences between the two. As most readers have been sheltered from the ugly truths of slavery and white supremacy, I believe it is important to somewhat brace yourself for Gyasi’s descriptive language that allows you to picture the horrendous pain endured by Africans and Black Americans. Gyasi touches on the importance of understanding that history is simply storytelling, and that not everyone had the privilege to tell their story. For historical comprehension purposes, everyone should read this book and allow themselves to immerse into the unknown despair of slave diaspora. I also believe Homegoing would be a very healing read to those of African descent. Due to the repulsing facts of the treatment toward Black Americans, there are little to no records of who they are, or where they came from. This book allows for some type of closure and understanding of what happened to the majority of African lineage, and is inspirational in the sense of working from the ground up. Rather than filling the reader with anger, she uses her truthful knowledge of history and beautifully written novel to give hope to the next generation of our healing world, and rewrite Black history with a heart full of forgiveness.
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Home-going Book Review
When reading the book “Homegoing” I felt a lot of feelings at first. It definitely makes you feel all emotions such as sad and happy towards the end of the story. I feel this book should be used in classes because it has a great background as to what the past is about. I liked the story line, it was somewhat hard to understand at first but in the beginning of the book it has a family tree that helps a lot when reading the story
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Breathtaking
This book was absolutely amazing and in a very breathtaking way spoke out about issues that persons of a darker complexion have faced throughout history. Gyasi's switching of point of views throughout the novel only further drives the point home in this remarkable read. In fact, I picked it up intending to read only read a few chapters a day and instead finished the book in less than 8 hours. Personally I think that everyone stands to gain by reading this novel at some point in their lives.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Can’t put this book down
The way this book is structured is genius
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com