- Paperback: 415 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Not Applicable; 1st HarperPerennialCanada ed edition (May 4 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 000648557X
- ISBN-13: 978-0006485575
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,080,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
On the extravagant, shallow promises of his brother, Bob Dubois, 30, a burnt-out New Hampshire oil burner repairman, takes his family to Florida. There the Duboises meet their destiny in the form of a counterpoint familythat of Vanise Dorsinville, a woman who has fled Haiti with her infant and nephew for a better life in the U.S. PW praised Continental Drift as a "vital, compelling novel."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"A great American novel...a lesson in history...It is the most convincing portrait I know of contemporary America." -- --James Atlas, The Atlantic
"Grandeur...Tremendously ambitious...A powerful, disturbing study in moral 'drift', confusion, and uncertainty." -- --San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"Grandeur...Tremendously ambitious...A powerful, disturbing study in moral 'drift', confusion, and uncertainty." -- --San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Almost Too deep,
By Haitianlover (Tallahassee, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Continental Drift (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)
This book was suggested to me by a professor (Preston Allen, author of the fine novel Hoochie Mama), whose opinion I respect very much; and thus, I continued reading even when I felt overwhelmed with emotion and was ultimately rewarded with a story that is really two stories. Mr. Banks is perhaps the finest writer I have ever read, his prose refined to the point of being almost too self-conscious. He is a master at making the reader FEEL for his characters. So I followed the main character from the Northeast to Miami, as he fled his boring life and found himself in more trouble than he knew was possible. That first story, surface story, works because of rich writing and some semblance of plot. As a Haitian American, I had a serious problem with the second main story (especially because of Banks' fine style), Claude and Vanise's story. I wept. It was fiction, but I wept. I remembered how I came here as a small boy. I remembered what happened to my mother, but I won't go into that. And I was angry because Mr. Banks is not Haitian. I kept waiting for him to get it wrong--there were some stereotypical things, but they were minor. This is the story I kept wishing someone would write. Both Haitians and Cubans see Miami as a haven from poverty and political oppression in their countries, but America usually sees only the Cubans as deserving of refuge. I am still a bit bothered that Banks is not Haitian, but for selfish reasons I wish every American would read this book. I number it among my favorites of all time.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much Ado,
By A Customer
This review is from: Continental Drift (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)
A nice novel, but I'm surprised to see the effusive responses here. To me the novel badly lost steam in the second half, and many of the characteers we see there (Ave Boone, Honduras, the neighbors in the trailer park) are very thin and stereotyped. I thought Bob's character was weakened by dialog like "There's nothing wrong with her that a little discipline couldn't cure!" when referring to daughter Ruthie's emotional problems. That's a line right out of a bad TV drama. Also, the in-depth look at Haitian ritual, which was probably very attractive to some readers, didn't work for me. I kinda felt like I was being lectured to about Haitian culture by a white guy from New England . Having said that, I did enjoy the book (especially as I read it on the heels of Robert Olen Butler's shockingly bad "The Deep Green Sea") and won't hesitate to read more of Banks's work.
2.0 out of 5 stars
As I read, I was filled with hope.,
By Frank J. Aredia "zebulonbooks" (The Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Continental Drift (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)
In the end I was disappointed. Throughout the book two separate stories take place. One is a record of Bob Dubois, whose life is ruled by circumstances and bad life management skills. The other tells of Vanise Dorsinville, a young Haitian woman, who struggles to survive as she makes her way to America. Neither is a pretty story, and when the two characters finally meet it gets even worse. When I finished reading this book I was angry at myself for muddling through all the italicized Haitian accent dialogue and French Creole voodoo terminology. Yah mon, true!
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