Week 19: The Approaching Hurricane Katrina

Reading hurricane Katrina in the middle of a desert is as magnificent as taking a shower but Hurricane Katrina reminds me of one of my unbelievable experiences in Manila. I said unbelievable, not worst because things changed after the storm. I believe that tropical storm Ondoy is Katrina’s little brother after all what they have done, they still exist and traveling the globe at 74 mph. What if... what if Ondoy give us a lesson that we will never forget? Do you believe that the existence of such storm can change oneself forever?

Salvage the Bones
by Jesmyn Ward

Read from April 28 to May 06, 2013 — I own a copy, read count: 1

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A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch's father is growing concerned. He's a hard drinker, largely absent, and it isn't often he worries about the family. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; at fifteen, she has just realised that she's pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pit bull's new litter, dying one by one. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child's play and short on parenting. 

As the twelve days that make up the novel's framework yield to a dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family—motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce—pulls itself up to face another day.

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Salvage the Bones took us to Mississippi where a family is in struggle to take their ties close to each other. Salvage the Bones, written by 2011 National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, received claims from book critics and community reviewers all around the world with her brilliant, beautiful and fierce novel of her time.

If you like slow pace books, this will work for you. Jesmyn Ward’s dreamy writing style made her characters indecisive selves and the mysterious Bois Savage prominent in the story. Which is which? The story asked which decision should be made and which part of their lives should be changed. The story’s prose made it hard to read. To pass through the story, you have to prepare yourself from the obstruction of commas. The commas made me uneasy but the commas gave beauty to her work. The style need more time to read but the experience is worth the wait.

The dog fight almost known to be the issue of most readers. The scene gives us the glimpse of how cruel underground dog fights are. It is part of the culture. It is part of how those people in the story make living out of their least resources. It gives the story credibility. The scene which we least expected made the story a whole. It gives the meaning of everything. It is the star of the show; the premise of the book. Skeetah’s dog symbolizes the family as they one by one drifted off from their ties.

As hurricane Katrina approaches the Mississippi, the individuals prepared for their greatest test. Love will appear in the midst of all unexpected events. Jesmyn Ward courage to face her fear in the past gave her the strength to write a tough book.

Jesmyn Ward, winner of 2011 National Book Award, is a must watched author.

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Jesmyn Ward grew up in DeLisle, Mississippi. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan, where she won five of the school’s esteemed Hopwood Awards for essays, drama, and fiction. Ward was the recipient of a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford and is currently the John and Renée Grisham Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. Her debut novel, Where the Line Bleeds, was an Essence Magazine Book Club selection, a Black Caucus of the ALA Honor Award recipient, and a finalist for both the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.

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