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I thought this book was so well written, BUT I had troubles with its depiction of Haiti as a world of violence and voodoo and very little else. The characters were great and I was totally engrossed in the story, I just wish the setting were a little more balanced...

I agree. It was a good book but very unbalanced in terms of the Haiti it presented. I found it hard at times to get into the story of it as I was trying to find a bright side as I continued to read through it.

But he wasn't presenting all of Haiti, he was presenting Site Soley, right? It wouldn't be realistic if Shorty was able to describe other parts of Haiti because he wouldn't have known them.

I think it totally deserved the Printz and thought it was exceptional, though it might be hard to promote.

I'm about halfway through, and I'm having some serious problems with the words this white European author is putting in the mouths of his black Haitian characters.

Karl wrote: "I'm about halfway through, and I'm having some serious problems with the words this white European author is putting in the mouths of his black Haitian characters."
Can't wait to hear more about your thoughts! I feel like I am very unqualified to judge this book as I know precious little about Haiti. It just doesn't feel like a balanced depiction of anything to me...It's like we're only seeing one side of the characters, setting (especially), even themes...this stands out more and more the more and more I think about the novel. but, again, just my ignorant opinion on reading it once.

Here are my three status updates so far:

03/03 page 34 10.0% "Is anyone else bothered by this kid seeing his first white person at age seven and her suddenly being his standard of beauty?"
03/04 page 64 18.0% "The idea of freedom was invented by France? Somehow I doubt that all the slaves in Haiti were sitting around thinking everything was hunky dory until Rousseau told them otherwise."
03/07 page 185 54.0% "Oh, look. Another pretty blue-eyed white girl."

My overall concern is that the whole book is an example of cultural appropriation. Here we have a middle-class white Brit writing in the voices of a black Haitian slave and a black Haitian gangster. According to his bio, "Nick discovered Haitian culture as part of his master's degree in linguistics." He's editorial director for fiction at HarperCollins UK. I bet if he'd tried, he could have found a Haitian writer to tell the same kind of story.

...and here's my latest:

03/09 page 269 79.0% ""It could not possibly be the case, could it, that profit should override the republican principle of the freedom of man?" I'm tempted to say that's more of a sly comment on modern politics than the kind of thing Toussaint would have said, particularly when he's already made references to the monetary value of slaves being so much greater than what they produce."

I can't seem to stop myself now. This is upsetting me a great deal.

From Nick Lake's website:

How long have you been at work on this book? Did the book involve special research?

I did do research for the book � online, and through documentaries and books. But research isn’t really what interests me, so much as the links and associations that research can throw up. Once I had the rough idea for the story I wrote the first draft very quickly, probably in a month or so. It just poured out of me, once I started writing, and then I filled in details later, partly with the help of a Haitian reader.

Actually the whole writing period was a very strange experience, and one that I still don’t quite understand. On several occasions I looked up from my laptop, having written thousands of words, with absolutely no recollection of what I had just written. I’ve written a couple of books before, but had never experienced anything like this � I always thought artists were talking romantic nonsense when they said that work came through them as opposed to being created by them, but with this, that was exactly what I felt. In voodoo, worshippers can be ‘mounted� by the spirits, the lwa, and possessed. That was what the experience of writing this book felt like: it felt like Shorty and Toussaint wrote it through me. Even now when I look through the text it doesn’t feel like my book.

It's striking how much this sounds like the kinds of things white authors writing about Native Americans say.

Karl wrote: "I can't seem to stop myself now. This is upsetting me a great deal.

From Nick Lake's website:
How long have you been at work on this book? Did the book involve special research?

I did do research..."

Wow. That quote is so disheartening in so many ways. I would have hoped that someone who was writing a book with so much historical and cultural matter would put an emphasis on research; at least more emphasis than on voodoo! It just seems so important to me, when one is writing about a culture completely different than one's own, to AT THE VERY LEAST, go to your utmost to depict that culture as correctly as one can. It just seems like the very basis of cultural sensitivity.

I don't quite know what to say. While reading, I didn't think the book was all *that* bad, I thought the writing and plot were mostly engaging although the setting and characters felt somewhat hollow, but after reading that, I am forced to call into question everything I read. I am definitely going to do more research on this author and this book. I would be so interested in hearing an actual Haitian's take on the tale.

Thanks for looking into all that, Karl. Hannahlily, I have to say I feel the same as you, though I really enjoyed it at the time I read it. If anyone comes across any articles or reviews that shed some light on this, please share.

This discussion reminds me of those that followed the 2000 National Book Award winner Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. As you probably already know, the story is about a thirteen year-old girl in India who is forced into an arranged marriage. Her sickly husband soon dies, and she is left to the solitary, impoverished life of a widow. Many native East Indians protested that this was nothing like real India. As it happened, I had spent about a month in India that year. While in the country, I read extensively about the treatment of women. These books and magazine articles were in English, which might have lent a bias. But in rural India, many old customs, such as teenage widows forbidden to re-marry, still persisted. I was there for the festival of Holi, and experienced the honor of real paint squirted into my face. All this is to say that Whelan portrayed a slice of a fictional life set in a country she had never visited, and,like Lake, she was called to task for it.

So I suppose the question is whether an author can write authentically about a time and place that is beyond their personal experience? Writers of historical fiction do this as a matter of course. Lake does this when he relates Touissant L'Ouvature's story. There are some known facts, and the writer uses their imagination to supply dialog, supporting characters, and inner thoughts. The character of Shorty is completely imagined, although inspired by a true story of a boy rescued from the rubble many days after the earthquake. There is more reason for concern in Lake's telling of Shorty's story, I believe, since cultural relevance pulls the two stories into focus. I have also never been to Haiti (nor am I black, or male, or young,)but I feel safe in presuming that it is not filled with people who adhere to a Haitian prototype. There are all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas and viewpoints in that country, like everywhere. Is Shorty's experience to be taken as the one true Haitian experience? Or is just one person's tale, shaped by his culture but not constricted to one way of thinking or being?

Basically I agree that stories told by outsiders lack the authentic punch of stories told by those who have first-hand experience. But...where are those stories? Certainly their voices are muted by lack of opportunities afforded to someone like Lake. So someone like Lake creates a story that gives voice to two aspects of the Haitian experience, and he does it through a powerful, well-written book. Because of his book, we are all peering at Haiti and questioning Lake's interpretation. Isn't that a good thing?

Sorry if this is a bit disjointed. Mostly I wanted to agitate some discussion on whether someone from outside a culture can truly write about that culture with authenticity. There are excellent points on both sides of the issue.

Diane wrote: "This discussion reminds me of those that followed the 2000 National Book Award winner Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. As you probably already know, the story is about a thirteen year-old girl..."

Thank you for your response, Diane. I was hoping to hear a dissenting opinion. I'm always concerned when I hear too much "Me, too." I wasn't familiar with the controversy about Homeless Bird, but I'm glad to know about it now.

I agree that people should be able to write about things that fascinate them. My concern is Lake's stated lack of interest in research and the importance of getting things right. It worries me that he didn't do enough research to, as you put it, "write authentically about a time and place" that isn't his own. I fear that he's treating L'Ouverture as a mythical figure on which to hang his own thoughts and ideas, rather than the real person who truly existed.

I can't do the research that would be required to know how much Lake based on reality and how much he made up. What I see as the fundamental problem is that Lake didn't do it either. He admits as much. That seems to me to display a lack of respect for the real life of L'Ouverture and for the real lives of people in Site Soley on whom he bases Shorty's character.