5 comments about Cavedweller.

1. Ugh! This book was a gift, so of course I read it. Don't waste your time! I read it a year ago and it still sticks in my head as one of the worst books I have read in quite some time.



2. "Caveweller," Dorothy Allison's second novel, is nearly overwhelmed by the number of stories it relates. Yet somehow Allison holds everything together in this deeply collective portrait of a mother and her three daughters and the often troubled, sometimes impoverished lives they lead.
   
   The novel has the feel of a multigenerational saga, but its span is barely a decade (with a few flashbacks to an earlier era). A trilogy of sorts, the book presents a series of interrelated family crises; its tragedies and triumphs occur at seemingly random and usually unexpected moments. Newly widowed, Delia Byrd, a recovering singer from a briefly famous rock band, flees with her daughter Cissy to her hometown in Georgia and attempts to reconcile herself with the two daughters she left to a violent husband from an earlier marriage. A claustrophobic tension permeates the resulting relationships: the townsfolk despise this prodigal woman who "abandoned" her daughters for a spin in the limelight; Cissy is homesick for her friends in the fast life in Los Angeles; Delia's first husband is dying of cancer; and her two daughters, with the support of their grandmother, despise and ignore the mother they never knew.
   
   Then the novel shifts both perspective and gears, slowing down quite a bit to focus on the journey through adolescence by Delia's three daughters. Cissy discovers the escapist joy of spelunking, exploring the dark wombs of local caves and losing herself in the odd comfort of pitch-blackness. Her two sisters, the religiously righteous Amanda and the amorally rebellious Dede, confront emotional upheavals that challenge the extremes of their worldviews. And hovering in the background are neighborhood women who offer guidance and love to the four women, as well as humor and insight to the reader.
   
   Fleeting fame, domestic violence, rural poverty, troubled romance, moral ambiguity, Southern life, and a veneer of folk rock--Allison is so casual about linking her themes and her stories, that there are moments (particular after the climatic "resolution" of Delia's homecoming) that the book almost doesn't cohere. Meandering, yes; unfocused, perhaps--but I suppose, so is life, and there is no denying the recognizable realness of the four lead characters. And, in the end, everything comes together, surprisingly yet satisfyingly.



3. Another "Top of the list". The first 50-75 pgs were a little slow, but then I didn't want to put it down!
   The way the story weaves the lives of Mom and daughter, leaving the life they knew in CA behind, to search the two daughters left behind in GA... is sad, intriguing, cryptic and dynamic all in one!
   Recommended, just to see how the lives of the women of Cayro, Georgia come out on Top, together!!



4. Bought this on a clearance rack and can now see why it hadn't sold. The characters were unexciting, and the story dragged on and on. I read 4 books while having this one unfinished on my night stand. I've never read any of Allison's other novels, but after reading this one, I don't think I'll jump on the chance. Dede was the most interesting character, and even she couldn't keep me involved.



5. I am a first time reader of Dorothy Allison, and I was not at all impressed with this novel. I sort of struggled through it, forced myself to finish it.
   
   The first thing I noticed was all the characters' personalities kind of melted together, the dialogue did not provide them with individual voices, poor character development. The girls as children spoke just the same as the adults - clearly not age appropriate language.
   New characters continually appeared, which made me stumble. And so many important scenes of real ACTION were left out and just referred to! Just when I thought we were getting to the good stuff.
   
   And lastly, the novel could be dirtier. 400+ pages and only allusions to sex? Please.

5 comments about Bastard out of Carolina.

1. I read this book because there was a debate on whether or not it would be added into the local high school's curriculum and so I decided that I would like to see why people would have an objection to it. It is by far an excellent book with a strong message and I strongly recommend reading it. You won't be able to set this book down!



2. This book is superb. The use of imagery in the books makes you feel as if you've been thrown into the book yourself...you can see, feel, smell, and hear it all. Highly recommended book.



3. At this point, whether or not this book is well written is irrelevant. The story is so overwhelmingly depressing that I cannot imagine anyone enduring such a horrible life.



4. This book shows the dark side of the relationship between daughter, Bone, and her mother. Bone was fatherless at birth and has no official last name. Bone and her mother go through a lot of hard times while Anney, Bone's mother, tries to find a husband. Through all of this, Bone hurts physically and mentally as the father tries to control her.
   
   This book had a lot of detail. The detail was not of unicorns and fairies but on the gruesome things that Bone does to herself, and what Glen, her new father, does to her. Glen tries to love all of Anney's family but he just can't seem to please Bone. Glen came from a family of all boys (mother) so he only knows force as an action to control someone.
   
   I also liked how the story is written around the daughter instead around that of the mother. Bone shows me just how horrified some kids can be of their parents. The only thing that I didn't like was how many people or family members were added to the story. It was hard to keep track of all of them. Overall, this was a pretty dark book but with a lot of detail to back it up.



5. I read it in four hours. You cannot put it down. The characters are so interesting, likable, and they are so real. Then it ends all wrong. I do not want to read this author again.