The Ventriloquist's Tale

by Pauline Melville

Pauline Melville conjures up vivid pictures both of savanna and forest and of city life in South America where love is often trumped by disaster. Unforgettable characters illuminate theme and plot: Sonny, the strange, beautiful and isolate son of Beatrice and Danny, the brother and sister who have a passionate affair at the time of the solar eclipse in 1919; Father Napier, the sandy-haired evangelist whom the Indians perceive as a giant grasshopper; Chofy McKinnon the modern Indian, torn between savanna life and urban future. This is a novel that embraces nearly a century, large in scope but intimate as a whisper, where laughter is never far from the scene of tragedy; a parable of miscegenation and racial elusiveness, of nature defying culture, magic confronting rationalism and of the eternally rebellious nature of love.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, 20th Century

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

A Guyanese author of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, Pauline Melville has emerged in the last few years as a leading Caribbean writer, and one of the most accomplished talents on the modern literary scene.

Shape-shifter, her first collection of stories, revealed the impressive extent of her abilities, and won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Overall Winner, Best First Book) and the Guardian Fiction Prize. Her first novel, The Ventriloquist's Tale, won the Whitbread First Novel Award, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

A professional actress in Europe before making it as a published writer, Melville has a cosmopolitan knowledge of both the Old and the New Worlds, and her fiction informs her experiences with her own mixed cultural heritage, Western philosophy nudging shoulders with Amerindian creation myths and the resulting blend touched with a sardonic, iconoclastic wit.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This won the Whitbread Award for first novel in 1997 and is set in Guyana. The narrative is in three parts; beginning in contemporary Guyana and then moving back for the major portion of the novel to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the final portion is back in modern day Guyana. The book follows one family over this period; there are elements of magic realism, not over-used. The novel is broad in scope and the themes are suitably sweeping, centring on the clash between Native American civilisation and culture and European culture. There is also the tension ever present between city (in the form of the capital Georgetown) and the bush, the jungle and savannah. There is also their colonists and their relationships with the Native Americans. In the early twentieth century the colonists are a Scottish freethinker, Alexander MacKinnon, who settles in a savannah village with two local women and begins a family; a Catholic priest, Father Napier determined to convert all the villages in the area and likes a coterie of young men around him; Evelyn Waugh, the novelist, visited Guyana and greatly disliked the Guyanese wilderness, writing a story and a novel using his experience. Melville does a bit of revenge taking here. The colonizers in the late twentieth century are a different breed. They tend to be academic researchers like Rosa Mendelson, in Guyana to research Waugh’s visit, who has an affair with Chofy MacKinnon, a descendant of Alexander and whose aunt Wifreda met Waugh. They are also represented by oil company operatives who are prospecting.
The novel is character driven and there are doomed love affairs, a long running battle between the superstitious and the rational, which neither side wins. The narrator is Macunaima, a ventriloquist and shape-shifter, who is not easily categorised:
“As for my ancestry, it is impeccable. I will have you know that I am descended from a group of stones in Ecuador. Where I come from people have long memories. Any one of us can recite our ancestry back for several hundred generations. I can listen to a speech for an hour and then repeat it back for you verbatim or backwards without notes. Writing things down has made you forget everything.”
“Grandmother swears by the story of the stones in Ecuador, although sometimes she might say Mexico or Venezuela for variety's sake -- variety being so much more important than truth in her opinion. More reliable, she says. Truth changes. Variety remains constant.”
The narrator is also located in the modern world:
“Rumbustious, irrepressible, adorable me. I have black hair, bronze skin and I would look wonderful in a cream suit with a silk handkerchief. Cigars? Yes. Dark glasses? Yes -- except that I do not wish to be mistaken for a gangster. A black felt fedora hat worn tipped forward? Possibly. A fast-driving BMW when I am in London? A Porsche for New York? A Range Rover to drive or a helicopter when I am flying over the endless savannah and bush of my own region? Yes. Yes. Yes.”
The narrator’s elusiveness is seen to be part of the cultural backdrop and I noted the influence of Wilson Harris, although Melville goes her own way and uses a basically linear sequence. The western interventions; even those with benign intentions, are disruptive. Harris has argued that the religious and cultural practices of Caribbean colonized peoples have been suppressed by colonial and post-colonial discourses and calls for a counter-discourse. In this novel Melville answers that call.
The novel is intoxicating and very well written. Salman Rushdie wrote;
“Pauline Melville writes with an unusually dispassionate lushness that is both intellectual and sensual … I believe her to be one of the few genuinely original writers to emerge in recent years”
There is a great deal to this novel, much more than one review can cover.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably, it rings true! My favorite passage is on page 325 and is a (fictitious) quote from the Minister of Finance:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I shoud like to inform you on behalf of the nation stat of Guyana, that we are going to resign from being a country. We can't make it work. We have tried. We have done our best. It is not possible. The problems are insoluble. From midnight tonight, we shall cease trading. The country is now disbanded. We will voluntarily liquidate ourselves. The nation will disperse quietly, a little shamefaced but so what. We had to go.

"Different people have suggested different solutions. Do it this way. Try that. Let me have a go. Nothing works. We are at the mercy of the rich countries. A team of management consultants from the United Stated could not find the answer, and for not finding the answer, we had to pay them an amount that substantially increased our national debt. We give in, gracefully, but we give in."

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the reading; we dive into the world of Amerindians; we follow the incestuous relationship of a sister and her brother, who recalls the belief of the Amerindians on the origin of the eclipse.

[Anemoon Mensink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leesclub boek Guyana: Prachtig!! Ik wist eigenlijk bijna niets over Guyana, behalve dan van Jonestown en de massale zelfmoorden. Het boek belicht de twee kanten van het land en de samenleving daar: enerzijds de inheemse bevolking met al hun tradities en mythes, en anderzijds de (post)koloniale 'verwesterde' samenleving. In het boek gaat het over de spanning tussen die twee, maar ook prachtige liefde scènes en meer ✨. Het einde voelde er alleen een beetje achteraan geplakt.

[Mirrani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was overjoyed to see a book that so cleverly balanced the thinking of a native people with that of a modern philosophy. This book has found a way to show you the way the Indians think and how it is totally rational, just as the way the Whites think is totally rational and it doesn't do it by telling you that it is totally rational, it just shows the train of thought and moves on as if there is nothing remarkable. Of course someone playing the violin can turn into a grasshopper once it has been pointed out by an observer that this is what he appears to be, that is certainly no different than knowing a priest will begin to spread the word of god around the community once he has established himself among the people.

The story was beautifully written and I enjoyed reading about the various generations of the family and seeing how they dealt with what life was throwing at them. In the beginning, I worried that there would be far too much to the descriptions and storytelling, as it felt like every sentence was trying to introduce something new, but that feeling left as soon as everyone and everything was properly introduced. I quickly became caught up in the read and could practically feel the rain on my back as it dripped through the cracks of a shelter or experience the full heat of the savannah as I read my way from location to location. I never thought it would be possible to explore life from the perspective of two different cultures without picking one side or the other when it comes to an issue that must be resolved, but I found myself completely understanding both sides of every situation that came up in the book. I simply can't say enough about how unique and enjoyable this experience was.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"She wondered if it was better for her own people to preserve themselves within their own traditions or to allow change."
This main theme runs throughout the book in many thought provoking ways.
The main culture clash is between the traditions and the new ways, but there seem to be daily culture clashes of all kinds among the characters.

Halfway home, on a hilllside, he passed an elderly Macusi woman sitting outside her house which was open on one side like a shed. She had her back to the sun to save her eyes from the glare as she wove tibisiri baskets. Her husband plodded wearily up the hill with a gourd of water on his shoulder. Despite being Wapisaiani, Bla-Bla felt oddly linked to them, as if they all shared the same hardships, as if some sort of fate bound them all together. There was a sense of defeat in the air as the sun slid towards the west.

p. 2 My grandmother distrusts writing. She says all writing is fiction. Even writing that purports to be factual, that puts down the date of a man’s birth and the date of his death, is some sort of fabrication. Do you think a man’s life is between two dates like a hammock? Slung in the middle of history with no visible means of support? It takes more than one life to make a person.

[Mina Widding · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ventriloquist’s tale – Buktalarens berättelse.
Boken börjar med en ramberättelse, buktalaren själv som med en rapp, fyndig, lite galen röst berättar sin egen historia i korta drag, men sedan, som berättare bör (enligt honom själv) försvinner in i bakgrunden när han går över till att berätta den historia han vill berätta. Jag lockades av den där rösten, tonen i den, och blev lite besviken när berättarstilen sedan gick över till en allvetande berättare som växlade fokus och ganska styltigt ”talade om” vad olika karaktärer kände och tänkte. Det fanns ett flyt och en attityd i ramberättelsen, som jag inte riktigt uppfattade i huvudberättelsen. Kanske har det med språket att göra? Men den är skriven på engelska, så det har inget med översättning att göra åtminstone.

Jag läste den som en del av mitt läsprojekt ”kartan”, där jag slumpar fram ett land jag inte läst något från och sedan försöker hitta bra litteratur. Projektet går långsamt, men är väl värt, för det ger mig möjligheten att hitta författare och ta till mig av berättelsen från och om länder och kulturer som jag inte vet så mycket om. Guyuana hade jag ingen koll på alls, skam till sägande, likadant var det med Burkina Faso, mitt förra (och första) ”slumpland”. Guyuana ligger alltså i nordöstra sydamerika, gränsar till Brasilien, Surinam och Venezuela. De har koloniserats av Nederländerna och sedan av England.

Boken handlar om indianstammarna i det inre Guyuana, och mycket av deras kultur, landskapet där de lever, deras förutsättningar under kolonialismen och hur det förändrar och påverkar både kulturen och landskapet. I grova drag. I mer specifika drag handlar den om två tidslinjer, förutom den omringande berättarens ramberättelse, så kan man tala om en ramberättelse i amerindianen Chofys perspektiv, som tar avstamp i ett femtiotal, sextiotal? kanske, där Chofy tvingas in till kuststaden Georgetown för att försörja sin familj (eftersom släktens kor dött i någon sjukdom på savannen) tillsammans med sin farmor som behöver en ögonoperation. Där möter han en vit engelsk kvinna, som letar efter information om författaren Evelyn Waughs resor i Guyana, vilket lett henne till Chofys släkt. De blir kära i varandra. Den andra historien är den om Chofys släkt, farmoderns förflutna, om hur hennes far, en vit man, kom till deras trakter och bestämde sig för att stanna, gifte sig med två systrar. Den handlar om deras barn, en incesthistoria, om prästen som kommer till savannerna för att missionera, och hur allt urartar. Man förflyttas tillbaka i tiden och in i en miljö som är helt annorlunda från vår, och där deras kultur också börjar krocka med den urbana, engelska miljön som påtvingas dem.

Det finns många trådar i den här berättelsen. På ett plan saknar jag en slags drivkraft, jag hängde inte riktigt med på det ”livsviktiga” i hur narrativet framställdes, föranledning till den historiska berättelsen och dess betydelse för ”nuets” berättelse. Det haltade litegrann där för mig. Ändå har jag haft stor behållning av allt det jag fått till mig, alla berättleser i berättelsen, alla myter och sagor, och framför allt hela miljön och kulturen. Självklart finns här också en kritik mot kolonialismen och dess framfart, samtidigt är den inte drivkraften, utan följer med av bara farten? Kanske hade det varit starkare om det fått vara en del av gnistan, och inte så lågmält som det är nu? Kanske beror det på att det är så många tyngdpunkter, att man inte vet vilken som är viktigast, och därför på något sätt missar emfasen, missar den starka känslan? Lite av väldigt mycket, och trots att det är starkt, så blir min känsla splittrad.

En sak jag fastnade för, var dels symboliken i buktalaren, som återkommer ett par gånger. Främst i betydelsen någon som kan härma ett djur så att han lockar fram den och kan jaga den, men också som litterär idé. Det kommer fram mer kring det i slutet, där möjligen buktalarens identitet och koppling till släktens berättelse blir mer tydlig. Möjligen, skriver jag, eftersom jag inte är helt säker på att jag tolkat rätt? Hade som sagt gärna sett mer av den berättaren, själva buktalaren, hans historia.

En annan sak var indianernas sed att säga det den som frågar vill höra, hellre än att säga sanningen. Det gör den som frågar glad, och lugn, får man förmoda? Men besvärligt sen, när det visar sig inte vara sanning? Mycket intressant beteende!

En tredje sak är förstås alla myter som svar på frågor som naturen ställer oss inför. Varför har vi en måne, tex? Att jaguaren är solens representant på jorden. Myten om vattenanden som skapade först en vit, sedan en svart, sedan en mellanbrun kvinna till solen, men det var först den mellanbruna som inte smälte i vatten. För att förklara hur deras hudfärg är den bästa? Jag känner igen det elementet från folksagorna från Burkina Faso, att man byggt upp en historia kring ett naturfenomen för att förklara det, och kanske också för att minnas det och den betydelse det kan ha för att kunna navigera i livet. En annan sak jag associerade till Burkina Faso var idén om buktalaren, fast det i den bok jag läste därifrån (Outlaw av Stephen Davies) handlade om en kameleont, en förklädnadernas mästare. Melville har förresten en bok som heter The Shape Shifter också. Så något lockar uppenbarligen i den bilden.

Jag blev också nyfiken på Melvilles andra böcker, och beställde ”Eating air”. Jag har ju egentligen bestämt mig för att inte köpa nya böcker i år, men… Det blev för svårt, för tråkigt, för plågsamt. Nu har jag ingen aning om när jag kommer ta mig för att läsa Eating air, men… Det känns gott att äga den.

Men den tog lite tid att läsa, kändes lite seg, jag kom inte riktigt in i den, och ibland var den lite för styltig i berättandet. Därför tre stjärnor, där själva innehållet, berättelserna och miljön, relationerna som skildras kunde fått mer.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was born in Guyana and has set her story of a mixed race Amerindian / Scottish family there. The book covers several generations and is essentially a domestic drama; a married man from the latest generation has an affair and a brother and sister from the previous generation become rather closer than they should.
The story is fairly ordinary, in fiction anyway, but the setting is much more unusual. The details of Amerindian life are what make the book worth reading. The writing is simple, almost childish, which makes it a little dull, but it suits the simple, straightforward people who are the author's subject. She wants us to understand the culture and the people, and I think she succeeds.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

And how did I hone my skills as a narrator? For you to understand that, I have to tell you a little about the art of hunting because it was through hunting that I learned to excell as a ventriloquist.

[leni swagger · Rating 2 out of 5]

bland, mundane, boring. hopefully the supplementary material is better!

[Krysta B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One to reread

[Judit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts off with a very off putting prologue, which I needed to tackle twice. But after that it switches to an omniscient third person narrative and becomes really interesting.
It reminded me of the writing of G. G. Marquez, who is one of my favourite authors. The style is very similar, and the feeling you get while reading the story is similar. But while Marquez uses time and skipping back and forth in the story to create and additional feeling, Melville does not do that, she follows a very linear story telling way, it still reminded me of the world of Gabo.
The other difference is that while in Marquez's world there is magical/supernatural things happening all the time and they are considered part of reality, in The Ventriloquist’s Tale there is no magic, but there is talk about a lot of the native American mythology and how that plays a role in the thinking of the characters, and it affects their story and informs their actions.
There is a free thinker character and a female (!) atheist character, but there is also a catholic priest on Christ's mission. They all clash with the mentality of the savannah and the world view of the native Americans, who look at these strange white people and their customs with calm bemusement. While this last seems like a cliché and overdone, it is very much from the inside. So this look of bemusement is shown from the inside, it's not described by yet another white outsider talking on behalf of the native people. The judgement is done from the perspective of the native American mindset. Melville does a good job at pulling back the curtain and showing you his.

All that said, and while at a certain level I fully appreciate the amount of insight this provides me into a particular native American mythology, something I was not familiar with, as a rational person, and an atheist, by about the half point of the story I was a bit annoyed at all the mentions of myths. But it's interesting because it annoyed me in the exact same way as it annoys me when I talk to someone in real life and they try to convince me of their own paranormal belief. What I mean to say by this is that, the characters are so well done that you can sometimes forget that they are fictional characters and not an actual person's words.

I think this is one of the more unique books I've read in the past year (having had a similar feeling about a book about a year ago), and I would highly recommend it to anyone. My only problem remains with the prologue and the epilogue, written form the perspective of a character that I'm not too sure of who it's supposed to be within the world of the book. That part is so strange, so much of a ramblings of a madman that it's off putting to read. If you read the first few pages and think this is all crazy, just skip that and the epilogue and maybe you'll enjoy the story itself much more. I suspect that this part is supposed to be some kind of sweeping statement by the author and the big moral of the story, but it's done in such an obscure way that for the reader, not familiar with the context in which the author says this, completely misses the point and is left in the dark.

[Charles Barrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Guyana (I don't think I've ever read a book set in Guyana before), this is a novel replete with native folklore - which makes it feel as though it belongs to the magical realism genre, though I don't think that's the novelist's intention. What's interesting about this novel is the number of plot lines that aren't resolved. Having read lots of books, I can usually predict what will be resolved and what won't be resolved. Not the case this time... Certainly a book full of mysteries and enchantment, but not in a cute sense!

[Mette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one of the extremely few books written by Guyanese authors that I could find (in English). From that viewpoint, it's a great find. The author, being of Amerindian and European descent herself, has a knack for describing both life in the native villages of the savannah, as well as that in the busy capital of Georgetown. The language is to-the-point yet with a hint of magic. In that way, it reminded me of Death in the Andes, a Peruvian novel I read recently.
Story-wise, it's not a super suspenseful read, but I was curious to see the development of the characters and relationships, so it was still quite the pageturner for me.
I'm not sure I completely understood the meaning of the incest theme, but I think it had something to do with nature... Like, sometimes weird things happen in nature that seem unnatural, but it's just the way of the world. Nature is random and unpredictable.
There was also an overarching theme of nature vs culture that I enjoyed.

[Michael Winstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a poignant story in the magical-realism style that highlights the clash between modern and ancient cultures. Told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator who is shape-shifting, Melville exposes what happens when modern religion tries to convert a happy, native culture to a monotheistic way of life. Each side retains its own myths, and each remains entrenched, to great tragedy. In the midst of all this, an Amerindian man and an English woman blossom a love affair, only to suffer eternal disappointment when it becomes clear their worlds will never mesh. This book is not for everyone, but if you have a mind to explore the impact of "progress" on a people who have lived the same way for centuries, the escapism is rewarding.

[Funda Guzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabı 2. Okuyuşum . Yaratıcılık olarak zengin . Ben eğlenerek okudum. Herkese hitap etmeyebilir. Kitabı yeniden okumaya karar verirsem ( bir 10 sene daha elimde tutmayı düşünüyorum ) önce kitabın son 4 sayfası olan bölümü okuyup kitaba başlamak. Kitabın ilk yarısı aşırı yavaş gidiyor. Kitap ilk yarıda detayları hızlı geçiyor ama kalan yarısında kar topu gibi hızlanıyor ve neye uğradığınızı şaşırıyorsunuz. Detaylar artıyor ve görüntü daha netleşiyor. Aynı zamanlı izlediğim sheakspeare in Şirreti evcilleştirmek ( Moda sahnesi oyunu 2023 ) oyununda da aynı duyguları hissettim. Kitabını da okumaya başlayacağım . Bir İngiliz edebiyatı sevdası mı doğuyor ❤️. Zaman gösterecek 🤟🏻

[Helena Ferry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a slow start with this one. Soo many characters and perspectives. I found it incredibly dull... until I didn't anymore. Ended up pleased to have read it.

Favorite quote:

"What is the word for sorry in Wapisiana?" he had asked.
Danny had looked blank. The priest put it another way.
"What would you say to me if you accidentally trod on my foot?"
"I would say what a stupid place to leave a foot", replied Danny.

[Teresa Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, the plotline is a bit taboo but I liked learning about the history and mythology of the Amerindians. There was some great dark humour in it too and I laughed out loud in a couple of places. I was completely engrossed but appreciate this book might not be for everyone given the subject matter.

[Annette Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this well written, easy to read tale set in South America between 1800's and 1900's. It had me totally engrossed in the place and with the people as we followed the fortunes of a particular native family. Highly recommended if you like a family story that will transport you to somewhere else. A gorgeous read.

[Loobie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of generations and how they are affected by external influences. The story starts with a European man taking residence in the tribe and then moves into how religion was forced into the indigenous people but end up with the westerners unable to cope with the pressures of living in such a way. Finally in modern times and how research, politics and commerce infiltrates into the tribes area.

[Ann Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a line in there somewhere, when a woman thinks to herself that people who are always trying to improve or change things are just wasting their lives, doing things that don’t matter. And that eventually they’ll realize real life is just there. I wish I could find it.

[Stacy Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this whilst living in the Rupununi, the region from which the Melvilles are and where I spent my PhD fieldwork living with the indigenous communities. It gave some perspective and reminded me to untie myself from my own ways of viewing the world.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally different book for me this one. Interesting writing style. Great insight into the lives of igneous people, the efforts of the church and the mixing of life styles.
Book kept me intrigued as to where it was going and i enjoyed the narratives

[Eirwen Abberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Really enjoyed this! I’ve read a set of Melville’s short stories before but this was even better - so interesting, she writes in a unique way. My enjoyment was definitely heightened by reading on a beach in Marseille ☀️

[Daniel Sanchez Ojalvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere I heard this described as magical realism. If magical realism is incest in the jungle then I definitely get those Mc’ondo dudes against the typecasting that genre carries with it . This is its own thing. At some points I wasn’t feeling it that much, but it was descent.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novel quite a long time ago, recently thought about it when I bought a poetry book by a Guyanese poet. Just wanted to list it for my own sake.

[France · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated it... Such a long book (had to read it for my classes) definitely wouldn't recommend...

[Sara G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It's an intelligent, funny, and it flows so well I read it in one breath. Definitely one of the better reads for me this year.

[Sharlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been putting off writing about this book because….well, where to begin? No, really, where should it begin?

Perhaps it should begin with what I liked the most about The Ventriloquist’s Tale. Its setting. Guyana.

I know not of other books that are set in Guyana, do you?. I’ve never been to Guyana, nor has that thought – or any Guyana-related thought – ever crossed my mind. So it was a really refreshing setting, a nice change from the modern, western, or made-up world which most books I read live in. Guyana is a land of sounds, of smells, of animals, of cassava, rain and rivers and heat.

It is a story told by a ventriloquist, although I have to profess that I don’t quite understand why. And when that ventriloquist’s prologue began, I was a bit wary – was this going to end up as magical realism? I wasn’t all that keen on that genre. But the narrator throws the reader into the ‘real’ world of Chofy McKinnon, a Wapisiana Indian (who also has some Anglo blood – Scottish more precisely – in the mix). A farmer who lives with his family in the savannahs, he is driven to nearby Georgetown for work. Tagging along is his aunt Wifreda, who is due for an eye operation. There, he meets and falls for Rosa Mendelsohn, who is researching Evelyn Waugh and his journey to Guyana in the 1930s, supposedly spending time with the McKinnon family. But most of the narrative follows the McKinnon family in the early 1900s, offering a comparison of cultures and lifestyles, of different times, religion, and two different love affairs.

After getting over my initial disinterest in this book, I actually found myself quite immersed in this unusual story. But there’s still something about it that I’m not sure about. I can’t say that I liked it enough to gushingly recommend it to anyone, neither did I dislike it to the point of abandoning it or throwing it across the room. The Ventriloquist’s Tale is quite an intriguing debut novel with a unique and quite wondrous setting. The story itself though, isn’t exactly something that will stay with me.

[Tamas O'Doughda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a Caribbean Lit class I took in college (that was a great class) and see that I initially rated it 3 stars when creating my GR account. Well, a week ago, while trying to declutter my blooming bookshelf, I decided to reread it. I really didn't remember it very well, other than that is took place in South America (true) and a scene of a priest being on fire and burning through the side of a hut (not true, turned out to be my own imagination. But there is something close that I was basing that moment on). There is some magical realism in the text, but nothing as wild as my erroneous memory. AND I stand by the 3 stars.

On the one hand, this is an interesting book that casts a wide net of geography, time, and characters. It has interesting cultural juxtapositions and some entertaining myths. And also some great writing. There's a moment every 30 or so pages where the author has the perfect metaphor or describes something perfectly (par example, when discussing a character thinking about marrying just to spite those around her, she compares it to how some people commit suicide as an act of passive-aggressive triumph over those around them, which was a powerful way to put it).

On the other hand, the author seemed not to be able to access the foundational elements of characterization and making your reader feel for and care about the characters in your story. In 360 pages, I feel like I only cared for a character for about 60 of those. The plot jumps around and barely allows the characters to think and speak. And the character who do think and speak the most are not all that interesting. I thought Sonny and Bla-Bla were the most compelling, but they barely got more than 10 pages apiece. Chofy, Rosa, Danny, Father Napier? I could care less about them, despite their making up the majority of the book.

So, not mad I read it. There are bits to be gleaned. But not a fulfilling text for me. However, it's too well-written on a linguistic basis for me to give it 2 stars.