Author: Tom Cooper
Publication House: Crown Publishing
Publication Date in US: February 3, 2015
Date Started: March 29, 2015
Date Finished: April 12, 2015
Format: Hardback
Medium: N/A
Review:
"For better or worse, the Barataria was his hom. Whatever that meant. Home was the peaty odor of Spanish moss in the first spring rain. Homes was the briny sweetness of fresh oysters thirty seconds out of the water. The termite swarms of early May. The cacophony of swamp frogs in the summer. The locusts in the day. The crickets at night. The lashing five-minute thunderstorms of late July. The sugarcane trucks rumbling through town in the autumn. The carnival giddiness of Mardi Gras. The blessing of the fleet. The petit bateaux clustered in the bay. The pinprick points of their pilot lamps like yuletide lights on the horizon gloaming. The earthy smell of crawfish boils. The pecan pralines and boudin and gumbo. The alligators and herons and redfish and shrimp. The Cajun voice, briny and gnarled. The old wrinkled faces as strange as thumbprints...more often than not the Barataria felt like the place he belonged."
RESONATE. If this book did nothing more it gave me a strong sense of nostalgia. I originate from a little town with almost the same aspects of Jeanette. Strong-willed community, a sense of independence from outside help, and a healthy dose of potty mouth. My family are the people represented in this book and they were represented very well.
I've always hated the term "coon-ass". I guess it's because most of the time it's spat and comes out wrapped in a disgusting tone. I love my hometown and I love how simple-minded the people and the life is back home but I just don't fit in there. I guess Grimes felt the same way and that's why I connected with him so well. It was amazing to see the transformation of disgust for his hometown to his utmost willingness to stay behind with his sick momma. That's how life is in Louisiana. If your momma or daddy are sick, you stay at home and you help. It doesn't matter what kind of outside life you live, you help the ones who helped you.
Cosgrove and Hanson did not rub me right. The same way the Toups brothers did not rub me right. While one set of comrades seemed a little less vile than they other, they both had a motif that would get them into some deep poo-poo. The Toup brothers are more or less a cultural metaphor of the entire Cajun culture and how protective they are of anything they have. Be it land, food, or (not often) some MJ.
Lindquist. Poor poor Lindquist. He made me sad for any and all old men in the swamp. I wanted to hug him and let him know that he could be whatever and whoever he wanted to be no matter his situation. I wanted to be his Wes and let him know that he could move out of the Barataria if he wanted to. The Toups brothers were just so vile and vicious to him without any regard for his well-being. It made me sick. That is the awesomeness of good writing, I tell ya.
I feel as if Cooper made some of the lingo more New Orleans than he did Cajun. For emphasis, most Cajuns do not live around New Orleans. Most live around Lafayette. I don't know if he was basing his little Louisiana town on Jeanerette, La or if he put New Orleans influence into a Cajun town. Some of the wording was a little off. Like most Cajuns say "Mais" before and after any sentence. While this can get monotonous within a book, putting it in once or twice will get a good laugh out of any Cajun reading it. I quite enjoyed the use of "frissons" and that made me giggle and smile so much.
I feel as if this book gives a pretty good idea of what the BP oil spill meant to be people down in Louisiana whose lives depend on the swamp. My daddy has recently received a cut in his pay. He is an offshore worker and was one when the BP crisis hit. I was so afraid for him I lost it and drove home. He was alright but ever since then it has been hard. He has now gone to trawling in the swamp for crawfish. It makes me sad but the man sure does love a hard job. He loves to work with his hands and loves to work for his money.
Anyone from Louisiana should read this book just for the sake of loving your home and the people found in it.
RESONATE. If this book did nothing more it gave me a strong sense of nostalgia. I originate from a little town with almost the same aspects of Jeanette. Strong-willed community, a sense of independence from outside help, and a healthy dose of potty mouth. My family are the people represented in this book and they were represented very well.
I've always hated the term "coon-ass". I guess it's because most of the time it's spat and comes out wrapped in a disgusting tone. I love my hometown and I love how simple-minded the people and the life is back home but I just don't fit in there. I guess Grimes felt the same way and that's why I connected with him so well. It was amazing to see the transformation of disgust for his hometown to his utmost willingness to stay behind with his sick momma. That's how life is in Louisiana. If your momma or daddy are sick, you stay at home and you help. It doesn't matter what kind of outside life you live, you help the ones who helped you.
Cosgrove and Hanson did not rub me right. The same way the Toups brothers did not rub me right. While one set of comrades seemed a little less vile than they other, they both had a motif that would get them into some deep poo-poo. The Toup brothers are more or less a cultural metaphor of the entire Cajun culture and how protective they are of anything they have. Be it land, food, or (not often) some MJ.
Lindquist. Poor poor Lindquist. He made me sad for any and all old men in the swamp. I wanted to hug him and let him know that he could be whatever and whoever he wanted to be no matter his situation. I wanted to be his Wes and let him know that he could move out of the Barataria if he wanted to. The Toups brothers were just so vile and vicious to him without any regard for his well-being. It made me sick. That is the awesomeness of good writing, I tell ya.
I feel as if Cooper made some of the lingo more New Orleans than he did Cajun. For emphasis, most Cajuns do not live around New Orleans. Most live around Lafayette. I don't know if he was basing his little Louisiana town on Jeanerette, La or if he put New Orleans influence into a Cajun town. Some of the wording was a little off. Like most Cajuns say "Mais" before and after any sentence. While this can get monotonous within a book, putting it in once or twice will get a good laugh out of any Cajun reading it. I quite enjoyed the use of "frissons" and that made me giggle and smile so much.
I feel as if this book gives a pretty good idea of what the BP oil spill meant to be people down in Louisiana whose lives depend on the swamp. My daddy has recently received a cut in his pay. He is an offshore worker and was one when the BP crisis hit. I was so afraid for him I lost it and drove home. He was alright but ever since then it has been hard. He has now gone to trawling in the swamp for crawfish. It makes me sad but the man sure does love a hard job. He loves to work with his hands and loves to work for his money.
Anyone from Louisiana should read this book just for the sake of loving your home and the people found in it.
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