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The Bridge of Beyond
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
7 posts | 4 read | 5 to read
In this intoxicating tale of love and madness, mothers and daughters, folkloric wisdom and the grim legacy of slavery on the French Antillean island of Guadeloupe, aged yet unbowed Telumee tells her life story, along with that of the proud line of Lougandor women she continues to draw strength from, even in their physical absence. Having obtained, with dizzying speed, love and happiness and the trust of others, Telumee must find the resources, personal and collective, both to rejoice without reserve and then, in less fortunate seasons, to survive suffering that would crush weaker vessels. In the words of "Queen Without a Name," the stoic and tender grandmother who raises her, "Behind one pain there is another. Sorrow is a wave without end. But the horse mustn't ride you, you must ride it." A masterpiece of Caribbean literature, The Bridge of Beyond represents at once a gorgeously thick description of the flora and climate, crafts and customs of the island, and the triumph of a spirit so generous and hopeful that no earthly adversity could outlast it. Simone Schwarz-Bart's sinuous and lyrical prose, interwoven with proverbs and other local sayings, appears here in an uncommonly good translation by Barbara Bray.
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GatheringBooks
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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#AutumnPlease! Day 29: There is #Betrayal in this novel - mostly perpetrated by the men in the female protagonists‘ lives. Finished it in less than a week, and read it as part of our #DecolonizeReading2023 theme. Review is forthcoming. Paired with banoffee cheesecake. Delish.

BarbaraBB Such a beautiful cover 🥰 12mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Everything about this is beautiful 😍 12mo
Eggs That dessert 😋🤤 12mo
48 likes3 comments
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GatheringBooks
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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#IdiomInsight Day 17: This, right here, is the #AppleOfMyEye paired with a #DecolonizeReading2023 title that I have been meaning to get to for the looongest time.

Readergrrl What. Is. That?!?! My mouth is watering! The book sounds intriguing too! 14mo
Eggs Wow looks like lava cake a la mode🍰🍫🍨 14mo
Soubhiville Mmmmmmm! 14mo
56 likes3 comments
review
shawnmooney
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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Bailedbailed

The good news is this novel has one of the strongest most inviting opening paragraphs of any book I‘ve recently picked up.

The bad news is it was all downhill from there. Bored out of my tree at the halfway mark, I am putting it aside.

I didn‘t connect with the writing style—past that opening paragraph—the characters, the plot, nada. I‘m glad so many others have loved it.

TrishB It has an eye catching cover though 😁 3y
LeahBergen What @TrishB said. 😄 3y
Cathythoughts I might try a sample on kindle , just to read that opening paragraph 👍🏻 3y
shawnmooney @Cathythoughts Actually, if you click on the title, I put the opening paragraph on as a quote, as well as one other quote from the book. :-) 3y
31 likes4 comments
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shawnmooney
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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#SundaySentence

(The author is Simone Schwarz-Bart, by the way: a Guadalopean-French author)

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shawnmooney
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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The opening paragraph makes my heart sing! 💕💕 Starting to read it right now!

#bookquote
#womenintranslation
#simoneschwarzbart
#currentlyreading

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sisilia
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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Buddy-read with @shawnmooney 💕

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Lindy
The Bridge of Beyond | Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Bray, Simone Schwarz-Bart
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Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.
-Simone Schwarz-Bart

badnorthern Love this quote! 8y
LauraTFrey You win best bookish Halloween post! 8y
ValerieAndBooks Wow, great quote! 8y
shawnmooney 💀💀💀💀👽👽👽👽👻👻👻👻 8y
46 likes2 stack adds5 comments