Homegoing

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi is a masterpiece of storytelling, an import work of historical fiction, and a completely captivating read! Half-sisters, Effia and Esi, from different villages in west Africa (now Ghana) find much different fates, when one marries a British officer and remains in Africa, and the other is captured and sent to America on a slave ship in the 1700s. The novel follows their offspring from the eighteenth century until 2000. It is a fascinating and unflinching look at slavery, colonialism, and civil rights, with beautifully written individual stories of characters you will not soon forget. Highly recommend.

More like 4.5 stars, because I feel like my small critique is more about my likes as reader than a flaw in the book/with the writer. Homegoing is at times a hard book to read given the topic. It is also fascinating to trace a story that we all know much deeper into its history than we are generally accustomed to. And the characters...wow -- a week after finishing the book, and I still think about some of them and their sad, sad stories. The book starts with a genealogy chart, and here is where I knew that I was in trouble (but I'm thankful I didn't turn back and close the "cover" (Kindle user)). I tend to struggle with novels that have such a cast of characters that one needs a chart to figure out the relations. And need the chart, I did. I went back to the chart at the start of almost every chapter (especially later in the book) to remind myself of which side of the family (Effia or Esi) and who the character's parents were. It is these familial connections that tie the book together and allow us to see the long-lasting impact of the institution of slavery. The book is structured so that each chapter is the story of a singular character (essentially, though again, because it follows the ancestry, that character's story is always part of another character(s)' story as well. And here is one of my small issues: each chapter, despite its connections to the other chapters, reads a bit like a short story. That is, I didn't ever feel "done" with that particular character and just kept wanting to know more of his/her story. I would wait anxiously to get the chapter about one of the offspring, but that generally did not satisfy my desire to know more of the original character's story. (This, ultimately, is both quibble and compliment, I suppose). Then there is the language. The unique turns-of-phrase and vivid analogies and metaphors make you feel like you are reading stories written by an aged and well-lived storyteller (as opposed to this young 20-something Iowa MFA). The language truly feels authentic to Ghanian culture. And it's beautiful. I did find the reading experience at the beginning to be richer and more immersive than in the later chapters of the book. I'm not sure why, but Gyasi's clever and unique use of language becomes less frequent later in the book. Perhaps this is representative of the book's shift into American culture and away from Ghana. On the whole, I did have trouble keeping track of all the characters (the book spans almost 300 years; what can I expect?), but it was a powerful enough read that I am still thinking about it (and ready to read Whitehead's The Underground Railroad!) a week after finishing it.

Talk about ending my reading year with a bang; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi blew me, and my expectations, away. It was everything I could ever ask for in a book, and the stories will stick with me for the rest of my life. “The family is like the forest: if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position.” This is, hands down, the best family saga I've ever read, and this is only Yaa Gyasi's debut novel! In three-hundred pages, Yaa Gyasi shows us seven generations in fourteen different points of view; each of which will leave you haunted, and start important discussions about the world we live in today. This book leaves a powerful message about immigration and our views on it in today's world. For this alone, it should be required reading. 2017 is going to be a very important year; we all need to educate ourselves not only about current events, but also events of our past. America is a melting pot, and it is a beautiful thing that we shouldn't be ashamed of. We need to stop segregating, and begin embracing. This book even touches on the broken cycle that is the war on drugs, and police brutality. Yes, slavery was abolished in America in 1865, but that truly only abolished it on paper. Instead, whites incarcerated blacks for looking the wrong way, and forced them to do their punishment/sentences with more "legal" manual labor. This book heavily talks about the coal mining era and how terrible our journey was to make America "great". Seriously, if you read this book and still say "All Lives Matter" I will personally punch you in the throat. “Evil begets evil. It grows. It transmutes, so that sometimes you cannot see that the evil in the world began as the evil in your own home.” There is also a strong underlying emphasis on nature vs. nurture, which readers won't be able to ignore. Seeing traits getting passed down and seeing the similar mistakes each side on this family tree is so interesting. The biggest of all these important messages is probably about the main theme that is the slave trade. How people think that even in 2016 it is still okay to own people is astonishing. How slavery impacts every generation, and pretending that it never happened doesn't help us grow or become better. Slavery, and the inexplicable horrors and devastation it creates, has to be talked about, and taught more accurately about. We have to learn from the past to create a better and equal future, where people aren't forced into the roles they are given. “Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.” I loved all the characters and all their impactful points of view, but I couldn't help but love Ness a little more than the rest. In only twenty pages, she will stay in my mind and heart forever. She was so strong, so brave, and so very heartbreaking. I would be so incredibly proud to have someone like her in my family tree. Honestly, I wish every white American could read this, and see these generations and the struggles they did not ask for, but were forced upon them, and learn. This would open the eyes of so many people, if only they would start their journey to battle the racism and the hate that is still so prevalent today. I know I sound like a broken record, but this book is so important. Homegoing is a story unlike any other I've ever read; as stated above, we follow the seven generations of two half-sisters who never even got the chance to know one another. Both of their lives start in what will eventually be Ghana, a country on the West Coast of Africa. And even though they are born in a very close proximity to each other, they are from different tribes. One is married to a British man of great importance and they live together in a communal castle that is a hub for slave trade. While one of the sisters gets acquainted with her new life away from her tribe, the sister she never knew is getting prepared in that same castle, but to be sold out of the insufferable dungeons below. From there we get to see the different threads that originated from these two star-crossed sisters. And even though you only get to spend about twenty pages with each family member, you can't help but love them all. This book is so intelligent, and so well plotted. Yaa Gyasi deserves every dollar she received for this book before it was published, and this book deserves every ounce of hype it receives, because it is so important and impactful. I think it needs to be said, that I think the best way to read this book is to read it two chapters at a time. This makes it so that you will read roughly the same time period of the two different family trees of the half-sisters. Sometimes, some of the old characters show up with pretty important cameos in their descendant's points of view, and each time it felt like Christmas morning. I also became addicted to looking at the family tree every new point of view. I couldn't help it, this story was so immersing and I was so addicted. “The need to call this thing “good” and this thing “bad,” this thing “white” and this thing “black,” was an impulse that Effia did not understand. In her village, everything was everything. Everything bore the weight of everything else.” Please give the book a shot. It is worth all the hype and will change your life. I will forever cherish this book and its message, while gifting it to all my loved ones. If I could only recommend one book in 2016 it would be Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. It is truly nothing short of a masterpiece.

Imprescindible para entender una parte fundamental de la historia negra y afroamericana. Imprescindible porque es una lectura accesible a todo el mundo y deberia ser un basico a leer cuanto antes mejor...

Brilliant and artistic storytelling about life through generations in a surprisingly concise manner.

It was for a gift, but it arrived in perfect shape

... the one that stayed and the one that was forced to leave. Intense, cruel, magic, real, pitiless. A book that you feel inside, with each character.

My favourite read of the year so far. Such a feat to have captured such a huge span of history, and made it feel personal. You live it along with the characters. I was moved to tears several times, and can't stop thinking about it afterwards. I think it might be the only book I have ever read that on finishing it, I wanted to re read it immediately.