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    Bivouac
    Bivouac
    Bivouac
    Audiobook6 hours

    Bivouac

    Written by Kwame Dawes

    Narrated by Beresford Bennett

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When Ferron Morgan's father dies in suspicious circumstances, his trauma is exacerbated by the conflict within his family and among his father's friends over whether the death was the result of medical negligence or if it was a political assassination. Ferron grew up in awe of his father's radical political endeavors, but in later years he watched as the resurgence of the political right in the Caribbean in the 1980s robbed the man of his faith.

    Ferron's response to the death is further complicated by guilt, particularly over his failure to protect his fiancee from a brutal assault. He begins to investigate the direction of his life with great intensity, in particular his instinct to keep moving on and running from trouble.

    This is a sharply focused portrayal of Jamaica at a tipping point in its recent past, in which the private grief and trauma condenses a whole society's scarcely understood sense of temporariness and dislocation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 2, 2019
    ISBN9781684416639
    Bivouac
    Author

    Kwame Dawes

    Kwame Dawes's debut novel She’s Gone (Akashic) was the winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Debut Fiction). He is the author of twenty-one books of poetry and numerous other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. In 2016, his book Speak from Here to There, a cowritten collection of verse with Australian poet John Kinsella, was released along with When the Rewards Can Be So Great: Essays on Writing and the Writing Life, which Dawes edited. His most recent collection, City of Bones: A Testament, was published in 2017. His awards include the Forward Poetry Prize, the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize, the Musgrave Silver Medal, several Pushcart Prizes, the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and an Emmy Award. He is Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner and is Chancellor Professor of English at the University of Nebraska. Dawes serves as the associate poetry editor for Peepal Tree Press and is director of the African Poetry Book Fund. He is series editor of the African Poetry Book Series—the latest of which is New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Sita)—and artistic director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. Dawes is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 2018 was elected as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

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    Reviews for Bivouac

    3.5/5

    23 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I think of Kwame Dawes as a poet firstly - this is my first novel of his. I have read some of his poetry and seen him give poetry readings, both of which were great! The writing of this novel is very lyrical, very lovely, but I felt the book kind of meandered. I know next to nothing of Jamaican politics and history, so this made for a somewhat confusing read. If you like Jamaican writers, I think you'd like this book.
    • 4/5
      Set in Jamaica in the 1980’s this is a story of upheaval. It begins with our protagonist, Ferron, transporting his father’s body to a funeral home. It’s unclear how he died – an accident, a medical mistake, or murder from the right wing party currently in power with a hit list against the former left wing politicians whom Ferron’s father was one.Ferron is also struggling as a victim of an assault of his own. He was beaten and his fiancé, whom he was unable to protect, was taken away and raped. Ferron finds his guilt prevents him from giving his fiancé the support she needs. Was this another political assault or a random event?I enjoyed the portrait of Jamaica and thought the characterizations were good.But I found the audio confusing. The story jumps backward and forward in time; many of the chapters begin with writings from Ferron’s father’s journal.I actually listened to this book twice to try to make better sense of it and the second time through did make it clearer. Perhaps this is one that works better in print than in audio.3 stars.I received a copy of the audiobook through LIbraryThing’s Early Reviewers program in exchange for an unbiased review.
    • 5/5
      This was not an easy book for me to follow, but I was on a long road trip and had a lot of time to just go back and listen to sections again. I would then go on after having that, "a ha moment". I enjoyed it a lot.
    • 3/5
      I received an audiobook, and the accents were good but sometimes inconsistent. I had trouble keeping interested in the story. It just never grabbed my attention. It seems kind of depressed and masucline and I was unable to relate to it.
    • 5/5
      First off, I have to say how thrilled I am that Kwame Dawes has written a full-length novel! The text is evocative of his wonderful poetry style, and is a joy to read. In addition, this is a first-rate story. I really felt for the character of Ferron as he struggles to come to terms with his father's death, as well as with learning things he never knew about the man before. The author obviously knows his subject matter; everything about the country of Jamaica and the political realities of the 80s is incredibly detailed and accurate. I have read a fair bit of historical fiction set much earlier in time, and I enjoyed learning about some of the country's more modern history. Kudos to Dawes for writing an engaging, thought-provoking novel in such beautiful style!
    • 2/5
      I did not like this book. It was a real struggle to read. I didn't care about any of the characters. I was in Jamaica a few times, and am familiar with patois, but the patois in the book was really hard to figure out. Maybe the expressions have changed since I was last there.
    • 3/5
      BIVOUAC by Kwame Dawes is a new release by Akashic Books.Kwame Dawes is the “author of 21 books of poetry and other books of fiction, criticism and essays. He is series director of the African Poetry Book Series”.I received this ARC (Advance Reading Copy) from Akashic Books in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.“When Ferron Morgan’s father (George Ferron Morgan) dies in suspicious circumstances, his trauma is exacerbated by the conflict within his family and among his father’s friends over whether the death was the result of medical negligence or if it was a political assassination. Ferron grew up in awe of his father’s radical political endeavors, but in later years watched as the resurgence of the political right in the Caribbean in the 1980s robbed the man of his faith.” “He begins to investigate the direction of his life with great intensity, in particular his instinct to keep moving on and running from trouble.” (Akashic Books Press Kit)Many chapters are preceded by the ‘Unpublished Notes of George Ferron Morgan’. I don’t have a sense of the ‘history’ that the author (Mr. Dawes) is writing about - the politics of the Caribbean, in general, and Jamaica, in particular. I can’t form a judgement whether George Ferron Morgan was an important, respected revolutionary of sorts, or just a complaining, arrogant politico wannabe. The lack of information, the lack of background confused me and made it hard to decide if if he was, indeed, murdered, or if he simply fell down the stairs.Our main character, Ferron Morgan - I can’t understand this guy. He seems consumed by inertia. He lives as if in a trance. He is very robotic - rarely responding to stimuli. He seems to choose his deep emotions like a kid choosing an ice cream flavor - what’s the special today?I would describe Ferron as depressed (and depressing), fatalistic, narcissistic, furtive, selfish and cowardly. He is also grief-stricken and traumatized, I feel no relationship with him at all and I don’t like him much, either.He is riddled with guilt, yet does not try to rise above it and is then filled with self-loathing.I did have trouble with the patois. It was hard to understand. But, of course, it provided a sense of place and context for the story.Mr. Dawes’ prose was lovely - insightful, flowing, descriptive. I did like ‘reading’ the book. His descriptions of the air, the heat, the sun, the dark night - I felt such a strong sense of being in the present in this place.I am glad to have read this book by Kwame Dawes. It left me pondering many emotional questions.
    • 3/5
      The basic plot of this book is a man coming to terms with the sudden, mysterious death of his father. Ferron grew up watching his father engage in Jamaica's politics, but he himself doesn't have anything to do with them. His life drifts along until his father's death, which coincides with an attack on his fiance. Suddenly, Ferron's life is up in the air, and he falls apart, albeit in a quiet, slow way.I had to read the entire book in order to understand its beauty. So much of it feels unnecessary, especially the unpublished notes of Ferron's father. I felt impatient with the story most of the way through it, but after reflecting on it for awhile I am impressed with the character study of Ferron, even though it doesn't seem like much while you are reading the story. Ferron has no way to process the traumas he has gone through, so he shuts down in way that at first is loud and obvious (hiding in a shack in the woods) and then much more quietly (engaging in a weird relationship with a random woman he meets in a doctor's office). He has stomach problems, family problems, money issues, and of course, the pressure of being the son of such a complicated man. Ferron's father is still a legacy of his politically connected friends, and Ferron is expected to reflect his father back at them for their own memories. When you look back at the huge scope of pressures Ferron is facing you can forgive him for being somewhat self-centered and wishy-washy. Sometimes when life is hard we just can't decide to do anything. I am thrilled Kwame Dawes has written a novel, since I have always admired his poetry. I ended up liking this book a lot, even though it felt like a chore to read it.
    • 2/5
      This book was written by an English professor. It seemed to me like it was written for a class of his, so they could try to figure out all the hidden meanings and symbolism. It jumped back and forth in time and just didn’t keep my attention. The main character was a lost soul who I had a hard time sympathizing with.