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RE: National Book Award Winner and Nominees -- ONE CRAZY SUMMER
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:49:00 -0500
As I read this book, I didn't think Delphine's mother was necessarily a Bla ck Panther, although she was sympathetic to their cause and contributed pos ters to them, etc. I thought she was more in tune with the character Benea tha Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun," caught up in African pride. Since th at play was written in the late 1950s and first performed in 1959, the timi ng would be consistent. Lorraine Hansberry has said that the character Bene atha was based on herself.
All in all, I thought the progression of Nzila's naming of her daughters wa s symbolic of her own growth and awakening as a self-defined, proud Black w oman. (And would I ever love an adult novel about her!)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:49:00 -0500
As I read this book, I didn't think Delphine's mother was necessarily a Bla ck Panther, although she was sympathetic to their cause and contributed pos ters to them, etc. I thought she was more in tune with the character Benea tha Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun," caught up in African pride. Since th at play was written in the late 1950s and first performed in 1959, the timi ng would be consistent. Lorraine Hansberry has said that the character Bene atha was based on herself.
All in all, I thought the progression of Nzila's naming of her daughters wa s symbolic of her own growth and awakening as a self-defined, proud Black w oman. (And would I ever love an adult novel about her!)
---Received on Wed 24 Nov 2010 10:49:00 AM CST
