The bonds of family are tested in the wake of a profound tragedy, providing a look at the darker side of our society by one of our most enduringly popular and important writers
Night Sleep Death The Stars is a gripping examination of contemporary America through the prism of a family tragedy: when a powerful parent dies, each of his adult children reacts in startling and unexpected ways, and his … in startling and unexpected ways, and his grieving widow in the most surprising way of all.
Stark and penetrating, Joyce Carol Oates’s latest novel is a vivid exploration of race, psychological trauma, class warfare, grief, and eventual healing, as well as an intimate family novel in the tradition of the author’s bestselling We Were the Mulvaneys.
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A bit long, but such depth in the characters.
An unforgettable read.
Good book. Kept my interest.
Joyce Carol Oates tosses us inside a sea of social injustices ,and family dynamics rooted in sibling rivalry .After a patriarchs death by horrific circumstances his wife and children unravel The author gives his widow the best ability to survive The author uses F.Scott Fitzgerald’s quote Life is a comedy to those who think ,a tragedy to those who feel and the writer adds Yet in time ,comedy yields to tragedy.And tragedy to forgetfulness and oblivion It appears the myriad of possibilities are what we ourselves create in the end
An 800 page book doesn’t scare me. Some of my favorite books are whoppers.
The number of pages are irrelevant when one becomes immersed in detailed characters, propelled by foreshadowing through their actions and weaknesses, touched by universal truths of human nature.
Oates latest novel explores the impact of death on a family.
I was sucked into the story, eagerly looking forward to reading and learning more about these characters. To discover if I was right about what would come.
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. begins with the sudden death of a family patriarch. Whitey stopped to investigate what appeared, and was, a case of police profiling and brutality. He was their next victim. He did not survive.
Whitey was 67—my age. He was his wife Jessalyn’s reason for existence, her lodestone; he defined her. In deep shock, she plummets into a private despair hidden behind her self-effacing thoughtfulness for others.
The children, as children do, decide what must be done, how their mother should ‘be’, and when her actions do not conform with expectations, they reel off into obsessions and fears and anger.
The family balance is thrown off. The children carry their individual burdens. Some believed they were ‘favorite’ sons or daughters, while others strove to gain their father’s approval. One had given up trying.
After many months, a man enters Jessalyn’s life who takes her under his care. She rejects his attentions in horror, but allows him to slowly change her, alter her, and bring her back into the land of the living.
The children are incensed, complain to each other, demand someone do something. Mom has been acting incorrectly. Mom has chosen the wrong man. Mom has a feral cat in the house.
Oh, I have seen this! The children who resent the second spouse. I myself scared off a woman who had set her sights on my newly widowed father! Yes, I did!
I was increasingly horrified as the novel got darker and darker, delving into the black hearts of these children. They are murderers and self-abusers and suicidal misfits and long-suffering, angry wives.
Each sibling must find their way out of their despair and illness. I expected Jessalyn to change into a ‘modern heroine’, evolving into her own woman. To leave passivity behind. She finds happiness, but not growth.
This story disturbed my sleep. It was an emotional journey.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
It’s been a while since I read a book by Joyce Carol Oates, and I’m glad I got a review copy from Net Galley to read this one that releases June 9,2020. The family that “Whitey” leaves behind when he dies puts dysfunctional on steroids, and how they all deal with their grief, or don’t deal with it as the case may be, is the heart of this compelling story. Jess, the widow, is the most endearing character, and the way her grief is portrayed in the book is heart-wrenching and real.
This is a book well worth reading.