- Paperback: 281 pages
- Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st Vintage Contemporaries Ed edition (10 May 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 067975248X
- ISBN-13: 978-0679752486
- Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 1.6 x 20.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,495,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
A Black, who seeks revenge against his oppressive white employers, is doomed when he breaks the most honored rule of love in the South.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
An all around good novel
8 Nov 1997
Format:Paperback
"Of Love And Dust" is a page-turning, please don't bother me can't you see that I'm reading books. By the author of "A Lesson Before Dying", "Of Love And Dust" is a story that takes place on plantation in 1948 in Louisana. The story is narrated by Jim Kelly, a black man that drives the tractor, and he tells the story of what happened when a young man named Marcus, who is awaiting trial for murder is "bonded" to the plantation to work. Marcus soon bumps head with Sidney BonBon, the cajun overseer, and plots revenge against him by trying to seduce Bonbon's black mistress, Pauline and Bonbon's wife, Louise. Told in the smooth, flowing, yet powerful style that is expected from Gaines, the novel is about the relationships and social interactions between the races and what happened when some dares to follow their hearts and break from tradition or standards that are socially acceptable. One of the things, and there are many, that I loved about this novel is that there is a good deal of humor. It is definitely a book to read.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Another compelling novel from one of America's best writers
23 July 2003
Format:Paperback
One of Ernest Gaines' greatest talents lies in his ability to make the reader reconsider initial assumptions and prejudices about the characters in his stories. "Of Love and Dust" introduces us to Marcus, a young African-American man awaiting trial for the murder of another man. Apparently more concerned about his flashy wardrobe than the moral burden he should bear for his crime, Marcus quickly alienates much of the black community he enters when he goes to work on a Louisiana plantation owned by the white man who put up his bail. Often disrespectful of those who offer him advice out of concern for his well-being, in the beginning he comes across as a two-bit punk.
But soon his actions catch us in a moral crossfire. On one hand, we admire him because he refuses to kowtow to the racist customs that defined life in the South in the 1940s. On the other hand, however, he shows no respect or sympathy for the deep-set fear that pervades the plantation community, whose members know they will all suffer the violent consequences if anyone tries to turn the caste system on its head. (Gaines' descriptions of that fear make it almost palpable.)
The story takes off when, pushed to the limit by Bonbon, the plantation's Cajun overseer, Marcus is consumed by a quest for revenge. Marcus' first attempt to emasculate Bonbon comes with his unsuccessful seduction of Pauline, Bonbon's African-American mistress and the mother of two of his children. Rebuffed, Marcus turns his attention to Bonbon's white wife, Louise, a lonely and spiritless young woman who seeks from Marcus the love and attention her husband has saved for Pauline.
As the tale moves inexorably toward its predictable conclusion, Gaines adds to the dimension of the characters, gradually revealing how their actions have been influenced -- or even orchestrated -- by powers beyond their control. "Me and you -- what we is?" asks Bonbon. "We little people...They make us do what they want us to do, and they don't tell us nothing. We don't have nothing to say 'bout it, do we?"
Our initial black-and-white assumptions dissolve to gray, and we begin to view with greater sympathy the people caught up in conflict between their greatest desires and the restrictions of society. Even under pressure from insurmountable external powers, however, those people still rebel, in small or great ways, affirming their humanity, their spirit of independence, and their love for one another.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Excellent, just like all of Gaines' novels great read
7 Aug 1999
Format:Paperback
Gaines has done it again. He has once again captured the spiritof the Southern Black Male. He like Alice Walker (who captures theSouthern woman) captures his characters spirit and their soul. He is an excellent writer. This book is great, it is easy reading and it addresses the hypocrisy of social and class standings like no other writer I have ever read. I have read four of Gaines' novels and all of them leave me breatless. I always want more even when the book is over. I am now about to read Bloodline and I can't wait. Mr. Gaines if you are reading this, PLEASE KEEP WRITING YOU ARE THE GREATEST!!!!!!!
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