Word: novelized
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...book's reflection on language, however, that deserves most attention. Throughout the novel, the power of words, as well as the notion of meaning, constantly comes into question. In the beginning, Pella confesses that she relies on her mother for words that serve as an "antidote" to her father's political speak. In a conversation between Efram and Pella's father Clement, this very speak implies the threat that Clement represents for Efram's power. Toward the end, Efram dies specifically because of the accusatory, lying words a child utters about him. This causation becomes clear a moment before...
...narrative voice of Harlan Egalton in Gayl Jones' most recent novel is bold from the book's start, seeping out of the first pages with a flavor as pungent and distinctive as the mustard sauce sardines she nibbles when we first meet...
...Priest Fainted, Catherine Temma Davidson's first novel, is another one of those lovely stories dealing with women who travel to distant lands trying to escape their mothers, only to discover--surprise!--that their lives are more similar to their mother's than they thought. Davidson also attempts to weave cooking, Greek mythology and sexual awakening into her alinear story, which ultimately tumbles like the Tower of Babel under its heavy pedanticness. Davidson, a poet, should not quit her day job. Although the language of The Priest Fainted is eloquent enough, the alinearity simply gets tire-some...
...main problems with this novel lie in the fact that Davidson does not know how to engage a reader. While Like Water For Chocolate, a book which Davidson has heavily imitated with her food-as-culture-and-identity-and-feminism theme, had charm and humor, as well as a concrete plot, the plot of The Priest Fainted can be summed up in one sentence: 19 year-old Greek-American girl travels to Greece, makes some friends, has adventurous sex and realizes why her mother decided not to marry a Greek man (because like all men, they, too, are pigs). Coherence...
Davidson opens up the novel with women cooking the sensual, traditional Greek dish Iman Baildi, which in English means "the priest fainted," hence the title of this book. Although this sounds like a delicious food, its significance in the novel is never fully developed. In fact, the food genre is quickly dropped, which can confuse a reader who thought this novel would be about taking a culinary journey into Greece and getting some heart-to-heart searching along the way. Instead, the novel delves superficially into many "modern" themes and experiences, and the plot line--already thinner than a slice...