The Drifting of Spirits
by Gisèle Pineau
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Description
Set in Guadeloupe, this novel traces the rise & fall of man under the mocking eye of spirits roaming the land, drifting between light & darkness, happiness & misery love & death. WINNER OF THE PRIX CARBETTags
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Member Reviews
Guadalupe.
The appended essay on Créolité ("Afterword") notwithstanding, I didn't find The Drifting of Spirits compelling or especially interesting. Perhaps it was a translation issue, but I never felt emotionally engaged with any of the characters. They seemed more cartoonish than I was expecting as well. In this way it reminded me of many of Kim Stanley Robinson's books (such as the Mars trilogy). Also an award winner, Robinson has the same distanced style in which the characters, no matter how vividly they are described, retain a cool distance from the reader; his plots, like this one, sprawl and are unpredictable, forcing the reader to be passive in relation to the story. The message of The Drifting of Spirits seems to be that no show more matter how good or decent you are, evil will take you down. I don't mind the fatalism, but I am left thinking that if this was the point, it might be better served by a poem than a novel. show less
The appended essay on Créolité ("Afterword") notwithstanding, I didn't find The Drifting of Spirits compelling or especially interesting. Perhaps it was a translation issue, but I never felt emotionally engaged with any of the characters. They seemed more cartoonish than I was expecting as well. In this way it reminded me of many of Kim Stanley Robinson's books (such as the Mars trilogy). Also an award winner, Robinson has the same distanced style in which the characters, no matter how vividly they are described, retain a cool distance from the reader; his plots, like this one, sprawl and are unpredictable, forcing the reader to be passive in relation to the story. The message of The Drifting of Spirits seems to be that no show more matter how good or decent you are, evil will take you down. I don't mind the fatalism, but I am left thinking that if this was the point, it might be better served by a poem than a novel. show less
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Myth (Reuse and Retelling)
188 works; 24 members
Author Information
32 Works 262 Members
Awards and Honors
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Serie Piper (2640)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- La grande drive des esprits
- Original title
- La grande drive des esprits
- Original publication date
- 1993
- Original language*
- Français
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 843.914 — Literature & rhetoric French Literature French fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999
- LCC
- PQ3949.2 .P573 .G73 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures French literature Provincial, local, colonial, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 39
- Popularity
- 744,623
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (2.25)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
