Thalia Book Club: Jamaica Kincaid: See Now Then

Written by Jamaica Kincaid

Narrated by Ian Frazier

The author of Annie John, Lucy, and The Autobiography of My Mother delves into her long-awaited new novel about a complicated modern family, featuring Mr. and Mrs. Sweet and their two children, Heracles and Persephone, who live in the Shirley Jackson house in Vermont. Kincaid discusses her novel with her old friend Ian Frazier (The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Symphony Space
• Release date: Feb 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781467664257

Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua. Her books include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, My Brother, Mr. Potter, and See Now Then. She teaches at Harvard University and lives in Vermont.

Reviews for Thalia Book Club

[greeniezona · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book the second I saw it because I was excited about a new Kincaid novel. Then I went home and looked at reviews and it sunk to the bottom of my TBR to stagnate. But Kincaid's name kept calling to me, and the African American literature challenge for February came around, so I finally picked it up.I'll admit, I didn't love this book right away. Kincaid uses a run-on style here. Not exactly run-on sentences, but run-on paragraphs, run-on thoughts, everything bleeds into everything else just like now bleeds into then and then into now. It took me a little bit to fall into the rhythm of it. But then I found myself repeatedly smiling these smiles of pure joy, not because of anything joyous happening in the book (really, there wasn't much of that0, but just because of the WRITING. This is the story of a specific place and a specific family, but she also deliberately unmoors it over and over again with allusions to Greek myth and to archetypes and to geology and immigration stories. But it is also her story, and anyone who has read ANY of Kincaid's other work will recognize connections here. Mr. Sweet is often unbearable in his self-absorbed ways, but Kincaid basically (but never explicitly) turns him into Zeus, and I'm like, OKAY, he's Zeus, and Zeus is a prick, GOT IT. And it somehow make it easier to bear. Anyway, this book is about the dissolution of a marriage and it is about racism and classism and archetypes and creative geniuses and small Caribbean islands and recovering from the wounds of childhood and the way our nows are rooted in our thens and our thens rooted in our nows. I loved, loved it. Five stars.

[sparemethecensor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kincaid's writing is stunning and truly immersive. This book feels off, perhaps because (despite her denials) I suspect this was a cathartic exercise about her own acrimonious divorce following a betrayal by her husband...as mirrored in the novel...and while I'm sure it was xathartic for her, it was hard for me to read it. It felt unexamined as fiction. I cannot recommend her other work highly enough, and perhaps for those who want to sit in these emotions, this novel would work for that time in your life, only.

[over.the.edge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

See Now Then🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Jamaica Kincaid
2013
Farrar, Straus, Giroux

Emotional heartbreaker, but so good. The agony of a love/ hate relationship between The Sweets, blend past, present and future events/ thoughts to share the strengths and weaknesses of their marriage. Their 2 children, Heracles and Persephone bring depth and interesting twists to their parents relationship, and some humor.
The writing style will turn off many, because it stream of consciousness with the use of many metaphors in very long sentences and paragraphs that are entire page with no comma. You either love it or hate it. Once I had the style down, I was glad I made the effort because this book really is great and thought provoking.
I loved this!

[mcelhra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s hard for me to describe See Now Then. It’s the non-linear study of the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Sweet. The prose is wonderfully crafted and poetic. I listened to this book on audio and after reading other reviews from people who read the book in print, I think audio is the way to go. Print readers complained of Ms. Kincaid’s massively long run-on sentences and the lack of paragraph breaks of which I was completely unaware. Ms. Kincaid narrates the book herself and does a fantastic job. She was born in St. John’s Antigua and her accent made the book sound even more beautiful. It’s not a happy book – Mr. and Mrs. Sweet don’t like each other much at all – but I still found it almost relaxing to listen too because Ms. Kincaid’s voice is so lyrical. It was almost like listening to a very long poem.This book is definitely unique – it’s written in a style that I have never read before. Because of this, it’s probably not for everyone. If you are a practical reader who wants a straightforward plot, then this is not the book for you. But if you’re open to reading outside your comfort zone or you place a high value on prose, then give this book a try.