Bloodline: Five Stories

By Ernest J. Gaines

In these five stories, Ernest Gaines returns to the cane fields, sharecroppers' shacks, and decaying plantation houses of Louisiana, the terrain of his great novels A Gathering of Old Men and A Lesson Before Dying. As rendered by Gaines, this country becomes as familiar, and as haunted by cruelty, suffering, and courage, as Ralph Ellison's Harlem or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County.

Gaines introduces us to this world through the eyes of guileless children and wizened jailbirds, black tenants and white planters.  He shows his characters eking out a living and making love, breaking apart aand coming together.  And on every page he captures the soul of black community whose circumstances make even the slightest assertion of self-respect an act of majestic—and sometimes suicidal—heroism.  Bloodline is a miracle of storytelling.

STORIES INCLUDE:

A Long Day in November
The Sky Is Gray
Three Men
Bloodline
Just Like a Tree

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307830364

Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. His novels include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Of Love and Dust, Catherine Carmier, Bloodline, A Gathering of Old Men and In My Father's House.

Reviews for Bloodline

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gaines' fiction is, as ever, worth reading and re-reading. His works practically vibrate with the power of voice, and with subtle discussions of race, power, poverty, and history--and the stories in this collection are no different. The title story, "Bloodline" might be the most striking of the ones included here, but then again, they're all intoxicating and worthwhile, and "A Long Day in November" is one that will stay with me for a long time.All told, I can't recommend his work highly enough--whether you've already appreciated his novels or not, whether this would be your first taste of his work or not, this collection is worth wandering through, and the stories included are varied enough (and offered in enough depth) that you won't be bored if you decide to read the collection straight through.Absolutely recommended.