I reread this book a second time, sort of. I kinda breezed through it and I changed my mind about some things, and at other times, I noticed certain elements that I hadn't seen before.
For example, even though I liked the book as a collection of short stories and as a whole novel, I didn't find the writing impressive. I thought the writing was somewhat elementary and there wasn't any elegance to it, with the exception of a few lines here and there (I'm not sure if this is what I'm trying to say). (is elegant writing necessary?) The second time I went through it, I got the impression that each succeeding story was written in a better language, but I have no evidence of that to support it.
One thing that I think should be pointed out is Danticat's use of a number of scenarios. Although not all of the stories were written in the first person, and I like the alternation of point of views, we are given a different protagonist every time, someone who is in a different or similar situation and has a background that makes their refugee story different from the next. From these, I could imagine the stories of those victims that were not included, because in a way, even if some of the characters were not tortured by this specific dew breaker, it does say something about him in the way that he committed acts of atrocity just as any other torturer did, and like he, other tortures too were able to escape and erase their past, at least partially.
Another advantage from different points of view, for example was with the first story. I like how with the first story, Ka makes a few judgements about her parents. When we read The Book of Miracles, then your opinion of Anna, Ka's mother, changes, and so on with other characters, like Eric (from Seven, who is also the nurse's exboyfriend from The Water Child).
I think Danticat managed to write something that is subtle in reflecting an accurate Haitian experience and culture. The line on pg. 71, "Whenever she went by a cemetary...she imagined him there...his tiny wet body bent over the tombstonese, his ash-colored eyes surveying the letters, trying to find his name," alludes to the religious practice of Voudoun, in their beliefs in spirits roaming the earth.
Addressing Char's opinion that the stories didn't quite connect, I think that I can see that. I thought the same thing too. I expected all the stories to somehow connect with the dew breaker, (I don't remember if he had a name). I think the more obvious connection is that the other characters, like the three men, lived in the house with the couple. The nurse is one of the men's exgirlfriend. The seamstress is haunted by memories of the torturer (and I don't think that she ever really lived near him, maybe once). I can't find the connection between the funeral singer and the torturer's life. I think I'd have to reread that story.
