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The Gravedigger's Daughter

By Joyce Carol Oates

(19)

| Hardcover | 9780061236822

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Book Description

In 1936 the Schwarts, an immigrant family desperate to escape Nazi Germany, settle in a small town in upstate New York, where the father, a former high school teacher, is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger and cemetery caretaker. After local prejudice and the family's own emotionalContinue

Critics

Bookreporter.com - THE GRAVEDIGGER'S DAUGHTER by Joyce Carol Oates

• Read an Excerpt If Joyce Carol Oates wrote a different kind of fiction, her legendary prolificacy would hardly be worth remarking. If she wrote romances or murder mysteries, for example, "churning out" a book a year would be par for the course. Oat ... (read full critics)

bookreporter published on Sun, 29 Aug 2010

1 Review

Trying to be the Great American Novel?

An interesting, if overlong text (at 582 pages) with some potent writing, and with Oates' trademark density (in a good way) and depth. I enjoyed the book, and there are some powerful and shocking episodes, covering the life of the protagonist (from the title) through childhood and into late middle a ... (continue)

An interesting, if overlong text (at 582 pages) with some potent writing, and with Oates' trademark density (in a good way) and depth. I enjoyed the book, and there are some powerful and shocking episodes, covering the life of the protagonist (from the title) through childhood and into late middle age, running from her demons (including echoes of Nazi Germany), reinventing herself along the way, with some success.
Characters are recognisable, though I found myself a little irritated with Rebecca/Hazel. I couldn't work out if her spurious decisions were from poor writing, or an accurate portrayal of human complexity and a tendency toward inconsistency (I suspect the latter).
Oates is currently one of the foremost US novelists, and her recent article in the New Yorker describing her husband's death is one of the best I've read on this topic. Her writing is straightforward and uncomplicated (no long words here - Will Self take note), precise and (usually) concise.
I'd recommend this novel - its large, elliptic arc has shades of Updike and Roth. though you may find yourself skipping some passages, searching for outcomes of the more dramatic events :)

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Ian Hodgson said on Sep 4, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback