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Cane |  | Author: Jean Toomer
Publisher: Liveright
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy Used: $2.99
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You Save: $9.96 (77%)
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Seller: worldwidebookdrive
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 8195
Media: Paperback
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 0.4
ISBN: 0871401517
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780871401519
ASIN: 0871401517
Publication Date: August 17, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"[Cane] has been reverberating in me to an astonishing degree. I love it passionately; could not possibly exist without it." —Alice Walker A literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance, Cane is a powerful work of innovative fiction evoking black life in the South. The sketches, poems, and stories of black rural and urban life that make up Cane are rich in imagery. Visions of smoke, sugarcane, dusk, and flame permeate the Southern landscape: the Northern world is pictured as a harsher reality of asphalt streets. Impressionistic, sometimes surrealistic, the pieces are redolent of nature and Africa, with sensuous appeals to eye and ear.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Unspoken Masterpiece January 14, 2000
56 out of 59 found this review helpful
Written in Post-Emancipation America, Jean Toomer's novel Cane represented a strong voice within the African-American community during an era where segregation was a way of life, and lynching was (in some areas of the country) an accepted means to an end. A conglomeration of images and metaphors, Cane is honestly a difficult text to read and should not be considered merely as an "easy" set of poems, prose, and stories. There are many intricate layers of meaning within the phrasing and style of writing. The title is a double meaning in itself. Upon hearing the title, one may think that it refers to the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. This is an important aspect since some religious Christian followers interpreted the "mark" of Cain as blackness, therefore using religion as propaganda for pro-slavery agendas. In addition, readers who are more conscious minded to the dynamics of the early 1900's concerning race relations, and its history (specifically in the South) would find this text less confusing. Some sections, which stand out within the text, are "Becky", "Song of Son", and "Blood Red Harvest".
Cane is my favorite book, ever May 21, 1999
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Alice Walker once said of Cane that she "could not possibly exist without it." I feel the same way. This is the most glorious, complex, heartwrenchingly beautiful collection of poems and prose that I have ever encountered. Toomer was a lyrical, insightful writer. He was someone who understood and could convey pain. Whatever racial classification people may settle upon, it is clear that Toomer was influenced by the black experience in the U.S. -- Cane reads like jazz sometimes, like blues at other times, and every once in awhile like gospel; in any case it is musical, rhythmic, and it gets to your soul.
Jean Toomer and the Romance of language June 2, 1998
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I read Cane for the first time when I was a Freshman in college. I believe that it was the first time that I'd noticed how beautiful it is when the energy of poetry is fused with prose fiction. Particularly interesting is the fact that, while Toomer wrote a deep portrayal of the issues of race in America at that time, he functioned more as an anthropologist than an insider for, while he was black, he was descended from the socially detached black middle class and had to learn about most aspects of black culture through observation rather than experience. This makes the work that much more powerful. I especially loved to read "Blood Burning Moon", a story about the fatal competition between a black and white man for the affections of a young, alluring black woman. All in all, Cane is not to be missed by anyone who digs poetry/prose fusion or anyone who loves the romance of language.
A wonderful little book with great insight December 29, 1997
ttaylor@truman.edu (Kirksville, MO)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is perhaps one of my favorite works of literature I've ever read. This piece of literature uses poetry and short stories to portray the vast experiences of Afican-Americans in America. This novel (of sorts) opens your eyes and does so subtly and beautifully through various characters and the experiences they go through or fight against. Although written over fify years ago, Toomer's work relates well to the problems/concerns of race in America today. I feel this should be a required work in studying Modern American Literature and the African-American Experience. If there is a firm "canon" ever established, this should be included.
Truth through Words April 16, 2004
Nicole (Chicago, Il)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Women play a dramatic role throughout Jean Toomer's eyebrow raising novel, Cane. In Cane, Toomer depicts the lives of many women who are misunderstood by the world around them. Through each dramatic story we are introduced to different characters that all tell a story, a story that spells out the racism and virtual element of sadness that has overcome Georgia and everything in it's path. Cane is not only a novel, but also a learning lesson of the changing times and real true to life struggles that innocent victims had to endure. After experiencing cane, we are introduced to another world that we have never known, forever changing our mindset of the world around us. Not only was Cane a dramatic learning tool, but also an irreplaceable piece of literature that will forever remain in our thoughts and our minds generation after generation touching each reader that is lucky enough to have inhaled it's beauty. One of Cane's greatest acheivements is in the way you have to find the beauty within each character through understanding Georgia's mindset. Toomer truly challenges our minds to relate to each and every character, be it man or woman, and understand and appreciate each and every struggle and hardship, and once we can feel their pain we too have a little purple in our hearts.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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