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Rainy Season: Haiti-Then and Now
The earthquake has unleashed a desperation I recognize from my long education in Haiti as the desperation of extreme poverty. A few blocks away, I heard an elderly Haitian arguing with an officer of the 82nd over a piece of rope or bungee cord the man needed to tie up a bundle of stuff. The man had no teeth and gray sprouts of hair and he held the cord in his hand and was trying to get back to his bundle. But the officer stopped him. The man spoke no English, the officer no Creole—but the officer knew that all scavenging had to stop now (as he said repeatedly), because the bulldozers were coming in and the Army did not want to bulldoze any scavengers. Finally though, the officer—rolling his eyes and shaking his head slightly, and looking up to the heavens in a combined gesture of impatience and resignation not uncommon among people new to Haiti—let the old man leave with his piece of rope." —From the new introduction, "After the Earthquake
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Amy Wilentz
10 books49 followersAmy Wilentz is the award-winning author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier; Martyrs’ Crossing, a novel about Jerusalem, and I Feel Earthquakes More Often Than They Happen: Coming to California in the Age of Schwarzenegger.
From 1995 through 1999, she was The New Yorker’s Jerusalem correspondent. She’s a contributing editor at The Nation magazine and teaches in the Literary Journalism program at the University of California at Irvine. She has worked as a monitor for Americas Watch, and was a board member of the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees.
Wilentz is a frequent contributor to Conde Nast Traveler, More magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. She is currently working on a novel about money, love, and family.
From 1995 through 1999, she was The New Yorker’s Jerusalem correspondent. She’s a contributing editor at The Nation magazine and teaches in the Literary Journalism program at the University of California at Irvine. She has worked as a monitor for Americas Watch, and was a board member of the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees.
Wilentz is a frequent contributor to Conde Nast Traveler, More magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. She is currently working on a novel about money, love, and family.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 6, 2015
With this sort of sociological book about a place with an interesting history, people and events, the author does a lot of research, both from media and in the field, and carefully looks at the facts and sees the bigger picture and that helps formulate what kind of book they are going to write. Each chapter then will be devoted to a certain aspect and sources, whether people, direct observation or media will be used to illustrate the author's point of view.
However, some authors have an agenda already and everything they see must be moulded to it, all evidence to the contrary can be misinterpreted or ignored if it doesn't fit. Or better, generalisations made, as in "most people" or "all of those I" and names never given unless they say what the author wants them to say. It's like showbiz news in the National Enquirer, 'sources close to .... say'.
It has its good points, the book is not uninteresting or badly written, but with this kind of subject I expect it to be more than personal opinion, I expect to be able to verify every single fact whether it is from footnotes, direct quotes, or otherwise. And I couldn't.
And that is why this book is only a 2-star.
___________________________________________
What follows is what Haiti looks like from the Caribbean perspective.
This has nothing to do with the book but is to do with Haiti. I live in the Caribbean, Haiti is 'up the road' to me. My island maintains a school there, we were among the first after the earthquake sending out boats with supplies and workers. Planes with doctors and medical supplies were there within a day, landing in Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republican to non-Caribbean folk) and crossing the border by land. This was co-ordinated by local Haitians - I am very friendly with one of the organisers, a lawyer who lives here.
The stories that came back for the first year of disaster relief were not at all like reported in the papers. The level of corruption was so great, from politicians to priests and everyone in between stealing supplies to resell, getting 'orphans' ready for the inspection, filling the tent cities by 7 a.m. from people who had got up from their homes early. This is not to say the camps didn't have a lot of displaced people, they did, but they weren't the ones you saw quite often, nor were they the ones who received supplies on behalf of the people who organised them and were stockpiling these supplies to sell them. This is why the Haitian organisers asked us not to send any money or quantities of food but to pack 5 gallon buckets with supplies in small quantities for individuals and their families, that the people might actually receive the relief they needed rather than it being stockpiled and resold. It is also why we set up a school with boarding facilities, because the poorest of the poor had no power to get what they needed.
Some of the aid workers are there primarily because it is a job, an interesting one with perks. They go from disaster area to disaster area but for themselves, not for the humanitarian reasons they profess. They commandeered the best rooms in the hotels that were still standing, took each other out to dine in the best restaurants driving their relief vehicles. Refused to release necessary supplies to doctors (from the island, my family) who then have to have other planes with supplies sent in. Those planes have to be unloaded by the doctors and pilots themselves, not by aid workers and not by Haitians, if they want to make sure what is sent is what they get to use.
Situations like that just don't arise, they are controlled from the top down. Whether it is the Aid organisations some with their vast admin costs taken from charitable donations that pay the hotel and restaurant bills, or a local priest who couldn't get away with it if his bishop wasn't also on the make. And the bishop, appointed by the regime anyway had people he was answerable to. And everyone gets their cut.
I used to be very friendly with the Caribbean transport manager for a large American shipping company. He told me that one of the people he dealt with in Haiti was a big importer. Her compound was surrounded by a high wall with broken glass inset on the top. It was patrolled by her private police force who had semi-automatic guns. They apparently had instructions to shoot any intruders. She must have been very unafraid of any retribution by state police. She would put him up in the guest apartment, a two bed flat that he said was very luxurious and the whole thing would fit into her huge living room. Outside, sitting against the walls were people in ragged shorts and t-shirts, just waiting, hoping for a day's work.
Friends of mine here had a private plane and dive company back in the day. Come a change in political power and they had to flee, quite literally, getting on one of their own tiny planes and taking off with what they could. They were no longer on the 'protected list' and their business was 'taken over'. Ten years later they still had to pay off the loans every month as the new Haitian owners had omitted to change that part of the paperwork and it was to a Canadian-owned bank.
Then there is the enslaving of the Haitians by Santo Domingans. Men from Santo Domingo go to Haiti, often accompanied by people who are dressed as priests and are taken to groups of men and boys who have been gathered together and told that they are needed to cut cane and will be taken on a contract and paid.
"The 2004 report, ―Sugar Cane Slavery: Bateyes in the Dominican Republic, by Barbara Bernier, focused on the system of forced recruitment carried out by the CEA. The report was based on visits to bateyes, but not on an exhaustive survey of workers. The report stated, ―There is always a shortage of workers during the harvest season and the State Sugar Council known as the CEA uses a system of employment that violates every applicable international law regarding the use of forced labor.
The report alleged that Haitians were sold to Dominican soldiers by other Haitians [often they were/looked like priests] and deceived into working on sugarcane plantations in the Dominican Republic. The report also indicated that Haitian recruits were kept in barracks before being sent to plantations, that their belongings were confiscated, and that they were kept under surveillance by armed soldiers. Bernier also reported on workers‘ low wages, payment in vouchers, and poor living conditions."
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu...
Children are rounded up and sold for their organs in Haiti itself. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/ame..., many references, google it.
Regularly we get boats of illegal immigrants here. They have usually paid a lot of money to be smuggled into the US. Some come from as far afield as China by tortuous routes. The captains just dump them on one of the many uninhabited islands that all the Caribbean countries have and then zoom off again, far too risky to actually take them to the US. Sometimes the boats, always overloaded are stopped by our coastguard. When they are found, they are processed and deported. Unless they are Haitian.
If they are Haitian they are given food, water and fuel and sent on their way. Usually with directions to get to the Francophile islands where they can blend in with the populace. No one would ever be cruel enough to deport Haitians back to Haiti.
Why do these conditions continue? My friends who are Haitians are all from the middle class which is apparently very small in number and hangin' on in there, a lot of them doing their best to get out. The poor are the ones who become illegal immigrants, the enslaved, the organ donors, or those who can be shot without fear of retribution by the rich and their private armies.
Who do the big countries of the world and their companies negotiate with about Foreign Aid, about getting garments made cheaply (in compounds surrounded by barbed wire)? Those same rich politicians and business owners. Do 'our' politicans not care? Do these big fashion companies have no conscience?
Why did I even bother asking those questions?
However, some authors have an agenda already and everything they see must be moulded to it, all evidence to the contrary can be misinterpreted or ignored if it doesn't fit. Or better, generalisations made, as in "most people" or "all of those I" and names never given unless they say what the author wants them to say. It's like showbiz news in the National Enquirer, 'sources close to .... say'.
It has its good points, the book is not uninteresting or badly written, but with this kind of subject I expect it to be more than personal opinion, I expect to be able to verify every single fact whether it is from footnotes, direct quotes, or otherwise. And I couldn't.
And that is why this book is only a 2-star.
___________________________________________
What follows is what Haiti looks like from the Caribbean perspective.
This has nothing to do with the book but is to do with Haiti. I live in the Caribbean, Haiti is 'up the road' to me. My island maintains a school there, we were among the first after the earthquake sending out boats with supplies and workers. Planes with doctors and medical supplies were there within a day, landing in Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republican to non-Caribbean folk) and crossing the border by land. This was co-ordinated by local Haitians - I am very friendly with one of the organisers, a lawyer who lives here.
The stories that came back for the first year of disaster relief were not at all like reported in the papers. The level of corruption was so great, from politicians to priests and everyone in between stealing supplies to resell, getting 'orphans' ready for the inspection, filling the tent cities by 7 a.m. from people who had got up from their homes early. This is not to say the camps didn't have a lot of displaced people, they did, but they weren't the ones you saw quite often, nor were they the ones who received supplies on behalf of the people who organised them and were stockpiling these supplies to sell them. This is why the Haitian organisers asked us not to send any money or quantities of food but to pack 5 gallon buckets with supplies in small quantities for individuals and their families, that the people might actually receive the relief they needed rather than it being stockpiled and resold. It is also why we set up a school with boarding facilities, because the poorest of the poor had no power to get what they needed.
Some of the aid workers are there primarily because it is a job, an interesting one with perks. They go from disaster area to disaster area but for themselves, not for the humanitarian reasons they profess. They commandeered the best rooms in the hotels that were still standing, took each other out to dine in the best restaurants driving their relief vehicles. Refused to release necessary supplies to doctors (from the island, my family) who then have to have other planes with supplies sent in. Those planes have to be unloaded by the doctors and pilots themselves, not by aid workers and not by Haitians, if they want to make sure what is sent is what they get to use.
Situations like that just don't arise, they are controlled from the top down. Whether it is the Aid organisations some with their vast admin costs taken from charitable donations that pay the hotel and restaurant bills, or a local priest who couldn't get away with it if his bishop wasn't also on the make. And the bishop, appointed by the regime anyway had people he was answerable to. And everyone gets their cut.
I used to be very friendly with the Caribbean transport manager for a large American shipping company. He told me that one of the people he dealt with in Haiti was a big importer. Her compound was surrounded by a high wall with broken glass inset on the top. It was patrolled by her private police force who had semi-automatic guns. They apparently had instructions to shoot any intruders. She must have been very unafraid of any retribution by state police. She would put him up in the guest apartment, a two bed flat that he said was very luxurious and the whole thing would fit into her huge living room. Outside, sitting against the walls were people in ragged shorts and t-shirts, just waiting, hoping for a day's work.
Friends of mine here had a private plane and dive company back in the day. Come a change in political power and they had to flee, quite literally, getting on one of their own tiny planes and taking off with what they could. They were no longer on the 'protected list' and their business was 'taken over'. Ten years later they still had to pay off the loans every month as the new Haitian owners had omitted to change that part of the paperwork and it was to a Canadian-owned bank.
Then there is the enslaving of the Haitians by Santo Domingans. Men from Santo Domingo go to Haiti, often accompanied by people who are dressed as priests and are taken to groups of men and boys who have been gathered together and told that they are needed to cut cane and will be taken on a contract and paid.
"The 2004 report, ―Sugar Cane Slavery: Bateyes in the Dominican Republic, by Barbara Bernier, focused on the system of forced recruitment carried out by the CEA. The report was based on visits to bateyes, but not on an exhaustive survey of workers. The report stated, ―There is always a shortage of workers during the harvest season and the State Sugar Council known as the CEA uses a system of employment that violates every applicable international law regarding the use of forced labor.
The report alleged that Haitians were sold to Dominican soldiers by other Haitians [often they were/looked like priests] and deceived into working on sugarcane plantations in the Dominican Republic. The report also indicated that Haitian recruits were kept in barracks before being sent to plantations, that their belongings were confiscated, and that they were kept under surveillance by armed soldiers. Bernier also reported on workers‘ low wages, payment in vouchers, and poor living conditions."
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu...
Children are rounded up and sold for their organs in Haiti itself. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/ame..., many references, google it.
Regularly we get boats of illegal immigrants here. They have usually paid a lot of money to be smuggled into the US. Some come from as far afield as China by tortuous routes. The captains just dump them on one of the many uninhabited islands that all the Caribbean countries have and then zoom off again, far too risky to actually take them to the US. Sometimes the boats, always overloaded are stopped by our coastguard. When they are found, they are processed and deported. Unless they are Haitian.
If they are Haitian they are given food, water and fuel and sent on their way. Usually with directions to get to the Francophile islands where they can blend in with the populace. No one would ever be cruel enough to deport Haitians back to Haiti.
Why do these conditions continue? My friends who are Haitians are all from the middle class which is apparently very small in number and hangin' on in there, a lot of them doing their best to get out. The poor are the ones who become illegal immigrants, the enslaved, the organ donors, or those who can be shot without fear of retribution by the rich and their private armies.
Who do the big countries of the world and their companies negotiate with about Foreign Aid, about getting garments made cheaply (in compounds surrounded by barbed wire)? Those same rich politicians and business owners. Do 'our' politicans not care? Do these big fashion companies have no conscience?
Why did I even bother asking those questions?
April 22, 2012
I randomly came across this in my aunt's library today, so I figured I'd skim through it and see what all the fuss was about. I'm not impressed so far, but I've only just begun. This could turn out to be an interesting portrait of foreign journalists in Haiti...
A couple of weeks later:
I finally decided on a rating. It was tough. This book is a good read in that it definitely kept me interested and has lots of behind the scenes info about the Haitian political scene. But so much of it annoyed me and seemed to be pulled out of Wilentz's ass. So, to me, that combination equals 2 stars. It was okay. Just okay.
I have to admit that I was ready to dislike this book for non-literary reasons, but I've also come across a lot of praise for the book in my work -- I came to this reading with some baggage.
I was pissed off almost immediately. From the acknowledgments, p. 6: " [GC] and [JD]'s careful readings of parts of this manuscript were of great assistance in its preparation, as were those of Haitian friends." I guess the Haitian friends are nameless?
Throughout the book, there is a ton of generalizations about Haitians. It is just non-sensical. Imagine if I went to DC, studied the political shenanigans there, then wrote a book in which I talked about how "Americans" behave. Or if I went to a farm in Iowa, studied that population, and again, wrote a book about "Americans."
p. 42, on Michèle Bennett's extravagance: "Haitians in general were disgusted, and the black middle class and the rest of the mulatto elite were jealous." What is she basing this on? She wasn't there, doesn't cite a source, human or text, so how am I not to know this isn't just her projections on Haitian people? Maybe Wilentz herself was jealous.
Here are some more generalizations: p. 160: "Perhaps Dr. Duvalier sometimes felt the power of voodoo in his gut; most Haitians do" A big WTF there! p. 154: "Haitian parents don't feed their children when they know a free meal is on its way." What parents do? p. 122: "Haitians are fascinated by long hair and can't stand to see it around your eyes or near your mouth." Mezanmi anmwe! Also, apparently all Haitians think food cooked over charcoal tastes better. I didn't get that memo. Also on p. 398: "Most Haitians try to look away from the palace, try to avoid it." Maybe this was the case just after 1986, so I'll let this one slide.
In addition to generalizations, there is information that is just incorrect. p. 52: "Up on Avenue John Brown in the hills of Pétionville..." I'll have to check to see if Ave. John Brown extended into Pétionville in 1986. Because right now it's in Port-au-Prince. I did check. No. The avenue has not moved, been shortened or anything like that. I am also not sure why Wilentz insists on misspelling Liliane Pierre-Paul's name. Annoying.
In addition to the above, which is typical of foreign writings on Haiti, unfortunately, this book had me questioning journalistic methods when it comes to book writing. I think all good journalists know fact-checking is important when it comes to writing their articles and I suppose their newspaper or magazine editors try to hold them accountable as much as possible. Although I have of course seen errors in newspaper reports as well. What troubles me with this book, though, is the absence of any methodology.
For example, at one point (p. 177), Wilentz states that Max Beauvoir has always been against illiterate Haitians learning to read. That's a pretty bold statement. I wish there was something to back it up -- a source. How did she learn this? Did he tell her? Did she overhear him talking to someone else? Was it in the newspaper? Is this common knowledge? If this is how journalistic accounts work, I don't like it. Give me a history book anyday. Seems like there's more accountability in historical works. At least when she says Beauvoir claims he can cure AIDS, she explicitly states that he told her so.
There is some very interesting narrative framing at work in this book. At the end of the 5th chapter, Wilentz narrates a chapter describing something that happened to Aristide as though she was there. There is no indication that someone told this story to her. It is thus presented in the book as truth. Then, immediately afterwards, she presents a story that presents Aristide in a negative light, probably to provide balance. However, this story is told to Wilentz by someone who heard it from someone else who himself was not a direct witness. This story is thus presented to the reader as doubtful.
There are places in the book where Wilentz takes pain to mention that she was actually at the scene and an occular witness to the events she is describing. Then there are others where she uses third person omniscient narration, and I'm thinking to myself where is she getting this? and why should I accept it as truth? I still don't know. I read her bibliography, but there's no way it could account for all of the information in the book.
Wilentz evokes an event at the national palace to which Aristide was invited, but did not attend "of course', she says. p. 337: "I almost wished he had. I wanted to know whether Namphy had drunk as much..." That was the important issue for her? Probably meant to be flippant or something, but comes off as rather insulting. But, even more importantly, this passage makes it clear that Wilentz is using Aristide as a trustworthy informant. What he says is accepted as truth. Isn't that kind of strange since he obviously has stakes in the politics being played out? Again, I'm not sure how this journalistic writing is supposed to work so maybe it's normal to just pick a side. But if that's the case, I wish she would just say so explicitly.
I do have to say that her portrayal of Aristide is quite interesting. Among the adjectives she uses are: "cute" "innocent" "angelic" "childlike". She also basically describes him as mentally unstable and mentions a number of times that he was developing a "culte de la personnalité." You think?
Wilentz comes off as awfully naive in this book. Of course that might be intentional. She could be playing the part of the cute, unsuspecting, but earnest and good-intentioned foreign journalist who just wants to help. She'd fit right in these days. Which reminds me that the section on foreign aid was very depressing to read, especially because so little has changed in that regard in the decades since the book was written. If anything, the situation is worse.
There are things I did like about the book. I enjoyed her description of Pasteur Wallace, because she seems to share my dislike of him, but at least that description was based on actual conversations and personal observations from visits to his place. It was interesting to read about people I only know from newspaper accounts or did not know well and to see them fleshed out a bit as "characters." The section on the Ruelle Vaillant massacre was interesting and timely, since I'll be teaching Evelyne Trouillot's "Une petite carte tachée de rouge" this week and my students always ask for more info. (I have since taught that session and one of my students informed me that he was not yet born in 1987. Wow. I am getting old!) Amy Wilentz is a good writer. Her style is engaging. I wonder if she writes fiction, and if she does, I'd be interested in trying it. But there is too much about this book that bothers me for me to recommend it to anyone else. And the fact that it is so widely recommended troubles me, because I think it highlights a lot of what is so wrong with US-Haiti relations.
Pretty early on in the book, Wilentz admits to stealing a logbook from PV Macoute headquarters in 1986. She says 3 years later she still has the book because she doesn't know who the appropriate authorities are that she could turn it over to. I wonder where this logbook is now. It would not suprise me to learn that she still has it.
I wish I knew how Wilentz decided who to name and whose names to keep quiet. For example, p. 132: "a friend of mine from the democratic sector, a man who would later become a senatorial candidate" If he ran for senator, why not include his name? And wtf is the democratic sector? Especially since she basically condemns all Haitian politicians except for Aristide. There is also the Well-Placed Embassy Official. Yet, she does name an embassy spokesman. There are so many phrasings that annoyed me in this book: p.75, wrt to slavery: "these Africans were understandably resentful of their new life." You think? On p.340: "one of the country's few uncorrupted lawyers." Who says stuff like that? How does she know? Not all lawyers are high-profile or involved in politics. The fact that she can cite The Magic Islandas a legitimate source was a big turnoff.
The whole Joyce/eggplant woman story is eerily reminiscent of Roumain's
La Montagne ensorcelée. (That's not a complaint, just an observation.)
In the end, this book does not live up to the hype. In fact, it's quite problematic. I'd be interested to see her post-earthquake introduction, but I bet I already know the tone. Eyerolls galore.
A couple of weeks later:
I finally decided on a rating. It was tough. This book is a good read in that it definitely kept me interested and has lots of behind the scenes info about the Haitian political scene. But so much of it annoyed me and seemed to be pulled out of Wilentz's ass. So, to me, that combination equals 2 stars. It was okay. Just okay.
I have to admit that I was ready to dislike this book for non-literary reasons, but I've also come across a lot of praise for the book in my work -- I came to this reading with some baggage.
I was pissed off almost immediately. From the acknowledgments, p. 6: " [GC] and [JD]'s careful readings of parts of this manuscript were of great assistance in its preparation, as were those of Haitian friends." I guess the Haitian friends are nameless?
Throughout the book, there is a ton of generalizations about Haitians. It is just non-sensical. Imagine if I went to DC, studied the political shenanigans there, then wrote a book in which I talked about how "Americans" behave. Or if I went to a farm in Iowa, studied that population, and again, wrote a book about "Americans."
p. 42, on Michèle Bennett's extravagance: "Haitians in general were disgusted, and the black middle class and the rest of the mulatto elite were jealous." What is she basing this on? She wasn't there, doesn't cite a source, human or text, so how am I not to know this isn't just her projections on Haitian people? Maybe Wilentz herself was jealous.
Here are some more generalizations: p. 160: "Perhaps Dr. Duvalier sometimes felt the power of voodoo in his gut; most Haitians do" A big WTF there! p. 154: "Haitian parents don't feed their children when they know a free meal is on its way." What parents do? p. 122: "Haitians are fascinated by long hair and can't stand to see it around your eyes or near your mouth." Mezanmi anmwe! Also, apparently all Haitians think food cooked over charcoal tastes better. I didn't get that memo. Also on p. 398: "Most Haitians try to look away from the palace, try to avoid it." Maybe this was the case just after 1986, so I'll let this one slide.
In addition to generalizations, there is information that is just incorrect. p. 52: "Up on Avenue John Brown in the hills of Pétionville..." I'll have to check to see if Ave. John Brown extended into Pétionville in 1986. Because right now it's in Port-au-Prince. I did check. No. The avenue has not moved, been shortened or anything like that. I am also not sure why Wilentz insists on misspelling Liliane Pierre-Paul's name. Annoying.
In addition to the above, which is typical of foreign writings on Haiti, unfortunately, this book had me questioning journalistic methods when it comes to book writing. I think all good journalists know fact-checking is important when it comes to writing their articles and I suppose their newspaper or magazine editors try to hold them accountable as much as possible. Although I have of course seen errors in newspaper reports as well. What troubles me with this book, though, is the absence of any methodology.
For example, at one point (p. 177), Wilentz states that Max Beauvoir has always been against illiterate Haitians learning to read. That's a pretty bold statement. I wish there was something to back it up -- a source. How did she learn this? Did he tell her? Did she overhear him talking to someone else? Was it in the newspaper? Is this common knowledge? If this is how journalistic accounts work, I don't like it. Give me a history book anyday. Seems like there's more accountability in historical works. At least when she says Beauvoir claims he can cure AIDS, she explicitly states that he told her so.
There is some very interesting narrative framing at work in this book. At the end of the 5th chapter, Wilentz narrates a chapter describing something that happened to Aristide as though she was there. There is no indication that someone told this story to her. It is thus presented in the book as truth. Then, immediately afterwards, she presents a story that presents Aristide in a negative light, probably to provide balance. However, this story is told to Wilentz by someone who heard it from someone else who himself was not a direct witness. This story is thus presented to the reader as doubtful.
There are places in the book where Wilentz takes pain to mention that she was actually at the scene and an occular witness to the events she is describing. Then there are others where she uses third person omniscient narration, and I'm thinking to myself where is she getting this? and why should I accept it as truth? I still don't know. I read her bibliography, but there's no way it could account for all of the information in the book.
Wilentz evokes an event at the national palace to which Aristide was invited, but did not attend "of course', she says. p. 337: "I almost wished he had. I wanted to know whether Namphy had drunk as much..." That was the important issue for her? Probably meant to be flippant or something, but comes off as rather insulting. But, even more importantly, this passage makes it clear that Wilentz is using Aristide as a trustworthy informant. What he says is accepted as truth. Isn't that kind of strange since he obviously has stakes in the politics being played out? Again, I'm not sure how this journalistic writing is supposed to work so maybe it's normal to just pick a side. But if that's the case, I wish she would just say so explicitly.
I do have to say that her portrayal of Aristide is quite interesting. Among the adjectives she uses are: "cute" "innocent" "angelic" "childlike". She also basically describes him as mentally unstable and mentions a number of times that he was developing a "culte de la personnalité." You think?
Wilentz comes off as awfully naive in this book. Of course that might be intentional. She could be playing the part of the cute, unsuspecting, but earnest and good-intentioned foreign journalist who just wants to help. She'd fit right in these days. Which reminds me that the section on foreign aid was very depressing to read, especially because so little has changed in that regard in the decades since the book was written. If anything, the situation is worse.
There are things I did like about the book. I enjoyed her description of Pasteur Wallace, because she seems to share my dislike of him, but at least that description was based on actual conversations and personal observations from visits to his place. It was interesting to read about people I only know from newspaper accounts or did not know well and to see them fleshed out a bit as "characters." The section on the Ruelle Vaillant massacre was interesting and timely, since I'll be teaching Evelyne Trouillot's "Une petite carte tachée de rouge" this week and my students always ask for more info. (I have since taught that session and one of my students informed me that he was not yet born in 1987. Wow. I am getting old!) Amy Wilentz is a good writer. Her style is engaging. I wonder if she writes fiction, and if she does, I'd be interested in trying it. But there is too much about this book that bothers me for me to recommend it to anyone else. And the fact that it is so widely recommended troubles me, because I think it highlights a lot of what is so wrong with US-Haiti relations.
Pretty early on in the book, Wilentz admits to stealing a logbook from PV Macoute headquarters in 1986. She says 3 years later she still has the book because she doesn't know who the appropriate authorities are that she could turn it over to. I wonder where this logbook is now. It would not suprise me to learn that she still has it.
I wish I knew how Wilentz decided who to name and whose names to keep quiet. For example, p. 132: "a friend of mine from the democratic sector, a man who would later become a senatorial candidate" If he ran for senator, why not include his name? And wtf is the democratic sector? Especially since she basically condemns all Haitian politicians except for Aristide. There is also the Well-Placed Embassy Official. Yet, she does name an embassy spokesman. There are so many phrasings that annoyed me in this book: p.75, wrt to slavery: "these Africans were understandably resentful of their new life." You think? On p.340: "one of the country's few uncorrupted lawyers." Who says stuff like that? How does she know? Not all lawyers are high-profile or involved in politics. The fact that she can cite The Magic Islandas a legitimate source was a big turnoff.
The whole Joyce/eggplant woman story is eerily reminiscent of Roumain's
La Montagne ensorcelée. (That's not a complaint, just an observation.)
In the end, this book does not live up to the hype. In fact, it's quite problematic. I'd be interested to see her post-earthquake introduction, but I bet I already know the tone. Eyerolls galore.
May 30, 2012
Some years after graduating from Shimer College my youngest stepbrother, Erik Badger, got hired for an education project in Haiti on the recommendation of his undergraduate mentor. Knowing no Creole and facing the prospect of working primarily with the rural poor, his job began with months of total immersion, alone in a small village where no one spoke English. It worked and he went to work.
During most of the period Willentz writes about the official language of Haiti was French; the ruling class was Francophone, urban and mulatto; and no national public education system existed. The vast majority of the population, however, knew no French, lived either in the undeveloped countryside or urban ghettos, and were black. Few could afford much education. Many were illiterate. Besides, very little literature was available in Creole.
Erik's project was twofold. The aim of it, overall, was empowerment. The method was to promote literacy in Creole by providing texts--many of high, canonical standing--for study and discussion in a democratic, roundtable format--much like the methodology employed by Shimer, one of the few "great books" schools in the USA. His purpose there was to educate educators to employ these materials and this methodology in the underserved countryside. I was reminded of the "communities of the base" movement in Latin America in the seventies and eighties and particularly of the work of rural priests in revolutionary Nicaragua to promote literacy and empowerment by means of bible study. In all instances new, poor readers were introduced to the high culture of their richer "betters" and encouraged, by reflective, critical discussion to demythologize the old, inequitous power structures of their societies.
Erik was not assassinated. They don't usually kill North Americans. Indeed, while he was there the tide was turning and in its first truly free elections, the Haitian majority elected the radical priest portrayed towards the end of The Rainy Season, B. Aristide, their president. Thus, for a time, the government actually began to be concerned about education.
Willentz' book ends on this upbeat note of hope after her long history of a country berift of hope since the earliest days of its struggle against European colonialism. The bulk of her exposition, however, is about disappointment and despair--the condition to which Haiti returned after the coups against Aristide's popular movement, coups effectively supported in the main by the USA.
Erik continues his work for education in Haiti, but now mostly from a laptop in the States. Life down there among the poor is hard and each trip back leaves him exhausted.
During most of the period Willentz writes about the official language of Haiti was French; the ruling class was Francophone, urban and mulatto; and no national public education system existed. The vast majority of the population, however, knew no French, lived either in the undeveloped countryside or urban ghettos, and were black. Few could afford much education. Many were illiterate. Besides, very little literature was available in Creole.
Erik's project was twofold. The aim of it, overall, was empowerment. The method was to promote literacy in Creole by providing texts--many of high, canonical standing--for study and discussion in a democratic, roundtable format--much like the methodology employed by Shimer, one of the few "great books" schools in the USA. His purpose there was to educate educators to employ these materials and this methodology in the underserved countryside. I was reminded of the "communities of the base" movement in Latin America in the seventies and eighties and particularly of the work of rural priests in revolutionary Nicaragua to promote literacy and empowerment by means of bible study. In all instances new, poor readers were introduced to the high culture of their richer "betters" and encouraged, by reflective, critical discussion to demythologize the old, inequitous power structures of their societies.
Erik was not assassinated. They don't usually kill North Americans. Indeed, while he was there the tide was turning and in its first truly free elections, the Haitian majority elected the radical priest portrayed towards the end of The Rainy Season, B. Aristide, their president. Thus, for a time, the government actually began to be concerned about education.
Willentz' book ends on this upbeat note of hope after her long history of a country berift of hope since the earliest days of its struggle against European colonialism. The bulk of her exposition, however, is about disappointment and despair--the condition to which Haiti returned after the coups against Aristide's popular movement, coups effectively supported in the main by the USA.
Erik continues his work for education in Haiti, but now mostly from a laptop in the States. Life down there among the poor is hard and each trip back leaves him exhausted.
November 12, 2016
Excellent reportage from Haiti in the late 1980s--- from the fall of Baby Doc Duvalier through the failure of elections and military rule into the beginning of the '90s. Wilentz was close to the young Aristide before his two doomed presidencies, and her account of the young radical priest and his movement is fascinating, as is her account of the sheer mass of Haitian interests and foreign demands that crushed any hope of real reform when the Duvaliers fell. Fine writing and a good way of explaining Haitian life and the ways locals learned to survive through violence and economic and ecological collapse. Very much recommended.
February 27, 2024
A wonderful and very informative book on Haiti. Captivating through an alternation of description and evocation, with occasional analysis. A bit romanticizing and slightly idealistic, pro-Aristide.
Aristide is the main character, his story coincides with that of Haiti itself, he is the key to understand the country. Also notable: the very crucial and mostly negative impact of American policy.
Aristide is the main character, his story coincides with that of Haiti itself, he is the key to understand the country. Also notable: the very crucial and mostly negative impact of American policy.
June 21, 2010
Well written book about Haiti after the fall of Baby Doc up until the rise of Duvalier. Modern vignettes are interspersed with historical perspectives on Haiti.
April 4, 2010
The Rainy Season is being reissued next week by Simon & Schuster, with a new, post-earthquake introduction. For an understanding of the Haitian people, this book is excellent. A joy to read.
March 3, 2018
Spans about 3 years in Haiti during the late 1980's. The time just before Baby Doc was overthrown, to just before Aristide's first presidency and all the turmoil in between. A fascinating glimpse at a short period in Haiti's history, with loads of references to Haiti's entire history. It introduces the first time Haiti reader to a swath of information such as Tonton Macoutes, Dechoukaj, houngans, zombis, loup-garou, vaudou, clairin, restaveks, and plan meriken. The characters making repeat appearances throughout the book (Waldek, Mimmette, Aristide and his boys, the Senatorial Candidate, and the well placed embassy official) are incredibly memorable, mostly due to their blatant humanity. I read this just before traveling to Haiti for the first time, and would recommend it, along with her other book 'Farewell, Fred Voodoo' to anyone traveling to or just simply interested in Haiti.
"Dysfunction nurtures inertia and inefficiencies, which in turn lead to shortcuts and corruption as routine rather than exceptional behavior When political leadership is wrong-headed, it's a recipe for disaster since there's little checks and balance." pg. xv
"Haiti is a place on the globe and also a place in the human imagination. It's the place where black men and women in the Americas first took charge of their own fates, and shook the underpinnings of the white man's world. The American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution -- these are the triplets that changed global politics, reimagined global economics, and created the modern world." pg. xvi
"'The failure of Napoleonic France to recapture Haiti was one of the main reasons for liquidating the entire remaining American Empire, which was sold by the Louisiana Purchase (1803) to the USA. Thus, a further consequence ... was to make the USA a continent-wide power.' The Haitian Revolution was to become the world's only successful slave uprising, and in 1804 Haiti became the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, and history's first black republic." pg.76
"Unwittingly, William Jennings Bryan, then Secretary of State, summed up American attitudes about the Haitian elite after he had his first briefing on the country in 1913, two years before the occupation began: 'Dear me! Think of it!' he said. 'Niggers speaking French!'" pg. 205
"You can read about deforestation and its effects in the books and pamphlets written by these experts, and then you can read about it in the faces and bodies of Haitian peasants. The bloated bellies and orange hair of the children of the Northwest are chapters in a long book about the failed bean crop, the persistent drought the pitiful corn harvest, the lack of green pasture for livestock. The bony arms and legs of the mountain women, and their skeletal babies, are passages about the lack of water in the countryside, and testimony to drinking water that is stagnant, infested. The tough sinews and concave stomachs of the day workers and their meals and snacks that consist of clairin and more clairin, are the summation of a story of dry earth, of the need for sustenance and comfort, of crops that are impossible to raise, even with the hardest and most grueling of work, of rain that never falls, of food that just isn't there. The long journey to Port-au-Prince and the provincial capitals that some 25,000 starving peasants make every year, peasants who leave their dry fields behind to go live in slum shanties and work, if they are lucky, in poorly lit factories -- this journey is an epilogue in the history of a land that no longer provides." pg. 246-247
"Rum is what many peasants use to anesthetize themselves against the pain of their endless, fruitless work. They're not drunk, they're just numb enough to carry on." pg. 252
"The long view sees those children, not the dictator. It takes into account the villages and the slums and the pretty houses of Pacot, as well as the palace and the Casernes Dessalines. If you cast your eyes wider than the palace grounds, you an see dozens of small churches, with their paper flowers hanging behind the altar, and their broken fans, their makeshift seating arrangements and slatted windows. You'll see rifles too, and revolvers, grenades and tear gas, but there are also tailors' sewing machines and beauticians' hair dryers, doctors stethoscopes and accountants' computers. Besides the Macoutes and the Police and the Army, there are the care salesmen, the dry cleaners, the jewelry-store owners, and the poor relations who work for free in the homes of their wealthier aunts or uncles or cousins. Duvalier is present, certainly, or Namphy, or Avril now, or the colonel or general who is next in line. There are the people who profit from power, but also the people who take a loss." pg. 399
"Dysfunction nurtures inertia and inefficiencies, which in turn lead to shortcuts and corruption as routine rather than exceptional behavior When political leadership is wrong-headed, it's a recipe for disaster since there's little checks and balance." pg. xv
"Haiti is a place on the globe and also a place in the human imagination. It's the place where black men and women in the Americas first took charge of their own fates, and shook the underpinnings of the white man's world. The American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution -- these are the triplets that changed global politics, reimagined global economics, and created the modern world." pg. xvi
"'The failure of Napoleonic France to recapture Haiti was one of the main reasons for liquidating the entire remaining American Empire, which was sold by the Louisiana Purchase (1803) to the USA. Thus, a further consequence ... was to make the USA a continent-wide power.' The Haitian Revolution was to become the world's only successful slave uprising, and in 1804 Haiti became the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, and history's first black republic." pg.76
"Unwittingly, William Jennings Bryan, then Secretary of State, summed up American attitudes about the Haitian elite after he had his first briefing on the country in 1913, two years before the occupation began: 'Dear me! Think of it!' he said. 'Niggers speaking French!'" pg. 205
"You can read about deforestation and its effects in the books and pamphlets written by these experts, and then you can read about it in the faces and bodies of Haitian peasants. The bloated bellies and orange hair of the children of the Northwest are chapters in a long book about the failed bean crop, the persistent drought the pitiful corn harvest, the lack of green pasture for livestock. The bony arms and legs of the mountain women, and their skeletal babies, are passages about the lack of water in the countryside, and testimony to drinking water that is stagnant, infested. The tough sinews and concave stomachs of the day workers and their meals and snacks that consist of clairin and more clairin, are the summation of a story of dry earth, of the need for sustenance and comfort, of crops that are impossible to raise, even with the hardest and most grueling of work, of rain that never falls, of food that just isn't there. The long journey to Port-au-Prince and the provincial capitals that some 25,000 starving peasants make every year, peasants who leave their dry fields behind to go live in slum shanties and work, if they are lucky, in poorly lit factories -- this journey is an epilogue in the history of a land that no longer provides." pg. 246-247
"Rum is what many peasants use to anesthetize themselves against the pain of their endless, fruitless work. They're not drunk, they're just numb enough to carry on." pg. 252
"The long view sees those children, not the dictator. It takes into account the villages and the slums and the pretty houses of Pacot, as well as the palace and the Casernes Dessalines. If you cast your eyes wider than the palace grounds, you an see dozens of small churches, with their paper flowers hanging behind the altar, and their broken fans, their makeshift seating arrangements and slatted windows. You'll see rifles too, and revolvers, grenades and tear gas, but there are also tailors' sewing machines and beauticians' hair dryers, doctors stethoscopes and accountants' computers. Besides the Macoutes and the Police and the Army, there are the care salesmen, the dry cleaners, the jewelry-store owners, and the poor relations who work for free in the homes of their wealthier aunts or uncles or cousins. Duvalier is present, certainly, or Namphy, or Avril now, or the colonel or general who is next in line. There are the people who profit from power, but also the people who take a loss." pg. 399
November 25, 2018
I'm reading some books about Haiti in preparation for a choir trip there in January. Nonfiction books generally aren't my cup of tea -- I'm really more of a narrative reader -- but it wouldn't be right for me to visit a country without knowing more about it.
This book is written by a journalist who spent time in Haiti over a number of years. She includes a great deal of history of the country as well as her personal experiences there. Some of the history parts were rather dense and I had to stop more frequently so I wasn't just skimming them. The time during which the author was in Haiti was within my lifetime, but only a few of the names were familiar (Duvalier, Aristide).
There's a new forward which talks about the earthquake there in 2010; I'm eager to read another book which delves more deeply into the aftermath of the earthquake.
Overall, this was a helpful starting place as I try to find out more about the country we'll visit soon.
This book is written by a journalist who spent time in Haiti over a number of years. She includes a great deal of history of the country as well as her personal experiences there. Some of the history parts were rather dense and I had to stop more frequently so I wasn't just skimming them. The time during which the author was in Haiti was within my lifetime, but only a few of the names were familiar (Duvalier, Aristide).
There's a new forward which talks about the earthquake there in 2010; I'm eager to read another book which delves more deeply into the aftermath of the earthquake.
Overall, this was a helpful starting place as I try to find out more about the country we'll visit soon.
October 15, 2017
Very slow reading. From responses from other readers may go back to it when I have time to read for a long period of time.
Read
March 12, 2022Terrific background on Haiti up through the Post-Duvalier period. Would love to see her bring it up to date.
October 26, 2008
This book explores 3 important years in Haiti's history: 1987-89, when Duvalier left, military juntas seized control of the government, and Aristide started his rise to prominence.
Although the book was published before Aristide won the popular election in 1991 (and therefore misses the most important elements of Aristide's relationship with Haiti), it's still fascinating to read a before-he-was-famous account of such a significant and controversial figure. Wilentz's observations are often en pointe, and I wished her descriptions of Aristide's speeches were longer. Fascinating.
Also fascinating are Wilentz's explorations of various issues still pressing in Haitian culture, nearly 20 years later: deforestation. Vodou and the church. The relationship of the average international development worker to the average Haitian. It's possible to read this book as a collection of connected short stories, and I would recommend it in entirety or in sections for anyone interested in contemporary Haiti.
Although the book was published before Aristide won the popular election in 1991 (and therefore misses the most important elements of Aristide's relationship with Haiti), it's still fascinating to read a before-he-was-famous account of such a significant and controversial figure. Wilentz's observations are often en pointe, and I wished her descriptions of Aristide's speeches were longer. Fascinating.
Also fascinating are Wilentz's explorations of various issues still pressing in Haitian culture, nearly 20 years later: deforestation. Vodou and the church. The relationship of the average international development worker to the average Haitian. It's possible to read this book as a collection of connected short stories, and I would recommend it in entirety or in sections for anyone interested in contemporary Haiti.
August 11, 2012
Fabulous on-the-ground, well-written account of Haiti from the fall of Baby Doc through a few turbulent years after. Wilentz covers her story from the found up, as opposed to being focused on interviewing / following wealthy / powerful people. She respects Haitians and provides many wonderful accounts of real, intelligent, poor people struggling through adversity and fighting for change. I have followed the Haitian struggle for democracy and was well-aware of Aristide, but this book provides such a great accounting of his rise and the rise of the Lavalas movement, including the poetic origin of that name for their movement - with Lavalas meaning "the Flood" (in Creole) of Haitians rising to justice.
July 14, 2012
I really enjoyed Wilentz's account of Haiti back in the 80's. This book is very political in nature, since Wilentz was a journalist in Port-au-Prince for several years beginning after the fall of "Baby Doc" Duvalier. However she intersperses her work with stories of life and struggles in the countryside. Her work is wonderfully personalized with individual characters she has met, including a lot of interviews with a young Aristide. While not a complete history of the country, I thought it provided a great overview of a turbulent period in Haiti's history, and a great snapshot of life there. I would highly recommend it to anyone hoping to get a better vision of the country.
March 21, 2013
Amy Wilentz writes about Haiti 1978-89 like a latter-day Charles Dickens, with dozens of major and minor characters and an eye for the broad sweep of society and history all at once. Only she is also versed in novels by Haitian authors, previous histories of the nation, folk sayings, voudoun, and the bad boy behavior of American reporters. There is nothing quite like this book.
Readers who never supported Aristide or who cannot forgive the violence carried out by some of his supporters will fault her for her admiring portrait of the little man with the huge impact on the fate of his country. I myself will be eager to see what she writes in her new book. This one remains indispensable.
Readers who never supported Aristide or who cannot forgive the violence carried out by some of his supporters will fault her for her admiring portrait of the little man with the huge impact on the fate of his country. I myself will be eager to see what she writes in her new book. This one remains indispensable.
November 13, 2007
Wilentz's powers of perception and openness make this a must-read for anyone interested in Haiti, the post-colonial world, or journalism. But it's also a story about the effect of dystopia on a sensitive, first-world writer.
February 11, 2010
A good and interesting read that is a journalistic acount of Wilentz's travels in Haiti in the late 1980s. It's a little long-winded, but I pretty much knew nothing of Haiti's history going into the book, and this definitely filled in some gaps.
March 2, 2010
Incredible book.
February 15, 2010
weird...I got this book for Christmas and it was kind of random. But now with the earthquakes - it seems really relevant.
February 15, 2011
Good picture of Haitian history from the post Duvalier to Aristide period. Country then was in a mess just as it is today. Nothing changes.
June 23, 2011
I liked the style of writing and the topic covered. I wish she would have written some kind of follow-up post-1989.
January 18, 2012
Solid introduction to Haitian history between the ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier and the overthrow of the military junta under Henry Namphy in 1989.
Read
March 18, 2013I read about a third of this one and really enjoyed it, but I spilled soup on it and probably won't finish the rest anytime soon. Maybe I'll come back to it, maybe not...
June 6, 2013
If you haven't spent time in Haiti, you'll like this book; if you have, you'll love it ...
October 30, 2013
Very well written. A good primer to begin to understand Haiti in particular and some of the concepts of US international aid in general. I can't wait to read Farewell Fred Voodoo.
February 28, 2015
Not what I would call neutral reporting - there's a definite political slant here. But still one of the best books I've read about Haiti's politics, by someone who really gets the culture.
July 15, 2015
caught up in too many details. I quit for now, anyway
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