Explore the culture of the French Caribbean while experiencing its popular music is the invitation from Brenda F. Berrian in her seminal text, Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music and Culture. Berrian gives the reader a comprehensive critique of the composers, singers, and production of music on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Berrian combines insightful scholarship with her joyous celebration of the artistry of the music makers. For lovers of this music, Awakening Spaces features all of the major players: the bands of Malavoi, Kassav', Taxikréol, Kwak, and Volt Face; the singers Joselyne Béroard, Patrick Saint Éloi, and Pôglo; the instrumentalists Jean-Paul Soime, Mario Canonge, and Mano Césaire; and versatile artists like Henri Guédon who excels as a composer, percussionist, and painter.

Berrian's book is a treasure trove of personal interviews with musicians and original transcriptions of song lyrics in French Creole and English. Awakening Spaces effectively bridges the past and present in Francophone Caribbean music for all lovers of music-be they exuberant fans of zouk or musicologists.

Well, when I first received this book in the mail for my review, I looked at the front and then the back cover and the first thing that came to mind is the phrase 'This I've got to see'. Why? Because this book discusses and analyzes in English, music from French West Indies sung primarily in Creole. Those of you who know Creole also know that is a very metaphoric, symbolic language that is sometimes difficult to decipher when you are not from a Creole background. To take the lyrics and deduct valid conclusions about the francophone culture would be no easy task. Well a couple of pages into the book, my qualms were put away, and I discovered a pleasant, vibrant book that covers such a broad range of topics: lyrics, politics, perception, tradition and culture all based on French Caribbean popular songs and music. The author Brenda F. Berrian, has taken the time to go deep into the scene of Martinique's and Guadeloupe's artistry with candid interviews, and lyrical analysis, all wrapped up neatly with her well thought out and researched interpretations and conclusions. The read was an enjoyable flirt with wonderful Creole songs, and to someone who is familiar with the music that is being showcased in the book, the book will be a ten-fold more enjoyable. Brenda's often-comical anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter are also a very nice touch. Over all, I'd recommend this book to those who have been to the French West Indies and have wondered what was being said and why. If you are a fan of Zouk music, Biguine, Ka, French Reggae; you'll especially want to pick this book up! Bravo Brenda on a job well done! I will write a more detailed review for the readers of www.zoukarchive.com. In the meantime definitely pick up this book!

I'd definitely give this guide full marks. It's without doubt the most comprehensive of the guides I looked at for the area I was travelling to(the Virgin Islands). It had everything we could have wanted to know and it definitely meant we did some better diving than we'd have done without it. We particularly liked that it gave us information about the British and US Virgin Islands and as they are less than 5 miles apart it's simple to dive both areas. They have some really different types of diving and we'd have missed out on a lot without the guide. We bought the book before we went but we took it along with us and used it all the time. One of the things we enjoyed reading was the descriptions of the dives andthe sections about the marine life. We've been diving for over 10 years and I've learnt more from this book than I have in my previous years of diving.

The Complete Diving Guide (2) is a must for anyone diving the Netherlands Antilles. I used it while cruising in the area on my yacht in St. Maarten and dived in Saba, Statia and Anguilla on the strength of the information in the guide book. It tells you where the best dives are and how to dive them. The maps show you where the dives are and there is a lot of general background about what the diving will be like. I was surprised how much information the authors included and there's no woffle, it's all good value for money.

This book is a gem. The sad results of the encounter of the Spanish with the indiginous population of the Caribbean Islands is presented objectively and the few accounts of the Tiano Peoples' own words are effectively used to hint at who these early victims of European expansion really were. The use of modern photos and historic illustrations opens up the real lost world where these events unfolded and every illustration adds to and interacts with the text. The result is both a good read and a rigerous scholarly introduction to the foundations of the American experiance. This is the first work of its kind that interperts the historic documents as understood by an island inhabitant who understands details the first explorer encountered from personal experiance.

History books on the voyages of Columbus can only take you so far -- until now. This book really ties the historical details together with the drama and adventure that the original explorers must have felt. It is impossible to put this book down -- for the reader interested in history or for the person seeking an adventure.

This series of interviews gives a lively introduction to the works by the West Indian writer from the French island of Guadeloupe. Biographical details as well as political observations contribute to the understanding of Condé's works. I have used it as a launch pad to Caribbean literature written in French.

If you're planning on going to La Guadeloupe and if you are interested in a guidebook that goes beyond the usual touristy information, consider this one. It has everything from history to outdoor activities, including a vast choice of very well reviewed accomodations and restaurants. Everything is there to prepare for a great trip. It is also very well written and easy to read which is always a plus.

Enjoy and Amusez-vous bien!

this book shows us great authors and works from the carribean, an often overlooked region of the world when it comes to literature. a must for anyone wanting interested in that region and its art.

Lynne Sullivan's Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominica & St. Lucia Alive focuses on the best of the regions, from shopping to outdoors activities and nightclubs. All details on customs, culture and opportunities are covered for destination-bound visitors.

My wife and I went to St. Lucia in April. We had prepared for our trip by reading all this book had to say about the island, which was very helpful in planning day trips, money exchange, restaurants, etc. We took the book with us and it was extremely helpful with maps when we drove around the island, and the different side trips off the main road. I would highly recommend it to any who are planning a trip to that area!

The last book assigned in my African-American Women's Literature course actually goes a little off the coast to look at a Guadalopean writer who now makes her home in the U.S. but writes about her island birthplace in her native French and Creole. This novel is her most recent, a study it seems of a community on the island and the changes brought about by an outsider.

The outsider, Frances Sancher, dies in Chapter One, and the reader expects a mystery here, in which an explanation for his death is revealed in the end. And it is true enough that Frances is a mysterious character, especially as seen through the many different eyes of the community, but Conde is not writing a detective story-- or, at least, not a traditional one. Even though Frances seems to be a catalyst for change in the community, he is not the center of the novel, even though his physical body in its casket serves as the candle to which the moths are drawn. Like the candle, Frances' life and death illuminates the other characters, sometimes singeing one or two, but when the candle burns out, the moths are free to move on and return to what they were doing before the candle arrived.

I really liked the structure of this novel, as each chapter is told from a new point of view (nearly 20 different in all). I realize that this is nothing new--William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and other novels have used a similar scheme--but this was the first time I had run into it.

I'm not sure the novel works for me in the end, either, unless Conde's purpose was to portray Guadalopean society as fractured and diverse. This definitely comes through, but works against the Western tradition of cohesiveness in the novel. The ending here is not Aristotelian; instead, it implies a multitude of beginnings.

I hate reviews of books because you either get a lame overstatement or a careless understatement. Most the reviews that I've read on this book speaks of a mysterious death that leads to an investigative story--- and the investigative assumption makes readers like me completely skip books of the nature.

BUT THIS BOOK HAS A STEW SO THICK IN CULTURE and COLOR SCENERY that it encaptures you so that shortly you'll realize that the book is over. Every character has an interesting story. I love this book and I plan to read more of Conde's novels. It's a journey in past times and current times, cultures varying from Negro, Mulatto, East Indian, French/Creole Carribean as well Spanish Carribiean and Americas..You'll love it.

This book is your perfect travel read; meaning that this book takes you places. You'll have a mix of French and Creole stew and the diverse cultures formed in the Carribean. If you have a love for Nature, Mystery, and a leading Storyline, please buy this book!

When I bought this book, there was no clear indication that it was written totally in French. I can speak and write a bit so I got by and the book seems very thorough. Lots of good maps and pictures accompanies this guide for Guadeloupe, Martinique, St.Barths, St.Martin and even a few of the neighbouring islands such as Antigua, St.Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Anguilla. Again, let me emphasize that the Michelin guides are totally written in French!

I am married to a Jamaican wife, and read any article or book that mentions the country. I came across this book on the CNN Internet several months ago by looking up Jamaica.

My anticipation of this book far outreached the actual reading. The author spends the majority of his time describing the country he is in at the time, and they all seem the same. In detail he tells of the hotels he stays in, where and what he eats, whom he meets along the way, and something about the countless people he asks directions from even though he has a guide. He tells of how the white foreigners arrived in the country, very little of where they fit into the current society, and nothing in between. I realize that time has eroded any written or oral link between the past and now, but in my opinion, this is what was promised. One can read the same few documents that were reprinted in the book on the Internet and glean as much real information as portrayed in the book.

In all I was disappointed with the book.

This book sounded so fascinating that I made two shopping trips to find it in time for a long transatlantic flight. The premise--forgotten descendants of lost empires still clinging to shreds of their heritage in distant and remote lands--was enough to make any adventurous reader salivate. But the payoff was disappointing. Mr. Orizio's characters are two-dimensional and his style rambling. We learn very little about these real people; not enough to learn to care about them very much. This ought to be riveting stuff, but the literary equivalents of archeological relics glitter only rarely. Despite solid historical information, all of it news to me, I came away feeling I'd been on a tour bus that never stopped long enough to see much.

As a person who loves history and anthropology, the title of this book really got my attention and I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book. I suppose anyone who wants to know more about the descendants of Europeans living in exotic and remote corners of the world would find this topic very interesting. The author tells of how (and under what circumstances) the ancestors of these peoples got there. He also decribes the lives of the members of these communities. These groups are quickly diminishing in numbers due to emigration, assimilation/intermarriage and inbreeding.

The title "Lost White Tribes" is rather misleading though, as only the Jamaican Germans, the Blanc Matignons and some of the Confederados are actually whites. The Dutch Burghers, the Rehoboth Basters, and many of the Confederados as well as the Haitian Poles are in fact mixed-race peoples (ie. Eurasians and Afro-European). From the author's decription, the Haitian Poles despite proudly claiming to be Polish are mainly of African descent with some white admixture.

Hence, I was quite suprised that notwithstanding the title and the fact that there are so many white groups and sub-groups in the New World, including some who live amongst a non-white majority, the author has chosen to include these communities. There are still French white creole communities in Mauritius and the Carribean islands, Mennonites in Belize as well as various distinct communities made up of descendants of Germans and other continental Europeans in Latin America. When I was in the Philippines, I found out that there were still many wealthy Spanish families descended from 16th century settlers.

I give this book 4 stars because the author wasted too much time describing in detail the place he stayed in, whom he met along the way to asks directions and what he and his companions did (eg. his encounter with a pimp in Sri Lanka, his misadventures with a Protestant minister in Haiti, the two kids he hung out with in Jamaica etc.) He should have used the space in the book to have included more communities.