Bellefleur Paperback – June 25, 2013

Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates is ranked as one of my most favorite novels of all time; I savored this gothic tale cover to cover and didn't want it to end. It possesses a life of it's own, the characters became ghosts that would haunt me after setting it aside after a short reading and I would look forward to picking it up again. After I finished it, I felt homesick in a peculiar way that no book has ever done to me before; it is very likely that I will revisit the pages of Bellefleur again. Each chapter is an opulent sliver of time that peers into the lives and thoughts of the residents of Bellefleur Manor, an American family of notorious distinction. Their history is rife with joys and sorrows deftly exposed by the astounding craft that is signature in JCO's prolific literary career. The mesmerizing shifts of time, like historical memories, travel from the heights of the imposing Mount Blanc, wind through the decadent rooms of Bellefleur Manor, and plunge into the depths of mysterious Lake Noir where disconcerting spirits dwell. The fanciful characters endear themselves because of their human vitality and cause despair because of their human flaws; they are very tangible and seductive in spite of the brief glimpses into their lives. This is not a book for the faint of heart for it isn't a serene walk in the walled garden of Bellefleur Manor. JCO reveals the grotesque that exists within the soul of the American dream, and with abrupt grace she divulges the unforeseen twists of fate that arise with incredible violence that will leave you reeling with astonishment. It is a unique and contemplative tale, not to be consumed in a few sittings; however, the temptation of the eloquent prose begs to be gorged until the reader is sated. Open this book and open your mind, and give your imagination a workout. If you read this book with a rigid, black and white mind-set you will come away frustrated by it. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for something out of the ordinary to read.

Bellefleur has the most captivating characters such as a cat that seems to know the future and a child who can see the future but is too small to verbalize it so that precautions may be taken. Yes the characters are unique, and of course wonderful. The story is about seven generations of Bellefleurs and although you are brought back and forth from one generation to another and back again its not too hard to follow if you have a copy of the family tree in front of you. Oates put it in the front of the book where you can tab it but the kindle's version is TOO SMALL to read and it is hard to find a copy on line to print. When I finally found one it only printed the left side of the family tree and wouldn't print the right side. I made notations in ink on my wretched copy and tucked it into my leather cover's pocket. I never went without it. At the center of the story are Gideon and his drop dead gorgeous wife Leah who seem to be leaders amongst their generation of the family. Every character has strangeness and there is talk of the curse of the Bellefleurs to explain any bad luck. Jedediah in the second generation is so bothered by his attraction to his sister-in-law that he goes off into the wilderness for more years than I can recount and tries to communicate with God. He is a very confused man but at last he begs God to speak to him and as in a reply, Jedediah gets horrendous putrid diarrhea which could possibly be??? Jedediah then comes home and marries his sister-in-law after his brother, his sons and daughter and mistress are all killed in a violent manner. Jedediah then fathers the branch of family which eventually brings us down to Gideon, a beautiful man spoiled by all his wealth. He collects cars, then horses until something bad happens while at a race. He then takes up flying and buys an airport and several planes. He is at loose odds and as Leah gets stronger Gideon gets wilder. One day he brings home an unspeakably ugly hunchbacked dwarf as prisoner. Gideon calls him Nightshade and presents him to Leah who insists on keeping him as a manservant. Over the years Nightshade is transformed with Leah's love and trust and more than once Nightshade saves the day. Nightshade begins to grow and straighten out under Leah's love and care. Characters are either excessively beautiful, as Leah is, or excessively ugly as Nightshade starts out as. Another character which barges into the house in the middle of a violent storm is vile and ugly and everyone wants the creature killed. Leah protects it and it turns out to be the most exquisite cat that ever lived.The story is told with exaggerations, great leaps of faith, prophecies, all of which actually make the story more interesting and more fun to read. My one complaint which might be a detriment to myself is that it was too long. There were times I put it down and didn't pick it up for a day or two (so unlike me) but I persisted. I couldnt not have finished it.

Difficult reading on my Kindle. the Bellefleur Family is very large and spans several generations the story line skips back and forth in time and through layers of the family. It would have been easier to manage if I could have easily referenced the outline of the family tree. It is difficult to do this in an electronic reader. Well written. At times disturbing. An epic story.

When I first started this book, I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it. For the first few chapters I couldn't keep the characters or the timeline straight. Once I got into it though , I couldn't put it down. This is an amazing feat of imagination.I am in awe of Joyce Carol Oates' range. A fairly straightforward book like we are the Mulvaneys had straightforward, still beautifully constructed sentences. This book is extremely complex and the sentence structure reflected that.I highly recommend this book, but it is not a book you want to read on the subway or at the beach. It requires concentration, but the rewards for that effort are extremely satisfying.

I just can't. I have read and loved about 30 of Ms. Oates' books. I've read about a third of this and it's been a chore. There seems to be hundreds of characters. There is a family tree diagram, but in the kindle edition it is too small to see. I could perhaps continue on except for one major problem; there is no plot. Minor events happen to some of the characters, but that's about it, except for the endless descriptions of nature. I just can't do anymore of this seemingly meaningless rambling.

As well as its intriguing thematic density, this is a cracking good read by one of the masters of modern fiction.

Hard to start with at first (i almost put it down for good, confused by so many names for so many characters), it evolves into this magical read you never want to abandon... pages upon pages of fascinating prose, never-ending family chronicles set in a surreal, suffocating, self-contained world. The kind of novel I love.

Je mets cinq etoiles car Miss OATES a du talent, beaucoup de talent. Un vrai ecrivain, mais si vous entrez dans son monde, perdez toute esperance tant il est glauque et morbide. Il faut le supporter .....

Character driven. Sensual. Vibrant language and breathless composition make this story of a very disturbed but often gifted and very wealthy family, a gripping study in love and borderline insanity.

Bought for a friend who loves it.