Banana Bottom by Claude McKay

Banana Bottom Reviews

• 
  Michael Cress

  Love McKay so much. The imagery and descriptions of the Caribbean landscape in this novel transport you there...he crafts it flawlessly. I authored a research paper on McKay entitled "From Blue Seas to Mango Trees: The Link Between Caribbean Paradise and African-American Pride" in which I focused on Bita Plant's concentration on the nature around her; the lush landscapes and the beautiful surroundings in which she lived provided her the pride to thrive. Bita's in-betweenism in regard to her British exile and her return to Banana Bottom provides a fascinating conflict...Loved loved loved this book.
• 
  Yulande Lindsay

  Reading Banana Bottom for the sixth time has only served to cement it as one my absolutely favourite works of fiction. Claude McKay's exploration of the socio-cultural issues that ruled Jamaica during the early 20th century emphasises that much has changed in Jamaica and yet much has remained the same. The story of Bita Plant is the universal one of the individual vs the society: who one truly is in contrast to what is expected. I recommmend this to anyone without reservation.
• 
  Aaliyah

  It took me a while to get into this, but once I did I could really appreciate the beautiful mellow prose and the often non-fiction like descriptions. McKay brings to light the reality of the shade problem in Jamaica and also allows the reader to fall in love with rural Jamaica. Its soil and it's farms. Its natural vegetation and it's customs. A lovely read!
• 
  Diana Thorburn

  How did I not know about this book before a couple of months ago?
  It came up in a conversation about books that an expat in Jamaica should read so as to gain an understanding of this crazy place. A classic, as it were.
  And I’d never heard of it.
  Clearly I had to fix that.
  
  This novel, written in 1933, tells the story of Bita, who has returned to her remote rural village after several years being raised by a white missionary couple in Jamaica, and having been educated in an English boarding school.
  
  It is a vivid portrait of how colour, race, and class operated in colonial Jamaica, in a context of hyper-Christianity and irrepressible sexuality, told in a wry tone and with a lot of heavy dialect (so much so it would need to be translated for a non-Jamaican). I got a glimpse into how life was a century ago, and got a greater understanding of some of the early tensions surrounding Indian and Chinese immigration.
  
  Reading Banana Bottom has filled one gap in my knowledge of the Jamaican canon.
  Are there others I’ve missed?
  What would you consider belongs in the Jamaican canon? (serious question)
• 
  Kirby Obsidian

  I recently reread one of my favourite novels, Banana Bottom by Claude McKay. I first read it twenty or so years ago, and that left a clear and deep impression on me. I've never forgotten the name Bita Plant, nor her spirit and love of life. And it is just that quality of life-lovingness that has endeared me to this novel and made it one of my great favorites.
  
  McKay was a Jamaican, born in 1890, who emigrated to the US as a young man, and eventually became a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's and 30's. Though he lived in Harlem for several years, during much of the Renaissance itself he lived in Europe and North Africa. His most famous novel, Home to Harlem, and its follow-up, Banjo, take place in the urban centres of New York and Marseilles, respectively. Banana Bottom, the final of his three novels, published in 1933, is set in his native Jamaica, which he left at age 15, never to see again. And it reads almost as a love story to the island.
  
  Banana Bottom tells the story of Bita Plant,a young, black girl, who after being seduced and ‘spoiled’, is adopted by white missionaries and sent to England for 7 years of refinement and a proper education. The novel begins with Bita’s return to her homeland. She is now perceived as belonging to a different social order, unfit for the simple life and the simple company she once enjoyed, and destined to serve as an example of the better life that western civilization offers.
  
  Over the course of the novel, Bita interacts with representatives of every stratum of rural and small town Jamaican society. She is exposed to the hierarchical values of the elites, the hedonism of the native pleasure seekers, and all that lies between them. And ultimately, she must choose her own proper place within that society, and her proper match from among various suitors.
  
  Now that I think of it, Banana Bottom has much in common with Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, another favorite of mine. There’s lots of examination of values, of one’s place and duty in community, and the challenges of simple desire – how to regard it and what to do with it. And Bita, though surely she’s a thinker, confronts her challenges with a combination of thoughtful analysis, intuition, and the movement of her heart and spirit.
  
  So, it’s a book with a clear message and set of values to put across, but it does so with humor and naturalness. And its rich and multi-faceted examination of the social, cultural, racial and religious forces at work in the world it describes is gentle but deep, thought-provoking and life-affirming. The characters mostly fit the stereotypes of the time and place, but they think, feel and breathe, and so come to life – even those whose values and outlook can be easily rejected.
  
  Often in reading historical fiction, I find it impossible to understand the actions and motivations of the characters. I love Dostoyevsky, but I often simply don’t get the passion that drives his characters in particular situations. I guess part of what makes Banana Bottom work so well for me, is that McKay isn’t afraid to tell as well as show, which is something that almost all instruction on fiction writing advises one not to do. Mckay makes it work, though. Throughout his novel, he shares bits of history, social custom and religious practice, and he breaks down the biases and psychological needs that inform his characters. And it all makes for a rich and moving portrait of a world that is decades removed, but still relevant to now.
• 
  Mary Overton

  McKay's novel, a fascinating and intimate look at race relations and social stratification in his native Jamaica, was published in 1933, and strongly influenced Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 Their Eyes were Watching God. I was lucky enough to take a class with John Wharton Lowe who first made this comparison in his Calypso Magnolia: The Crosscurrents of Caribbean and Southern Literature (University of North Carolina Press, 2016).
  
  https://www.english.uga.edu/directory...
• 
  Ruth

  Claude McKay wrote fantastic stories. Like McKay's earlier novel
  Banjo, this story can successfully transport a reader to another culture in another time. I enjoyed the detailed description of life in a Carribbean village and the romantic storyline. I felt that the characters were drawn without as much internal depth as in _Banjo_, though. Also, I felt that larger themes about cultural identity and cultural conflict were much more hidden in this book than in _Banjo_.
• 
  Jee Koh

  Banana Bottom by Claude McKay is an interesting Caribbean and post-colonial take on the traditional marriage plot. Black girl educated in England returns to urban/rural Jamaica. McKay's feeling for the instincts, for the value of sensual and social spontaneity, without discounting the sensitizing effect of books and learning, is right up my street.
• 
  Georgia Earley

  This book has beautiful imagery and a unique look into Caribbean culture from the prospective of a native girl who returns after being educated abroad. It deals with religion, culture, and family as the main character finds her place in her own homeland. Fantastical written.
• 
  Helen Ladson

  Excellent read. Full of twist and turns. Claude McKay is not only a great poet he's an amazing author as well!
• 
  Jackie Blanchard

  I read this sooooo long ago that I don't think I even understood what I was reading. I'm going to have to grab it off my shelf and re-read. Then I will update this review. I gave it four stars because I remember enjoying it. But, again, I think I was just following it on a surface level. I was much younger then.
• 
  Joey Carney

  I read this book because I liked "Banjo" and "Home to Harlem." It took me a long time to get into the book, but it was good. About being proud of who you are, against colonialism and the "well-meaning" Church that propagated that, and racism. This book painted a picture of life in rural Jamaica at that time, and it had a really good point.
• 
  Samuel

  Read this back in high school. Hated it. Turned me off the literature for many years.
  
  Maybe I would appreciate it now, but too much other good stuff out there.
• 
  Candy

  A pleasant read laced with Caribbean history! I must say though, the first three chapters of this book was a bit of a bore but by the fourth chapter, I could not put this book down!!!
• 
  rebekah

  This was a gift from my Jamaican father in law, the title is obviously awesome. Claude McKay is a Jamaican writer that was big in the Harlem Renaissance. This book is the story of a country girl that gets adopted by some missionaries that have her educated in London and the she comes back to her home town of Banana Bottom and causes a ruckus cuz everyone wants that refined booty. I enjoyed reading it for historical purposes.
• 
  Laura

  The first book I read for my graduate Caribbean Literature course. It was rather involving and interesting to see how certain events in Bita's life brought on this amazing journey. But most interesting is the dualism between Bita's roots and her acquired English ways. A wonderful novel, but the ending left me wanting more of it.
• 
  Melissa

  3.5 stars