Cane: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions) Paperback – January 6, 2011

One of the best books I have read. Just don't try to categorize it. Perhaps it is the freedom from a "format" that makes it so creative. He tells little stories about people with such power and reflections on the sexual the spiritual the racial the natural world. It is prose poetry. I have not even finished reading it yet! I urge you to by this edition which includes critical essays on CANE. Not that they can ever truly dissect it -- that's what makes it so great. So, he didn't consider himself black -- probably neither does Michael Jackson -- and he's still a genious. The WORK is what is important.

A+++++++

Forgive the pseudo-pretentious title, but I have been terribly enamored with this work for quite some time. I originally read this work in a course on literary modernism and have since re-approached the work two or three times. Toomer's novel deals explicitly with the intersection of race and sexuality. It can be quite graphic--what the novel suggests is more visceral than any of its literal depictions. While it is a collection of short stories, I've rarely encountered a compilation text that is so united and which flows with such unrivaled grace. The novel possesses a sort of dark music that becomes ingrained in your mind. You can almost here the melodies of the slave songs that litter Toomer's stories. It is a symphonic work of idiosyncratic experimentation, but the work is unique among modernist texts insofar as it explores both the realms of culture and consciousness with a sense of equality: neither is forsaken for the other subject. I believe it should be required reading for any student of literature, and I certainly hope that its audience continues to grow.

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.

Meh.

It was a product of the Harlem Renaissance. It was published in 1923 in a small edition. Toomer believed that in CANE he was writing of a way of life that was dying.CANE is a collection of poetry and prose. It contains portraits and descriptions. Toomer was something of a detached observer. He questioned the harmonies and values of his society.In the Norton Critical Edition the material at the back of the volume includes biographical and critical information. In an autobiographical section Toomer states that CANE was a swan song. He consciously sought to embody in the work the folk spirit.Before Toomer began to write he thought of becoming a composer. Critic Gorham Munson writes that CANE is the projection of a vivid personality.

the first few chapters alone is worth having this book in your library. It reads like smooth passionate music, writing prose like poetry, capturing moments in history, in the past of our country, that many do not often think about. this book is amazing.

Toomer considered race arbitrary. Above all, he considered himself an American. Read this book; or, if nothing else, at least read "Blood-Burning Moon" to experience some extremely intense prose.