Catherine Carmier

By: Ernest J. Gaines

Narrated by: D. M. Greene

Catherine Carmier is a compelling love story set in a deceptively bucolic Louisiana countryside, where blacks, Cajuns, and whites maintain an uneasy coexistence.

When Jackson returns home to his family after an absence of 10 years, he discovers that his bonds to them have been irreparably rent by his absence. In the midst of his alienation, he falls in love with Catherine Carmier, setting the stage for conflicts and confrontations which are complex, tortuous, and universal in their implications.

©1964 Ernest J. Gaines (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[Gaines’s] best writing is marked by what Ralph Ellison, describing the blues, called near-tragic, near-comic lyricism.” ( Newsweek)

Catherine carmier

I could NOT get past the 1st chárter! I'm sure it is a good story but the narrator is HORRIBLE!!!

It was pulling teeth to get to the end

I was finding it difficult to complete this book. Normally I would not give such a rating but the narrator ought to be ashamed!! There was nothing in his voice to differentiate the characters. It was as if he was going through the book without understanding what he was reading. The story was long in the tooth to get point but once it was there pretty good.

Got a headache listening...

I’m a very visual reader. I remember detail by detail and see the story unfold as if watching a movie. This performance did not lend to that. I would have loved if he emphasized how slowly Mary Lou (is it?) spoke. There was no emotion or inflection in the reading at all. It was read completely too fast to get the gist of the area or the era of the plot.

An interesting story by the end

Inconsistent narration made it difficult to get into this important story for many chapters. I was eventually able to forgive and ignore most of that by time he was finished. I say finished, rather than the end, because we are simply left hoping(?).

I observed a little, but was not affected by racial tension and inequality as a white, growing up in Pasadena, California. It was obviously a completely different story in Louisiana, both 60 years ago, and probably to this day.

One thing that I took away from this story is that there were even deep problems between mixed race Americans as well as those between the Cajuns, Blacks, and Whites. The writer easily shows by returning Jackson and Lillian to their respective families and the hometown from which they were involuntarily removed as children, some of the serious obstacles which were faced by minorities in the rural South.

"Wonderfully Written "

I enjoyed the plot development as well as the character development also. The love story that almost was, was priceless!