The problem with reading the works of a highly accomplished writer like Oates is that it's difficult to simply accept what's on the surface as the whole truth.

Ostensibly, this book is about two female college roommates from vastly different backgrounds, one black and one white, who misunderstand each other due to faulty assumptions. However, I found myself delving deeper into the first-person narrative, suspecting that the white girl is an extremely unreliable narrator.

The book chronicles how the white girl attempts to befriend her roommate, who has no desire for friends. The white girl's motivation stems from her father's history as a civil and peace activist. It seems that she doesn't approach her roommate as a person first but rather as a black girl, which, although well-intentioned, can be considered a form of prejudice. Soon, this attempt at befriending transforms into stalking, and incidents occur to the black girl that resemble racist attacks. A book goes missing and is found in the mud, a window is cracked, and an ancient photo of the Hottentot Venus is slipped under the door, among other things.

Nobody is ever connected to these attacks, and this is where the dilemma of the book lies. The reader is provided with enough clues to suggest that the perpetrator is not anyone else in the dorm but either the black girl or the white girl. The book implies that the black girl is having a mental breakdown, and while some of the early attacks may have been accidental (such as the window and the book) or real (like the Venus photo), later on, it is the black girl who is responsible as she descends into madness. At least, that is the "unofficial" version seemingly favored by the narrator. The "official" version is that all the attacks were real, and the black girl died in a horrible accident.

This is where the unreliable narrator comes into play. The white girl is writing this as a confession for getting her father into jail, but I also believe it is a confession for what she did to her roommate. She regarded her roommate as a victim from the start, and when the black girl wasn't initially interested in playing the victim to the white girl, the white girl went crazy to make the black girl the victim she wanted to befriend and defend, just like her father did.

Essentially, the white girl escalates the "anonymous" attacks after being spurned by the black girl and then causes the fire that kills the black girl. Years later, she writes this story in an attempt to convince herself out of the final guilt that she can't admit to. She can admit to betraying her father because he failed her in many ways, but she cannot admit to what she did to an innocent girl, just like her father cannot admit to what he did to an innocent man. Her father spends his days writing his defenses and extenuating circumstances but never addresses the core problem that an innocent person died, and he was partly at fault. Maybe this document we are reading is the same thing, but written by the daughter.

But perhaps not? I'm not sure if Oates is playing these games or if I simply have too much imagination. A writer of Oates's caliber is quite capable of doing this. I would need to read this book again to gather more clues and make a stronger case for my theory.

White privilege and white guilt are often complex and interesting topics.

However, in this novel, it seems to be a warped parallel to Nixon's impeachment, which I don't quite understand.

The title suggests it's about race, but it doesn't really feel that way.

One of the subplots makes the naming of the book seem arbitrary.

The main character Genna is both black and white in a sense, but the novel doesn't do a great job of rendering blackness.

Minette is almost totally unlikeable, and the other black characters are very peripheral.

The novel repeatedly tells us that white people aren't black people, but I hope "black" and "shadow" aren't the same metaphor.

In the end, I'm still grossed out by Genna and her savior complex, and unsympathetic to her imprisoned father.

This is my central gripe with white authors writing about race: white characters and experiences are still the central focus, and black characters become vessels for whites to work through their problems.

The novel has a black character die so a white child can become an adult, and I wish authors would stop writing this kind of story over and over.

I was completely misled by the summary of this book on the inside jacket.

I really thought "Black Girl/White Girl" was about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of a black liberal arts student at a predominately white private school. And that her roommates would finally admit 15 years later that they were involved and/or knew who killed her.

Boy, was I mistaken. This is probably the lamest book I've read in years.

Minnette Swift, "The black girl," is one of the most unlikeable characters in literature. Seriously, who could ever care about her after reading her characterization by Ms. Oates? In fact, I couldn't wait for someone to kill this character and couldn't for the life of me understand why it took so long. "Umm, 'Scuse Me, die already" (if you read the book, you know exactly what I'm talking about).

Perhaps less annoying but still unlikeable is "The White Girl" Genna Meade, Minnette's roommate and the guilt-ridden daughter of a rich, liberal white attorney and his medicated wife. Genna is incredibly weak and socially challenged.

This book is a complete waste of time and the paper it was printed on. Given my experience of reading this novel, I may have to remove "We Were The Mulvaneys" from my reading list as I don't think I can bear to read more from this author if this book is any indication of her skill.

It's truly disappointing that a book with such a potentially interesting premise could turn out to be so lackluster. The characters are not engaging, and the story fails to deliver any real excitement or resolution. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

Maybe the author had good intentions, but unfortunately, they did not translate into a compelling novel. I hope that in the future, she can improve her writing and create more engaging and enjoyable stories.

Overall, "Black Girl/White Girl" is a book that I would rather forget and would not waste my time on again.

I felt an urgent need to discover for myself just how bad Joyce Carol Oates could be. Let me start by clarifying that I only purchased this book out of sheer desperation in an airport bookstore. It seemed, at the very least, a slight step closer to what one might call "literature" compared to everything else available there. And indeed, I would concede that it is an attempt at literature. But oh, how poorly written it is!

From the very beginning, it is rife with one-dimensional characterizations. I suspect that Oates believes these are instances of foreshadowing and a delicate revelation of background details. In reality, however, it is a chaotic jumble of overly dramatic descriptions of events that never seem to lead to any meaningful conclusion. Moreover, it is peppered with sentence fragments. These are not the poetically styled phrases that seamlessly flow into one another. Instead, they are choppy, poorly constructed bits that truly could have benefited from a heavy-handed editor, preferably one with a firm grasp of the proper use of commas.

I am slogging my way to the end of this book. As of the halfway point, it makes so little sense that I am determined to persevere and figure out what on earth Oates thinks she is doing. Needless to say, my expectations are not high.

I did not like this book while reading it.

However, now that I've finished it, my perspective has changed.

I didn't find one character that was likeable.

Minnette was really annoying, and I didn't understand why Generva wanted to be friends with her unless she was a masochist. (I recognized the element of being attracted to Minnette.)

And all the father issues!

I believe she told on him because of revenge for all the times he ignored her, and now he was her captive and relied completely on her.

I found this book to be very complex and well written.

It was confusing at times, but I was intrigued and wanted to know more about her childhood.

The story had many layers, and as I delved deeper, I began to appreciate the author's skill in creating such a rich and detailed world.

Although the characters were not always likeable, they were complex and realistic, which made the story more engaging.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a challenging and thought-provoking read.

The first 53 pages were extremely tedious. It felt as if every sentence was a struggle to get through. The content was so dry and uninteresting that it made me lose all motivation to continue.

As for the remaining 219 pages, I have no intention of reading them. There is simply no point in spending more time on a book that has already failed to engage me. I would rather move on to something else that might actually hold my attention and provide some entertainment or value.

Perhaps if the author had put more effort into making the first few pages more engaging, I might have been more inclined to persevere. But as it stands, I am left with a sense of disappointment and a feeling that I have wasted my time.

I will be looking for other books to read that can offer a more enjoyable and fulfilling reading experience.

Title: "White Tears"

ETA: It's 5 am and I can't sleep, and tomorrow I have to work, so let's open the corner of reflection.

Of the two novels I've read by Oates (this one, and the embarrassing "Rape"), I was equally bored, disgusted, and annoyed. You might say, and justifiably so: two novels out of a bibliography of over fifty isn't much, statistically speaking. And indeed, I don't intend to give up.

However, the fact remains that what I don't like about Oates has to do with style, with the basics: for all the fanciful and overly flowery adjectives, of her novels, if all goes well, only two or three images remain with me. And maybe four details, for goodness' sake, considering how passionately she goes back to them (in this novel, it was a particularly annoying matter, considering that 60% of the time was spent lingering on the physical characteristics of the co-protagonist, described in the most naively racist way possible) (a conscious choice, of course: as Dr. Sennodipoi guarantees).

I don't know if it's a matter of language. Surely the fact that in both cases, in about 500 cumulative pages, Oates has managed to write characters as thin as sheet pasta has something to do with it.

Yes, this is a novel that centers around a black girl, Minette, and a white girl, Genna. They are roommates at Schuyler College in Pennsylvania in 1975.

However, ultimately, this is Genna's story. Both girls find themselves as "fish out of water" on this all-girls, elite campus. Minette is the black, urban daughter of a preacher and a struggling scholarship student. Genna, on the other hand, is a white, privileged, upper-class daughter of radical, counter-culture activists and the granddaughter of the college's founder - facts that she tries desperately to keep secret.

It is her struggle to manage her rebuffed friendship with her roomie and her parents' expectations of her to fulfill their activist ideals that drive this story. Oates takes a hard, unsympathetic look at the radical politics of the comfortable, over-privileged, guilt-filled activists of the 70's.

I didn't really find either of the girls to be very likable, but I liked this story very much. Oates' language is clear and to the point, which makes this relatively short novel a quick read. There is not much about this novel that is black and white - it is about the gray areas that we all have to grapple with as we make our way through life and all its complexities.

Overall, this novel offers a thought-provoking exploration of race, class, privilege, and activism in a specific historical context. It challenges readers to consider the various factors that shape our identities and relationships and to navigate the often murky waters of life's dilemmas.

This is the first Joyce Carol Oates book that I have ever read, and I must say that it left me completely baffled.

The majority of the book focuses on the narrator, a white freshman attending an Eastern girls college, and her complex relationship with her roommate, a black national merit scholar. Strangely enough, this black roommate seems to be disliked by everyone at the school, regardless of their race. She comes across as extremely resentful and uncommunicative, only addressing her roommate by name on two occasions.

The narrator, a young freshman woman, goes to great lengths to try and win her roommate's affection, almost to the point of exhausting herself. However, all her efforts are in vain. Then, unexpectedly, the black roommate dies (this is not really a spoiler as it is mentioned on the very first page).

After that, the remainder of the book transforms into a narrative about the narrator's relationship with her distant father. Surprisingly, the father does not even make an appearance until the final 40 pages of the book, at which point we discover that he is in prison.

Although the writing is excellent, the story is highly perplexing. The issues surrounding the roommate, including racial incidents, are never resolved, and the father remains a vague, radical shadow for most of the book, only coming into focus in the last 40 pages.

Genna Meade is the daughter of wealthy and radical hippie parents who have good intentions. Her college roommate, Minette, is the daughter of an African American minister. Minette is reserved, prickly, eccentric, and not well-liked. Genna is nearly desperate to gain Minette's friendship. However, a series of racist incidents in their dormitory complicate their relationship and lay the groundwork for a tragedy.

As always, Oates presents exquisitely detailed characters and a captivating story. The only criticism I have is that Genna appears overly naive, both politically and socially, given her home environment. The college also seemed rather quaint and genteel. I highly doubt that even a Main Line women's college was genteel in the 1970s.

Despite these minor flaws, the book is a powerful exploration of race, friendship, and tragedy. Oates's writing is as sharp and engaging as ever, and she manages to bring the characters and their world to life in a vivid and compelling way. Overall, it is a must-read for fans of contemporary literature.

I am currently engaged in reading this particular work and have managed to progress to approximately page 75. However, I was completely captivated right from page 1.

At times, Oates' novels pose a challenge for me to fully immerse myself in, and on occasion, I have even given up. I would say that I have liked about half of them. Interestingly, I can usually determine by page 10 whether a novel is going to be a success or not. :)

Her short stories, on the other hand, have always left me in awe, considering them to be sheer genius. "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?" remains one of my absolute favorites.

The exploration of the unsettling nature of race relations on a personal level is not only a genius concept but also a highly timely topic. The broad generalizations put forth by liberals simply do not hold up, nor do the generalizations made by the black people whom the liberals believe they are assisting. It is essential to take a harsh and unflinching look at some of the realities of getting along with the other. This requires a deeper understanding and a willingness to confront the uncomfortable truths that lie beneath the surface.

Generva Hewitt-Meade, a descendant of the abolitionist founders of her Philadelphia area college, experiences two significant plotlines in her life.

First, her father, the renowned Maximilian Meade, is a complex figure. Is he a famous civil rights lawyer or a left-wing terrorist? Or perhaps both? Genna, now a college freshman, is still grappling with her unconventional upbringing in the Chadd’s Ford countryside of Pennsylvania. The characters there are more shady than fascinating, adding to the complexity of her life.

Second, as the daughter of THE Max Meade, Genna has a black roommate, Minette. Minette is one of the few at her privileged school and is not what Genna expects. The daughter of a preacher, Minette is more familiar with Jesus Christ than the heroes of the civil rights movement, which shocks Genna, the daughter of activists. Minette scorns the sacred truths that Genna has been brought up to believe, while Genna has been taught that "religion is the opiate of the people."

Minette comes to college on a merit scholarship, touted as a brilliant product of the public schools. However, outside of her small pond, she faces pressure on all fronts to succeed brilliantly. Struggling to stay afloat, she ultimately meets with tragic consequences. Only Generva Hewitt-Meade survives to tell Minette’s story, Maximilian Meade’s story, and her own story as well. I found this a painfully compelling book, filled with complex characters and thought-provoking themes.