Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57358 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

David Isaacson, Daily Telegraph
'This intense character study becomes a testament to spiritual resilience. It is an excellent addition to Oates' formidable canon.'

Jeanne Moreau
'Oates' precise and inspired writing is close to witchcraft.'

Elaine Showalter
'Apart from her, only Don DeLillo, among today's American novelists, could handle such a huge cast of characters.'

Customer Reviews

Arriving Where She Needs To Be
I'll Take You There is a story divided into three sections concerning crucial stages of a girl's development and narrated in the first person by the girl, Anellia, herself. This is the same structure Joyce Carol Oates uses in her 1986 novel Marya: A Life though the stories of the two novels differ in some crucial elements. The first section, The Penitent, is primarily concerned with Anellia's torturous time spent in a sorority called Kappa Gamma Pi and her relationship with the foreboding and ultimately tragic English headmistress Mrs. Agnes Thayer. Her entrance into the sorority sparked by a timid desire to gain acceptance from her peers, gradually reveals the shallow nature of the sisters and the vacuous symbols of their elite collective. The second section, The Negro Lover, explores Anellia's complex relationship with brilliant and troubled Vernor Matheius. Her obsession with the philosophy student blooms into a tumultuous relationship based on passion that is stirred by feelings of alienation. Each of them are fiercely intelligent and trapped by a societal definition based on the exterior that they cannot escape. But unlike Vernor, Anellia embraces this identity distinction, her Jewish heritage, in order to exile herself from the repugnant normality she has discovered. The third and slightest section, The Way Out, finds Anellia extracted from the developmental struggle of university and unexpectedly driven to a reunion with her estranged father. As he is slowly dying, she develops a relationship with his caregiver and fiancee Hildie. The feelings of opportunities lost and emotions wasted are gradually excavated over their time together as they come to terms with losing a man who will always remain an aloof mystery.

This novel is brewing with complex ideas all delicately arranged around an intricate plot. The sections of the novel could stand quite independently from each other. But together they draw an intriguing picture of Anellia's development and her discovery of the woman she wants to become. The frame she has set around her life is designed to mollify her qualms with existence but it is also a trap that limits the freedom of her individuality. The language she composes to liberate herself is also an unbearable burden. This is revealed in the telling line: "In fear I seemed to be plucking at, with childish fingers, a consolation of philosophy." Anellia's relationship with Vernor is akin to an artist gazing upon her muse, drawing inspiration and guidance to create an artwork, an identity for herself. Unhesitating in her confrontation of the troubles of racial relations as Oates always is, the denial of the language which defines Vernor's color provokes the collapse of any true connection between them. This, paired with Vernor's own inability to divert from the path he has limited himself to, makes their coupling wildly antagonistic and dangerous.

It is significant that Oates has dedicated this novel to Gloria Vanderbilt, the visual artist, on who's work Oates has written: "It may be that Dream Boxes represent an elliptical, subversive reclaiming of identity by one who has, unlike most of us, been over-defined - 'over-determined' in psychoanalytical terms-by the exterior world." Anellia is also unique and this confession to an unknown companion is her psychological triptych. Engagingly emotional and philosophical, I'll Take You There is a deep study of a difficult climb to adulthood. Its artful composition produces a compelling novel. It is a skillful accomplishment that can be enjoyed by both the passionate thinking and the romantic reader.

Superb reading!
As one of Oates's thousands of fans, I enjoyed this book thoroughly.
Oates creates a wonderful portrait of a young woman, Anellia. She is a fascinating character.
Her coming of age made me remember the complexity of my own emotional development.
Oates's language perfectly captures the young girl's feelings, emotions, fears.
Anellia's problematic relationship with Vernor Matheius is developed in an absolutely unique way.
The writing style, the main character, the beautifully crafted plot make this a book I can't recommend highly enough.

Exquisitely delicate.
This is the first J.C. Oates's book I read, and I think it's important to stress this fact, considering she's a very prolific writer. I wasn't expecting anything in particular, so I was even the more positively surprised by what I found.
The novel is a tripartite tale of a young girl growing up and leaving adolescence for adulthood, with all the problems that this involves. A young girl in search of an identity and of a place in the world, a world that doesn't seem to be fit for her and to accept her either (since her mother died when she was very little, everybody seems to consider her culpable for that). "I'll take you there" is a delicate novel of initiation, written in a very touching style. Read it, that's all I have to say. As far as I'm concerned, I'm already looking for other books by the same author!