The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead, Doubleday, 2019, 224 pp
Another one of the best books I have read this year! Though there are many gruesome scenes, the power of this novel is astonishing.
You probably already know that it is about two boys sentenced to a vicious reform school during the Jim Crow era in Florida. I recall a character who went through something similar in The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, but here it is the focus of the story.
The boys are opposites in many ways. Turner is worldly wise and Elwood is a somewhat wide-eyed innocent. But they become fast friends and have a large influence on each other.
Having read two of the three volumes of the biography of Martin Luther King by Taylor Branch, I was familiar with the many words of that man which Elwood had taken to heart. For much of The Nickel Boys, it seemed that Whitehead was refuting those words by means of his dark and disastrous story.
However, and this is a big however, in a surprising twist at the end of the book, I felt that the author was honoring the hopes MLK worked so tirelessly to instill in his people. We discussed that very thing for quite a long while in my reading group.
Now that Colson Whitehead has blown me away by his two latest books, this one and The Underground Railroad, it is time for me to go back and read his earlier work. If you have read his earlier books, which ones have you liked?
This sounds like a good one, also a very powerful novel. I would like to try it but don't know if I could handle the gruesome stuff.
ReplyDeleteIf you are sensitive to extreme violence you might not be able to handle it. It's funny, I can read about such things but I can't watch it.
DeleteThis sounds like a perfect book for a reading group!!
ReplyDeleteI've only read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and I enjoyed it.
It sure did make for good discussion.
DeleteI have not read Whitehead but I would like to. This book sounds well worth it. Obviously Martín Luther King was a person whose ideas and actions helped pave the way for the advancement of humanity in so many ways. I think drawing on his ideas for the theme of a modern novel is still something that can produce important fiction.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Brian, you have got that right!
DeleteThis book has certainly gotten rave reviews from everyone who has read it, and now you add your voice to theirs. I guess it must be pretty good!
ReplyDeleteI was not sure what he would do after The Underground Railroad, but what he did is great!
DeleteI thought this was an excellent book, too! Unfortunately I ended up missing the library book discussion as Sondlund was in the middle of his opening statement and I could not walk away from my television - what a day!
ReplyDeleteWell that is understandable JoAnn. Since we don't have TV in our home, I get my news from the papers and the internet which is just about enough for me, but if I had TV I would probably been glued myself.
DeleteYeah the twist at the end of Nickel Boys was powerful. The ending really brought it home. I can see where it would be a good discussion book for a group.
ReplyDeleteOh my yes. We could hardly stop!
DeleteThis needs to go on my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteI am quite certain you will be impressed!
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