Based on the description I read, I expected to love this book. The concept was original (to me) and very intriguing. I still believe that. However, the execution of the concept fell short of my hopes. Partly, that’s because I was (and am) confused. And a part of me suspects this is how I’m supposed to feel. In fact, the overwhelming feeling I have is that of an outsider reading about something I can never understand. I don’t believe that, but I do suspect it is something I am incapable of understanding at this moment. In a few years, I’ll probably try reading this again to see what I can glean from it.
I love words, and this book seems like my best hope for understanding this story. There were a few quotes I wanted to share.
“Despite the waves of pain rocking her into a catatonic trance, she continued. Images, stories, songs, feelings, smells, hungers, longings, tears—memories—left her mind. She coughed them up like something burning in her lungs, hoarse and ugly, the violence of it shaking her whole body. And the wajinru swallowed them.” (The wajinru are the people of the protagonist, Yetu.)
“She had room to think. To know what she wanted and believed. And all it had cost her was everything.” (I love the understatement here.)
“The sky was pale gray with cloud cover. Yetu smelled the coming rain in the air. She’d never experienced such a thing on the surface before, and she was curious what it might be like. She imagined it like gutting an animal. The sky was the belly. Something sharp would come along and slit it open till all its contents spilled out and filled the sea, nourished it.” (great imagery)
One of the main things that confused me was the unexpected and unexplained changes to POV that were not clearly delineated. I was also very confused by the use of “they,” “we,” and “us” instead of “he/she,” “I”, and “me.” According to the Afterward by clipping., the original song prohibited the use of first person pronouns to contrast with the individualistic tendencies of rap lyrics. The Deep song by clipping. was inspired by the utopia envisioned by Drexciya, and brought to life by the prose of Rivers Solomon.
This book is more about remembrance than it is about the present lives of the wajinru. The historian, Yetu, is tasked with remembering everything that has ever happened to the wajinru, but it is a heavy burden, filled with pain. Most of the book is her suffering as she recalls what happened to their ancestors and her efforts to escape her sentence of being the only one who must remember. (I say “her” but I’m not really sure.) For me, what was lacking was an anchor to the present. Most of the events took place in Yetu’s mind. I felt her pain, but I did not feel the emotions of any other characters. They were only props to support Yetu’s story. Even the historical characters, the progenitors of the wajinru, were empty of emotion. They were receptacles, nothing more.
The Afterward starts by comparing the story to a game of Telephone. Ultimately, I feel this is the most apt description. There are missing pieces and inconsistencies and parts that just don’t make sense to me. And as clipping. explains, this is a story that will morph (and presumably improve) with each retelling. I suspect each rereading will also change the reader’s understanding. So for now, I don’t fully understand it, and I didn’t love it. However, I reserve the right to change my mind in the future.
I love words, and this book seems like my best hope for understanding this story. There were a few quotes I wanted to share.
“Despite the waves of pain rocking her into a catatonic trance, she continued. Images, stories, songs, feelings, smells, hungers, longings, tears—memories—left her mind. She coughed them up like something burning in her lungs, hoarse and ugly, the violence of it shaking her whole body. And the wajinru swallowed them.” (The wajinru are the people of the protagonist, Yetu.)
“She had room to think. To know what she wanted and believed. And all it had cost her was everything.” (I love the understatement here.)
“The sky was pale gray with cloud cover. Yetu smelled the coming rain in the air. She’d never experienced such a thing on the surface before, and she was curious what it might be like. She imagined it like gutting an animal. The sky was the belly. Something sharp would come along and slit it open till all its contents spilled out and filled the sea, nourished it.” (great imagery)
One of the main things that confused me was the unexpected and unexplained changes to POV that were not clearly delineated. I was also very confused by the use of “they,” “we,” and “us” instead of “he/she,” “I”, and “me.” According to the Afterward by clipping., the original song prohibited the use of first person pronouns to contrast with the individualistic tendencies of rap lyrics. The Deep song by clipping. was inspired by the utopia envisioned by Drexciya, and brought to life by the prose of Rivers Solomon.
This book is more about remembrance than it is about the present lives of the wajinru. The historian, Yetu, is tasked with remembering everything that has ever happened to the wajinru, but it is a heavy burden, filled with pain. Most of the book is her suffering as she recalls what happened to their ancestors and her efforts to escape her sentence of being the only one who must remember. (I say “her” but I’m not really sure.) For me, what was lacking was an anchor to the present. Most of the events took place in Yetu’s mind. I felt her pain, but I did not feel the emotions of any other characters. They were only props to support Yetu’s story. Even the historical characters, the progenitors of the wajinru, were empty of emotion. They were receptacles, nothing more.
The Afterward starts by comparing the story to a game of Telephone. Ultimately, I feel this is the most apt description. There are missing pieces and inconsistencies and parts that just don’t make sense to me. And as clipping. explains, this is a story that will morph (and presumably improve) with each retelling. I suspect each rereading will also change the reader’s understanding. So for now, I don’t fully understand it, and I didn’t love it. However, I reserve the right to change my mind in the future.