It is not possible to write a wholly satisfactory review of Marlon James\u2019 new novel \u201cThe Disappearers\u201d within my weekly allotted space of 600 words.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, 600 words is always a bit snug for what I\u2019d like to say about a book, but it is a particular challenge given the size and scope of this novel, more than 600 pages spanning multiple countries and almost 20 years with 40 or more characters of consequence, for which James thankfully provides a list at the novel\u2019s beginning.<\/p>\n
The task became even more fraught when I broke a cardinal rule of not reading any other reviews before I write my own because I was arrested by the headline on Dwight Garner\u2019s review of \u201cThe Disappearers\u201d in the New York Times declaring it \u201cthe novel of the decade, if not the century.\u201d Garner goes on to declare that this book puts James on track for a Nobel Prize in \u201ca decade or two.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know what to do with that. I can\u2019t wrap my head around that kind of judgment. I know what\u2019s happening to me when I read a novel, and how and why the novel is providing that experience, but how do I translate that into whether or not the author is a future Nobel Prize winner?<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t, so instead I\u2019ll try to capture what it was like to read this book and the reader can decide if this sounds like something they would like to try for themselves.<\/p>\n
The capsule summary is that \u201cThe Disappearers\u201d is about the vicious homophobia of James\u2019 home country of Jamaica during the AIDS era of the late 1980s. The central incident involves an attack on a group of gay men who are rehearsing together for a play. For the first 100-plus pages, we see these men through the eyes of a journal by one of them, Edmond Porteus, who is fresh and funny and helps us know this world.<\/p>\n
The novel then shifts to a short stand-alone chapter titled \u201cThe Blackjacks,\u201d told as a kind of oral history from the points of view of the attackers themselves, who will not face any kind of justice because their work is viewed as righteous, both by themselves and their society.<\/p>\n
It is hard to describe how jarring this shift is. This chapter was deeply unpleasant to read, but undeniably powerful.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the novel is in the aftermath of this attack, tracing some of the characters and their connections. From the present, we occasionally flash back to other key moments in a character\u2019s life. Not all threads are pulled, and only some are resolved.<\/p>\n
The novel is stuffed with literary and pop culture references, some of which made me grin given that James and I are about the same age, and we seem to have read a lot of the same books. The novel is undeniably alive in terms of its prose and its grappling with ideas. There is a clear sense that it is the product of a singular intelligence. Only one writer could write this book. This writer.<\/p>\n
Maybe it takes on more than is sensible, but why should novels be sensible? I read the book months ago and was never sure I would review it despite its obvious accomplishment.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to say that Garner has done the novel a disservice through his rapture, particularly given how genuine the enthusiasm is and how deep it goes, but if you\u2019re going to read \u201cThe Disappearers,\u201d my advice to put all of this out of your mind and have the experience of this narrative for yourself.<\/p>\n
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle<\/p>\n
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you\u2019ve read.<\/p>\n
1. \u201cThe Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned\u201d by John Strausbaugh
2. \u201cThe Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder\u201d by David Grann
3. \u201c1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History \u2014 and How it Shattered a Nation\u201d by Andrew Ross Sorkin
4. \u201cFrom Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life\u201d by Arthur C. Brooks
5. \u201cA Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck\u201d by Sophie Elmhirst<\/p>\n
\u2014 Steve C., Carol Stream<\/p>\n
Clearly a fan of narrative nonfiction here. I\u2019m going to recommend a book which is, in a way, a companion to \u201c1929,\u201d \u201cGlass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town\u201d by Brian Alexander.<\/p>\n
1. \u201cOne Summer: America, 1927\u201d by Bill Bryson
2. \u201cCharlottesville: An American Story\u201d by Deborah Baker
3. \u201cRansom\u201d by Daniel Silva
4. \u201cA Brief History of Time\u201d by Stephen Hawking
5. \u201cIllusions\u201d by Richard Bach<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ed P., Huntley<\/p>\n
Ed tells me that \u201cIllusions\u201d is a frequent re-read, so I\u2019m going to try to give him a book that also tackles the experience of a personal search for meaning, \u201cThe Seven Storey Mountain\u201d by Thomas Merton.<\/p>\n
1.\u201dMiss MacIntosh, My Darling\u201d by Marguerite Young
2. \u201cResistance to Christianity: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Heresy from the Beginning to the 18th Century\u201d by Raoul Vaneigem
3. \u201cThe Count of Monte Cristo\u201d by Alexandre Dumas
4. \u201cThe Skin of Dreams\u201d by Raymond Queneau
5. \u201cAngels and Saints\u201d by Eliot Weinberger<\/p>\n
\u2014 Josh L., Skokie<\/p>\n
This book may be a little hard to get a hold of, or expensive to buy, but it\u2019s where my Biblioracle senses are going: \u201cNox\u201d by Anne Carson.<\/p>\n
Get a reading from the Biblioracle<\/p>\n
Send a list of the last five books you\u2019ve read and your hometown to\u00a0biblioracle@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n