Hello my (like 3) avid readers! Welcome to the first edition of Le Noir Auteur Reads for 2016, where I highlight books that I have read. As you might know, I made a New Year’s to read at least two books a month and since I did, I’m sharing my thoughts on them. Both books were taxing reads, both mentally and spiritually, but you will love that you’ve experienced them.
Fates and Furies: A Novel
If any of you are fans of Rashomon or The Affair or just a fan of wonderfully written characters, than this is the book for you. In recounting the life of a couple from their youth to death, Goff manages to be both vividly descriptive and a great enough writer to let your mind fill in the space. I have to admit that other than Rashomon, I don’t really enjoy stories like this because their construction either 1) makes one side (often the man) look worse because the woman’s perspective is last or 2)provides new information that rather than enhance the narrative, actually makes you actively dislike the story. Thankfully Goff doesn’t do either, with the book being even keel even as these people spin out.
Between the World and Me
This book is 300 pages shorter than the one above and yet it took me the same time to read. It wasn’t easy reading Coates talk about his son crying upon hearing the verdict of Michael Brown or recounting the endless amounts of suffering Black people have and must continue to go through in this country. But in his exploration of this, you will feel strangely compelled to renew your faith in yourself and you personhood. It speaks to his skill as a writer that though this is very much rooted in his experience and is addressed to his son, you feel as though he’s speaking directly to you. Coates book is essential reading for anyone, but particularly Black people, and that for me, made it all the more worthwhile.