Colson Whiteheads debut. A detective story, but an intriguing one (or: I am not a fan of the genre, but appreciated how Whitehead mixed some very interesting themes in an interesting way).
Here's why I think this definitely deserves a spot on your bookshelf (as long as you don't forget to take it off every now and then to have a look inside): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5610626910
'Then the voice in your head silently tells you to take your foot off your throat because just getting along shouldn't be an ambition.' #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
'And when finally they set the structure to burn the books, using the firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now, it's too late.' #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
'The task of countering colorblindness is thus not merely to see race again, but to reenvision how disciplinary tools, convention and knowledge-producing practices that erase the social dynamics that produce race can be critically engaged and selectively repurposed toward emancipatory ends.'
'I must now return to my story with some haste, before another foolish white woman might think to seize it with the purpose of belching out some nonsensical tale on my behalf.' #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
‘My reading might be pointless in terms of the history of literary criticism; but it’s not pointless in terms of pleasure.’ #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
'I chiefly concern myself with those who seldom get a hearing, and I don’t feel it is incumbent on me to balance their voices with the well-crafted apologies of the powerful.’ #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
Though written as a fictional play sixty years ago, this could easily be a realistic account today. Considering the matter at hand, that thought is sickening. In spite of that - or precisely because of that - this is a very important read.
'We think we are studying the world - but in reality we are merely making evident the limits of our own thinking, which are embodied in our logbook and measuring instruments. The truth is always stranger, more lively and more expansive than we can compute.' #DeZinVanHetBoek#TheEssenceOfTheBook
'Maybe it's good, I said, to stop sometimes and reflect upon the things that have happened, maybe thinking about sadness can actually end up making you happy.'