September 19, 2020 - Bennett, St. Clair, Szendy, Sherman, Harrigan
This week: a familial saga about the variety of Black experience and generational trauma and secrets, eye & ear opening investigations, a tour of Tokyo through temple bells, and more history of Texas.
Books by Brit Bennett, Kassia St. Clair, Peter Szendy, Anna Sherman, and Stephen Harrigan
* indicates me trying to remember a book I may have read a long time ago, having not reread it this week because I don’t read 5 books a week, who does that? Who has that time?
Fiction
Brit Bennett - The Vanishing Half
This is absolutely a classic. I read this today. Not: I finished this today (I did). I read this today. I had work to do (a terrifying amount), but I just could not put this down. Every character, from Desiree and Stella to bit parts, is rendered in incredible, human detail. I love every single person in this book like I love a family member (which is to say that I also know too many bad things about them). It is a tapestry of experiences propelled by a page-turning, multi-generational unfolding of a family secret. What’s most powerful is the nuanced, sympathetic, and critical analysis of racism and colorism, of the traumas inflicted by racist and selfish acts and the long-term consequences of those acts. There is a lot that happens in this book, a host of sufferings, lies, and coping, all of which stems from the lynching of Desiree and Stella’s father by White men who had no reason except hatred and opportunity. Bennett is a fantastic author and, while weaving an intricate tale and touching upon the varieties of Black experience and self-image, still manages to deliver isolated truths crystallizing truths that feel like trying to catch a fly ball on a summer day and, suddenly, getting beaned right in the forehead.
I knew, almost immediately, this was a book that was going to stay with me for a long time.
Non-Fiction*
Kassia St. Clair - The Secret Lives of Colors
A great bedside book whether you are curious about color and history, need a nifty color reference, or just want a short info burst book. Each entry is short, a page or three, but full of history and historical thought on the color, written with lucidity and humor. 10/10, would read Kandinsky dunking on orange again.
Non-Fiction*
Peter Szendy - Listen: A History of Our Ears
Szendy’s Listen: A History of Our Ears is not necessarily what it says on the tin. Szendy doesn’t tell a history like Harrigan does with Texas, but instead finds these historical and cultural engagements of music which are, in a way, around the music: copyright law and ownership; claquers, audience etiquette, and gatekeeping; arrangement and fidelity to a non-sonic text. Through these wider engagements, Szendy makes us reimagine listening as larger than simply hearing music, but instead a complex, sociocultural activity. These segments are told with clarity, wit, and a very present ‘I’-voice, as if Szendy is reminiscing about being in the booth as Berlioz used his knowledge of a score to show off to his friends and heckle poor oboists.
Non-Fiction*
Anna Sherman - the Bells of Old Tokyo: Meditations on Time and a City
I love this book. I read it while on a solo vacation and those memories are just idyllic moments of transportation both physical and mental. The temple bells of Edo (now Tokyo) were used to mark the time of day for the residents near the temple. Through these sacred timepieces, Sherman takes us on her journey to discover their history and, through them, tell the story of Tokyo through the centuries, as well as larger discussions about time and how we remember and (intentionally and not) forget our own histories. The Bells of Old Tokyo reads very easily, just bouncing from page to page, from temple to temple, from biography to biography. As with every good writer, you always feel that Sherman has a larger plan or twist that she is withholding for just beyond the next page and, in the meantime, you’ll be treated to fascinating snapshots of life in Tokyo, or historical events and minutiae. It fills you with curiosity, discovery, and wanderlust. This is a little keepsake for me, a book I’ll absolutely return to again.
History
Stephen Harrigan - big wonderful thing: A History of Texas - Part II
This week saw the Mexican rule of Texas and the Texas Revolution. As always, what strikes me most about Harrigan’s writing is his ability to create complex characters and show the trends of history through the lived experiences of the people who lived it. While he hones in on the legends of history, humanizing Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, and the myriad of scam artists and fugitives who populated Anglo Texas, he never slips into Great Man theory, always making sure to include every party and people who populated Texas. Harrigan gives significant time to the motivations and conflicts, internal and interpersonal, of the Tejanos who sided with the Tejians in the Revolution. This is no feat considering what this section covers: a new nation adjusting to independence from a European colonial power, an influx of profiteers, fugitives, and dreamers from the US into the land, and the larger trends in Mexico, the US, and among the people of Coahuila y Tejas which led from independence to a new struggle for independence.
I’m really enjoying this book and this pace of a chapter a day. Harrigan is never dry, often cheeky, and moves at a rapid, yet satisfying clip, maintaining a binge-worthy narrative inertia.