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gitli57's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Racism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content
beli_evans's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
leannj's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cw // racial slurs, homophobic slurs
danimack13's review against another edition
5.0
yes. yes yes yes. gay magical realism??? sign me up ! my freshman year intro to fiction course focused on native american literature, so this felt nicely full circle✨
theskyboi's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Craig Womack manages to craft a timeless tale set across many shared lifetimes in this queer chronicle of magic realism. Drowning in Fire illuminates the stories often cast aside and left in the shadows, allowing them to glisten with a relevance and an urgency that is stamped with just as much regional flair as universal appeal. Josh and Lucille skillfully switch between owning the responsibility of the novel's narration with such a distaste for chronological storytelling that readers can't help but immerse themselves into a family portrait so rich with vibrant history.
Arresting and enchanting, Lucille anchors the plot to the details of a time much forgotten by the writers of history books yet integral to the fabric of contemporary American society; her antics and musings have just as much to say about her own family as they do about the intertwined histories of all the continent's families. Josh, a dreamer and a spiritual being, levitates above the din of small-town mediocrity to find the best of himself and those who he admires. His apprehension toward other boys his age will no doubt strike a chord with gay readers, but he edifies the sincerity of his Oklahoma upbringing as much as he questions its limitations. Both narrators rewrite the narratives handed to them by others in favor of images of Creek, queer, and feminist identities that set the stepping stones in place for a future worth claiming.
Arresting and enchanting, Lucille anchors the plot to the details of a time much forgotten by the writers of history books yet integral to the fabric of contemporary American society; her antics and musings have just as much to say about her own family as they do about the intertwined histories of all the continent's families. Josh, a dreamer and a spiritual being, levitates above the din of small-town mediocrity to find the best of himself and those who he admires. His apprehension toward other boys his age will no doubt strike a chord with gay readers, but he edifies the sincerity of his Oklahoma upbringing as much as he questions its limitations. Both narrators rewrite the narratives handed to them by others in favor of images of Creek, queer, and feminist identities that set the stepping stones in place for a future worth claiming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Colonisation, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol, Biphobia, and Cultural appropriation
ssohn's review against another edition
4.0
In a bit of a departure for myself, I am going to write a review on a non-Asian American text. Some of you might be sighing in relief. Did I only read Asian American books? I think not! In any case, so this is the story of Josh Henneha, a Muskogee Creek, who comes of age in contemporary Oklahoma. His life is one of otherness from the very beginning. Pegged as a sort of sissy boy and nerd, he isn’t able to make friends that easily. The only alliance he is really able to tentatively make is with Jimmy, a mixed blood Creek (apparently, he “reads” as an African American), who becomes the star of the basketball team during high school. The narrative shifts in viewpoint between Josh, Jimmy, and Josh’s Great Aunt, Lucille, who is introduced into the novel as a sort of intricate plot device that helps in a large bit of Muskogee Creek history. Much of the story, not surprisingly, deals with Josh’s burning desire for Jimmy, whom he finds difficult just to be around. Of course, Jimmy ends up conveniently homosexual as many of the boys they grow up with… On a personal level, I always find these narratives kind of bizarre because you see it sort of repeating in gay novels, the whole, I had a friend in childhood who ended up being gay and then they have some sort of love affair.
In any case, Lucille ends up being a sort of maternal grandmother with interesting stories, one that begins to infuse and infiltrate Josh’s life even after Lucille died in 1993 at a ripe old age. He begins to be able to do an interesting sort of time travel, suddenly appearing where his great Aunt was in a photograph and reliving moments in the past. At one point, he begins to understand the larger struggles of the Muskogee Creek as brought forth in particular by three men, Chitto Harjo (a kind of unofficial chief at the turn of the century, 1900) and two supporters, Sebhorn and Tarbie. At one point in the novel, the blending of past and present reaches a sort of apotheosis as Josh envisions himself and his now-lover, Jimmy as both Sebhorn and Tarbie (who themselves were in fact queer). In any case, the ending of the novel has a sort of surprise twist which is extremely sad but very pertinent to the genre that Womack is writing within, not only as an ethnic American text but also as a gay coming-of-age story.
In terms of the style, Womack has a brilliant eye for landscape, bringing forth a sense of Oklahoma’s rich floral life cycles. He also is fairly good at weaving an intricate family history that twines Josh and Jimmy to Aunt Lucille and Chitto Harjo all to the larger effect of creating the larger narrative of the Muskogee Creek Nation. At the ending of the story, as Josh and Jimmy take to a contemporary modern-day dance floor, and begin a traditional Muskogee dance, they are of course attempting to reclaim a past which has been ignored by them. In this way, it seems to fall into the kind of “homing” plot narrative, in the sense that things have sort of skipped a generation and returned to these grand-“children.” It is also in this sense that I was reminded of American Indian Literature and its connection to Asian American literature. Often times, you have to be able to read Asian American literature through the lens of particular ethnic groups rather than as a racial category. In Womack’s novel, he is not simply speaking to the American Indian tradition of homing plots or that, but also very specifically to the struggle of the Muskogee Creek to maintain tribal lands as Oklahaoma territory became divided up and turned into states of the Union. I’m not an expert in this particular history and its with that kind of amateurish eye that I bring this review to you all, my adoring fans.
In any case, Lucille ends up being a sort of maternal grandmother with interesting stories, one that begins to infuse and infiltrate Josh’s life even after Lucille died in 1993 at a ripe old age. He begins to be able to do an interesting sort of time travel, suddenly appearing where his great Aunt was in a photograph and reliving moments in the past. At one point, he begins to understand the larger struggles of the Muskogee Creek as brought forth in particular by three men, Chitto Harjo (a kind of unofficial chief at the turn of the century, 1900) and two supporters, Sebhorn and Tarbie. At one point in the novel, the blending of past and present reaches a sort of apotheosis as Josh envisions himself and his now-lover, Jimmy as both Sebhorn and Tarbie (who themselves were in fact queer). In any case, the ending of the novel has a sort of surprise twist which is extremely sad but very pertinent to the genre that Womack is writing within, not only as an ethnic American text but also as a gay coming-of-age story.
In terms of the style, Womack has a brilliant eye for landscape, bringing forth a sense of Oklahoma’s rich floral life cycles. He also is fairly good at weaving an intricate family history that twines Josh and Jimmy to Aunt Lucille and Chitto Harjo all to the larger effect of creating the larger narrative of the Muskogee Creek Nation. At the ending of the story, as Josh and Jimmy take to a contemporary modern-day dance floor, and begin a traditional Muskogee dance, they are of course attempting to reclaim a past which has been ignored by them. In this way, it seems to fall into the kind of “homing” plot narrative, in the sense that things have sort of skipped a generation and returned to these grand-“children.” It is also in this sense that I was reminded of American Indian Literature and its connection to Asian American literature. Often times, you have to be able to read Asian American literature through the lens of particular ethnic groups rather than as a racial category. In Womack’s novel, he is not simply speaking to the American Indian tradition of homing plots or that, but also very specifically to the struggle of the Muskogee Creek to maintain tribal lands as Oklahaoma territory became divided up and turned into states of the Union. I’m not an expert in this particular history and its with that kind of amateurish eye that I bring this review to you all, my adoring fans.
danimack13's review
5.0
yes. yes yes yes. gay magical realism??? sign me up ! my freshman year intro to fiction course focused on native american literature, so this felt nicely full circle✨
themidnightbagel's review
3.0
I think this is a very important book, and is much needed within the sphere of queer literature, just from a personal standpoint it’s not something I enjoyed a ton one way or the other, although I do recognize what it was doing and I think it does it well!
shamciar's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
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