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juliana_aldous's review against another edition
5.0
I'm reading the entire Colson Whitehead list with a book club at Folio: Seattle's Athenaeum.
This is the second book and here is my current ranking of Whitehead's first two novels.
1. John Henry Days
2. The Intuitionist
This is the second book and here is my current ranking of Whitehead's first two novels.
1. John Henry Days
2. The Intuitionist
ahobbitsreadinglist's review against another edition
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
dllh's review against another edition
4.0
I had to burn through this one pretty quickly because my kindle loan from the library was about to run out, but I liked it a lot even no doubt having missed a lot for having read hastily. I thought it was well put together and nicely written, and it for sure keeps me interested in Whitehead (this is the fifth of his that I've read).
tdwightdavis's review against another edition
3.5
In some ways, this feels incredibly timely, like it was published in the last year. There’s a mass shooting, police murdering unarmed people, online journalism being referred to as “content,” it all feels very current.
But it also feels distinctively of its time, reminiscent of Up in the Air and other early 2000s novels about corporate ennui.
But it’s always compelling and Colson Whitehead can write a gorgeous sentence. I wish it was a bit more focused and a little less obtuse (the mystery of who was actually shot in the mass shooting is frustrating for me). I liked it, but it’s minor Whitehead for sure.
But it also feels distinctively of its time, reminiscent of Up in the Air and other early 2000s novels about corporate ennui.
But it’s always compelling and Colson Whitehead can write a gorgeous sentence. I wish it was a bit more focused and a little less obtuse (the mystery of who was actually shot in the mass shooting is frustrating for me). I liked it, but it’s minor Whitehead for sure.
siria's review against another edition
3.0
I'm either several years too late reading this book, or several years too early—Whitehead's descriptions of the early dotcom boom and its accompanying technology, of journalists (sorry, "journalists") on pointless junkets, while rendered in some wonderful prose, now seems dated. I don't think enough time has passed for descriptions of how a bot works, or how early search engines were compiled, to have acquired some sort of retro nostalgia.
This, of course, is a quibble which Whitehead couldn't necessarily have foreseen or done much about—that's just how things go. What he could have done, however, was to get his editor to do one more pass through John Henry Days. I found the first quarter to a third of the book to be immensely readable, full of wry humour and snapping prose. As the book wore on, though, it all became a little leaden, and some of the turns of phrase didn't make sense if you stopped to think about it—there was more than a hint of the overwritten about it. I got why some of the chapters tracing John Henry's impact during the years since his death were necessary and there; others, though, made it seem as if Whitehead, like J. Sutter, were being paid a dollar a word in order to get across the Grand Central Revelation which anyone would have realised fairly quickly.
This is not to say that John Henry Days is a bad book. I read large parts of it with pleasure, and would certainly try other books by Whitehead, but I would much rather have read a shorter novel he'd written about John Henry himself. I feel that such a book wouldn't have tried so hard to be More Hip and Ironic than Thou.
This, of course, is a quibble which Whitehead couldn't necessarily have foreseen or done much about—that's just how things go. What he could have done, however, was to get his editor to do one more pass through John Henry Days. I found the first quarter to a third of the book to be immensely readable, full of wry humour and snapping prose. As the book wore on, though, it all became a little leaden, and some of the turns of phrase didn't make sense if you stopped to think about it—there was more than a hint of the overwritten about it. I got why some of the chapters tracing John Henry's impact during the years since his death were necessary and there; others, though, made it seem as if Whitehead, like J. Sutter, were being paid a dollar a word in order to get across the Grand Central Revelation which anyone would have realised fairly quickly.
This is not to say that John Henry Days is a bad book. I read large parts of it with pleasure, and would certainly try other books by Whitehead, but I would much rather have read a shorter novel he'd written about John Henry himself. I feel that such a book wouldn't have tried so hard to be More Hip and Ironic than Thou.
misslyndsy's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
carolynf's review against another edition
3.0
This book centers upon a variety of characters affected by a little West Virginia town's "John Henry Days" celebration, which has been made more important than usually by the release of new folk hero themed stamps. There is a central protagonist, J, but the story jumps from character to character, and back and forth in time. We learn about J's life and that of other journalists in town with him, a young woman trying to decide what to do with her father's John Henry collection, the husband and wife who run the local motel, a stamp collector, post office workers, etc, as well as John Henry himself. About a third of the way in, we jump to an intern who is reporting from the final day of the celebration, but the book ends on an annoyingly ambiguous note. The most interesting character to me was the woman who inherited her father's John Henry collect, since John Henry has basically the role of a favored sibling in her family.
myaharmon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-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
5.0