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drewsof's review against another edition
5.0
Damn, to've read this in 2001 when it was fresh, when Colson Whitehead was just the weird dude who wrote about the elevator inspectors. We've all experienced the greatness of his work since then, all the way to the culmination of everything that came before in [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493178362s/30555488.jpg|48287641], and so it's a little obvious to say that this book is, like pretty much all of his work, astounding. But this book is dense, it is confounding, it leads you down paths that it doesn't explain. And the ending, of course, leaves you asking the same question that people have been asking about John Henry the whole time: how much of it was true? Did he die then, did he die later? In 2001, I might've thought the book overly ambitious and a little flawed in its execution; but in 2018, knowing what happens next (for Whitehead, for the country), it's hard not to say "god, he was this good that early?"
ruthiella's review against another edition
4.0
It is pretty clear to me from this book that Whitehead is a versatile and ambitious writer. I really liked the Delillo-like riffs on simulacra and modern malaise, the Doctorow-like ability to time travel to a historical era and the Kunzru-like (only Whitehead did it here first) dive in to African American cultural appropriation.
The book uses the fictional launch of a John Henry commemorative stamp (to be part of a set that will include other American folkloric heroes Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Casey at the Bat) as its inspiration and the main character is J. Sutter, a “junketeer” which is sort of a professional grifter-journalist who goes from movie opening to product launch, allegedly to write it up for some news outlet but really for the open bar and free lunch and the expense account, which he inflates by fishing for abandoned receipts to claim for reimbursement.
The book moves from satire to absurdity to passages so moving it was hard not to cry. There is also a black cloud of the threat of violence hovering over the entire novel, for example when a black man feels perfectly fine standing in line to buy beer with crack-heads and drug dealers at 2:00 AM in Brooklyn in one section but is later worried about his wellbeing in broad daylight in small town West Virginia.
But for all its brilliance, there was a lot of writing in here that tends to annoy me and pull me out, such as, “The smoke lights out into the dark lands and swirls away by forces into diasporic scattering.” or “…that block where street lights stare blindly, handicapped by vandalism and city neglect, where shadows confab to trade samizdat decrying illumination.”. Finally, there is certain cohesion to the novel, but I found that congruity difficult to hang on to as I read.
The book uses the fictional launch of a John Henry commemorative stamp (to be part of a set that will include other American folkloric heroes Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill and Casey at the Bat) as its inspiration and the main character is J. Sutter, a “junketeer” which is sort of a professional grifter-journalist who goes from movie opening to product launch, allegedly to write it up for some news outlet but really for the open bar and free lunch and the expense account, which he inflates by fishing for abandoned receipts to claim for reimbursement.
The book moves from satire to absurdity to passages so moving it was hard not to cry. There is also a black cloud of the threat of violence hovering over the entire novel, for example when a black man feels perfectly fine standing in line to buy beer with crack-heads and drug dealers at 2:00 AM in Brooklyn in one section but is later worried about his wellbeing in broad daylight in small town West Virginia.
But for all its brilliance, there was a lot of writing in here that tends to annoy me and pull me out, such as, “The smoke lights out into the dark lands and swirls away by forces into diasporic scattering.” or “…that block where street lights stare blindly, handicapped by vandalism and city neglect, where shadows confab to trade samizdat decrying illumination.”. Finally, there is certain cohesion to the novel, but I found that congruity difficult to hang on to as I read.
zarazuck's review against another edition
1.0
I don't care if this is an unpopular opinion, but Colson Whitehead writes like he's in love with his own writing, and it's exhausting and irritating to get through. There are no regular sentences--everything is this ridiculous ironic metaphorical exposé, and the good bits get lost in the shuffle. Side note: you're from Brooklyn. Cool. We get it.
cydelafield's review against another edition
4.0
Whitehead's novel is an exploration of folk culture, lore, and music. He tells the story of a collection of far-flung and different individuals who are brought together to commemorate a new stamp which features the legendary African-American steeldriver John Henry. Whitehead jumps from one perspective to another, one time to another, and the reader sees the folk song and story build from the eyes of an entire community - it's an interesting literary device that sometimes felt a little overworked to me, but was not without intriguing mysteries.
alexkerner's review against another edition
3.0
Whitehead is without a doubt one of the most skilled writers in American literature. His sentences are dense and filled with meaning, but also beautiful, vivid, and expressive. He shines here, in his take of the John Henry story, exploring its origins, its interpretations, and how it has penetrated deep into the canon of American mythology, culminating at a festival commemorating Henry's fatal attempt to defeat a steam powered machine aiming to displace human steel drivers.
All that said, the story at times is too complicated, encompassing too many perspectives, to hold together cohesively. It took me two months to get through it and partly that is the result of how Whitehead has structured the narrative. The multiple stories being told definitely add to the breadth of what he's trying to accomplish, but it takes away from the sheer enjoyment of reading Whitehead's prose.
Worth picking up but my least favourite of the three Whitehead books I have read so far.
All that said, the story at times is too complicated, encompassing too many perspectives, to hold together cohesively. It took me two months to get through it and partly that is the result of how Whitehead has structured the narrative. The multiple stories being told definitely add to the breadth of what he's trying to accomplish, but it takes away from the sheer enjoyment of reading Whitehead's prose.
Worth picking up but my least favourite of the three Whitehead books I have read so far.
rosseroo's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Whitehead's debut, The Intuitionist, but for some reason it took me a few years to get to this second novel. This sprawling work shows that while his sheer talent and style are once again on display, his ability to sustain a narrative is not. Set in 1996, the book is loosely organized around the titular weekend festival±a grand celebration in a small West Virginia town to commemorate the release of a John Henry postage stamp. This is a center which only barely manages to hold on to the multiple storylines, vignettes, flashbacks, ghost stories and Great American themes that Whitehead spins from it.
A good portion of the story follows hack-for-hire J. Sutter, a freelance "journalist" who "covers" whatever product/personality/story pays for his airfare, hotel, and bar bills. A once-promising writer, he's since sold his soul for whatever freebies, access, and perks he can wrangle in exchange for a decent write-up. He's currently embarked on a junketeering streak, having attended press events every day for weeks on end. Clearly, the reader is supposed to draw some kind of parallel between his struggle to take on the corporate publicity machine and the struggle of steel-drivin' John Henry taking on the corporate steam-drill machine. Each is beat down by a grinding life, but John Henry literally dies, while J. Sutter is only spiritually dead. It's no accident that the story takes place at the start of the Internet boom, just as John Henry's legend takes place at the start of the industrial era. It's kind of an interesting gambit by Whitehead, but never really coalesces into a cohesive idea.
Meanwhile, there are a ton of other ingredients tossed in the pot. There's a section on competing academics in the 1920s attempting to determine the truth of the John Henry legend. An extremely lengthy digressive story told about the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. The story of a mild-mannered collector of railroad stamps. A nice part about the early days of recording popular songs and the scams used to increase sales. Another piece tells the story of young girl from Striver's Row buying sheet music to "The Ballad of John Henry". The tale of a Chicago bluesman making a John Henry record. Paul Robeson's ill-fated attempt to do a play based on John Henry's life. And probably a few others I forgot. One very much gets the impression that Whitehead did a ton of research on the John Henry myth in America and fell in love with all these story ideas. Each is very well-written and imagined on its own, but the presence of so many tangential parts only acts to distract from the central story, and they kind of strobe in and out, sometimes overwhelming the main plotline by being far more interesting.
There's plenty to like here-tons and tons of great writing, brilliant sentences, and vivid scenes. However, the book is so crammed with fragmentary ideas and themes of race, class, capitalism, memory, and so on, that none is allowed to emerge as central. So it's one of those rare books that is well worth reading, and yet is kind of underwhelming.
A good portion of the story follows hack-for-hire J. Sutter, a freelance "journalist" who "covers" whatever product/personality/story pays for his airfare, hotel, and bar bills. A once-promising writer, he's since sold his soul for whatever freebies, access, and perks he can wrangle in exchange for a decent write-up. He's currently embarked on a junketeering streak, having attended press events every day for weeks on end. Clearly, the reader is supposed to draw some kind of parallel between his struggle to take on the corporate publicity machine and the struggle of steel-drivin' John Henry taking on the corporate steam-drill machine. Each is beat down by a grinding life, but John Henry literally dies, while J. Sutter is only spiritually dead. It's no accident that the story takes place at the start of the Internet boom, just as John Henry's legend takes place at the start of the industrial era. It's kind of an interesting gambit by Whitehead, but never really coalesces into a cohesive idea.
Meanwhile, there are a ton of other ingredients tossed in the pot. There's a section on competing academics in the 1920s attempting to determine the truth of the John Henry legend. An extremely lengthy digressive story told about the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. The story of a mild-mannered collector of railroad stamps. A nice part about the early days of recording popular songs and the scams used to increase sales. Another piece tells the story of young girl from Striver's Row buying sheet music to "The Ballad of John Henry". The tale of a Chicago bluesman making a John Henry record. Paul Robeson's ill-fated attempt to do a play based on John Henry's life. And probably a few others I forgot. One very much gets the impression that Whitehead did a ton of research on the John Henry myth in America and fell in love with all these story ideas. Each is very well-written and imagined on its own, but the presence of so many tangential parts only acts to distract from the central story, and they kind of strobe in and out, sometimes overwhelming the main plotline by being far more interesting.
There's plenty to like here-tons and tons of great writing, brilliant sentences, and vivid scenes. However, the book is so crammed with fragmentary ideas and themes of race, class, capitalism, memory, and so on, that none is allowed to emerge as central. So it's one of those rare books that is well worth reading, and yet is kind of underwhelming.
coffeeandink's review against another edition
3.0
John Henry Days is more expansive and more diffuse than the other Whitehead novels I've read (The Intuitionist and Apex Hides the Hurt), each of which focuses on a single character -- indeed a single character solving or resolving a mystery, although not always one they're aware of in the beginning. The mystery driving John Henry Days for me was not "What happened?" or (as the structure invites by setting up a shooting whose victims are unknown) "What's going to happen?" but "Why are all these stories the same story?" Or, to be more precise, why is J.'s story the story that pulls it all together? Why is J. the center of the book, and not John Henry? Full review.
villanellemp3's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
sumdigi's review against another edition
3.0
An editor should have stopped him from putting in so many 'writerly' stunts, if you are forgiving of
a young writer wanting to show off all his tools, than go for it, there's good stuff in there.
a young writer wanting to show off all his tools, than go for it, there's good stuff in there.
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