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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
A powerful blend of science, religion, and what makes a family comes through in this striking novel. A Ghanaian family transposed in Alabama suffers greatly and triumphs even more as they struggle with humanistic realities.
Gifty is devoted to finding reasoning and causation for depression and addition as a neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine. The reasoning behind her devotion in her research stems from her own life. As a child, Gifty's brother, Nana, overdosed on heroin after a stint of being addicted to Oxycontin. The death of her brother spirals her mother down a dark tunnel of depression and suicidal attempts. Seeking to help her ailing mother and redeem her dead brother, Gifty revisits her past traumas as she strikes forth in her studies to find answers. While her mother turned to the church, Gifty turns to science, both aspects of coping become a blend of each other as mother and daughter attempt to come to terms of what happened and heal in the present. This story is sadly a common tale, one of addition and grief, of families torn apart, of people pleading to God for an answer. And yet the difference in this novel is not necessarily the fact that the family is one of Ghanaian immigrants, it is how each character reacted to their circumstances. Nana became addicted to pain medication after a sports injury, throwing away any future he had in getting a sports scholarship. Yet, he also threw away the stereotypical aspect of being a Black man playing basketball and getting into college for it, rather than his brilliance. Gifty's mother spiraled into a depression and suicidal thoughts after the death of her son. Yet, she also defied her own knowledge as a medical caretaker by believing prayer, rather than medicine, would help her through her troubles. Even Gifty, a woman who has every opportunity ahead of her in her career forgoes any aspects of social connections, preferring the reliability of her job than the instability of people. Yet, everyone is instable in one aspect or another, that is what makes this novel so unique; each strives to find stability, to find happiness, or to find a reasoning and they each either fail in terms of society or succeed in their own way. Nana was happy when he was high, Gifty was grateful to escape to her lab rather than care for her mother, both seem wrong and yet both were right for the characters despite these social flaws. The cultural elements were both American and Ghanaian, that of an absent father, a religious mother, an angry teen were all aspects that occur in societies and cultures across the world. This novel transcended the norm, displaying an actual norm rather than a society norm through these characters.
Whatever it might be that brings solace and comfort is found in this novel, whether good or bad. These characters, through their struggles and triumphs, are wonderfully broken as they strive to reassemble. There was sadness, yes, but also great joy in this novel.
Gifty is devoted to finding reasoning and causation for depression and addition as a neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine. The reasoning behind her devotion in her research stems from her own life. As a child, Gifty's brother, Nana, overdosed on heroin after a stint of being addicted to Oxycontin. The death of her brother spirals her mother down a dark tunnel of depression and suicidal attempts. Seeking to help her ailing mother and redeem her dead brother, Gifty revisits her past traumas as she strikes forth in her studies to find answers. While her mother turned to the church, Gifty turns to science, both aspects of coping become a blend of each other as mother and daughter attempt to come to terms of what happened and heal in the present. This story is sadly a common tale, one of addition and grief, of families torn apart, of people pleading to God for an answer. And yet the difference in this novel is not necessarily the fact that the family is one of Ghanaian immigrants, it is how each character reacted to their circumstances. Nana became addicted to pain medication after a sports injury, throwing away any future he had in getting a sports scholarship. Yet, he also threw away the stereotypical aspect of being a Black man playing basketball and getting into college for it, rather than his brilliance. Gifty's mother spiraled into a depression and suicidal thoughts after the death of her son. Yet, she also defied her own knowledge as a medical caretaker by believing prayer, rather than medicine, would help her through her troubles. Even Gifty, a woman who has every opportunity ahead of her in her career forgoes any aspects of social connections, preferring the reliability of her job than the instability of people. Yet, everyone is instable in one aspect or another, that is what makes this novel so unique; each strives to find stability, to find happiness, or to find a reasoning and they each either fail in terms of society or succeed in their own way. Nana was happy when he was high, Gifty was grateful to escape to her lab rather than care for her mother, both seem wrong and yet both were right for the characters despite these social flaws. The cultural elements were both American and Ghanaian, that of an absent father, a religious mother, an angry teen were all aspects that occur in societies and cultures across the world. This novel transcended the norm, displaying an actual norm rather than a society norm through these characters.
Whatever it might be that brings solace and comfort is found in this novel, whether good or bad. These characters, through their struggles and triumphs, are wonderfully broken as they strive to reassemble. There was sadness, yes, but also great joy in this novel.
emotional
reflective
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
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This book came full circle really well; talking about growth and grief and trying to understand one another.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
Transcendent Kingdom baffled me because it was so intimate and raw that I kept forgetting that I was reading a novel instead of observing a deeply personal memoir. I loved Homegoing so much that I picked up Transcendent Kingdom without knowledge of the book’s subject matter or reviews. I don’t even think I read the back cover until the first time I had to double check that it wasn’t a memoir! This novel weaves together the present of Gifty, a Stanford Med student preparing for her neuroscience post-doc on addiction, and her past where she grapples with memories of her brother’s opioid addiction and her mother’s depression. Together, the past and present showcase the struggles of immigrant identity, first-generation Ghanaian American identities, evangelical faith, and concepts of family and community.
If you have family members who struggle with addiction or depression, or any other mental health condition, this novel will be challenging. However, this is not a warning against the novel. I found Gifty’s perspectives and questions of self while being an active participant alongside her family’s struggles proved helpful for the reflections it provoked for my own perspectives and experiences.
I highly recommend this novel for it’s masterful writing and Gyasi’s fascinating creation of worldviews contrasted by culture, age, and learning.
If you have family members who struggle with addiction or depression, or any other mental health condition, this novel will be challenging. However, this is not a warning against the novel. I found Gifty’s perspectives and questions of self while being an active participant alongside her family’s struggles proved helpful for the reflections it provoked for my own perspectives and experiences.
I highly recommend this novel for it’s masterful writing and Gyasi’s fascinating creation of worldviews contrasted by culture, age, and learning.
emotional
reflective
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
emotional
reflective