3.49k reviews for:

Harlem Shuffle

Colson Whitehead

3.68 AVERAGE

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Mijn oordeel over dit boek wordt, het is niet anders, zwaar beïnvloed door de wijze van luisteren (in bed, als boek om bij in slaap te vallen) en de voorlezer. Ik vond het voorlezen irritant. Normaal gesproken stop ik er dan mee, maar ik dacht dat ik me er wel overheen kon zetten.

Niet dus. Dat half Engels, half Nederlands (het boek is vertaald naar het Nederlands!) ergerde me nog het meest. Als de hoofdpersoon opkijkt naar de hemel ziet hij de Kleine beer en de Grote beer en Ohraaion. Nee joh, gewoon Órion zeggen. Elizabit heet (vast) Elizabeth, enz.

Ga het boek ooit nog wel eens zelf lezen. In het Engels, dan komt er vast minimaal een sterretje bij
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The episodic nature of the narrative is much more suited to a limited television series on a prestige channel than a novel, but still an interesting book
challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Okay, so I normally love Colson Whitehead and finally got around to reading this which has been on my shelf since 2021, and i just could not get into it. I was surprised - it even took place in an area I'm extremely familiar with, but for whatever reason i just trudged along. I couldn't keep track of all the characters, my attention span was just not with it and I had a hard time following the plot. I decided to finish it mostly because I kept hoping it would get my interest and eventually it was too late to give up, but I am not recommending this one as I normally would with his books. 

It’s a genre I don’t usually read, but the writing is really, really good. Smart and introspective.

More like a 3.5.