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briandice's review against another edition
4.0
In this homage to his beloved city, Whitehead weaves 13 pieces of 13 different locales. It's penned in fragmented sentences that convey his message that this is a city of fragments - some fragments are subtle enough to evade your detection, others are sharp enough to cut and wound. And in the end no one can ever assemble the experiences into a whole as the landscape is constantly shifting, always changing - your favorite deli is now an H&M, your auto mechanic can no longer afford the rent and has moved to PA.
nickoftheparty's review against another edition
4.0
Prose was A+, but I wish I'd read these at a slower pace (or that there'd been fewer). Each chapter has a different theme (many geographic) and describes the mass of humanity that is NYC; it got to be a little repetitive/overwhelming by the end, but still found myself loving certain ideas or turns of phrase.
jessica_lam's review
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
Do you remember when you saw a Shakespeare play performed live, the way it was intended to be consumed, and all of a sudden the words on the page that didn't make a lick of sense all of a sudden you had sobbing or rolling on the floor? While that's not exactly the case of The Colossus of New York, I'd say that Colson Whitehead's rhythmic and melodic voice added atmosphere, depth, and tone to beautiful prose the way my inner voice could never.
Read like beat poetry, Whitehead's description of New York feels like a familiar mix of the romanticized New York and the one that you trudge through on your way to work. His born-and-raised pedigree shows in how much he loves and simultaneously critiques the most cliched, oft portrayed pieces of New York, from Broadway to Central Park. The thirteen vignettes feel at once fictional and familiar.
Or perhaps I'm spending the holidays away from the city I've called home for the past 20 years and am missing it a bit, nostalgic for a place I'm constantly losing.
Read like beat poetry, Whitehead's description of New York feels like a familiar mix of the romanticized New York and the one that you trudge through on your way to work. His born-and-raised pedigree shows in how much he loves and simultaneously critiques the most cliched, oft portrayed pieces of New York, from Broadway to Central Park. The thirteen vignettes feel at once fictional and familiar.
Or perhaps I'm spending the holidays away from the city I've called home for the past 20 years and am missing it a bit, nostalgic for a place I'm constantly losing.