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A review by 3rian
Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham
3.0
This was a challenging ambitious novel. A young Black man has a promising life trajectory derailed and seems resigned to a life in limbo, carrying the weight of unrealized potential.
He then falls into a junior staff role with a longshot campaign for a young Senator from Illinois seeking to become the first Black President of the United States. The Candidate is never named, and with good reason. We all know who he is, but the book isn’t really about him as a person. Instead, the novel reflects on what his campaign forced people to examine (or re-examine) about themselves and each other.
The author effectively sets the Candidate at a distance from the novel’s action; he’s less of an active presence and more of a conceptual canvas for the main character and those he encounters to project the expectations they’d had for their own lives. I found this an interesting framework for what ended up being a series of reflective meditations. Some of the themes included religion, art, race, family dynamics, and of course the aspirational pursuit of power. I didn’t click with all of it; some sections dragged a bit for me when I was hoping to find a bit more momentum.
That said, I love books about characters exploring their identity. I’m glad to have to read one that came at it from such a fascinating angle.
He then falls into a junior staff role with a longshot campaign for a young Senator from Illinois seeking to become the first Black President of the United States. The Candidate is never named, and with good reason. We all know who he is, but the book isn’t really about him as a person. Instead, the novel reflects on what his campaign forced people to examine (or re-examine) about themselves and each other.
The author effectively sets the Candidate at a distance from the novel’s action; he’s less of an active presence and more of a conceptual canvas for the main character and those he encounters to project the expectations they’d had for their own lives. I found this an interesting framework for what ended up being a series of reflective meditations. Some of the themes included religion, art, race, family dynamics, and of course the aspirational pursuit of power. I didn’t click with all of it; some sections dragged a bit for me when I was hoping to find a bit more momentum.
That said, I love books about characters exploring their identity. I’m glad to have to read one that came at it from such a fascinating angle.