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bioniclib 's review for:
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
by Walter Mosley
Walter Mosley is a master of race. Not part of a Master Race, but rather a master at describing what it feels and what it sounds like to be black. I assume. Being white enough to get lost in a blizzard, I don’t have any firsthand knowledge. But I’ve read more than my fair share of genres and that includes some books that try and fail to get the black dialect authentic. It either comes across ignorantly racist or comedically so. Mr. Mosely’s characters come off as unforced and authentic. In this book, he also dabbled in a little Flowers for Algernon.
Ptolemy Grey is an old, old man suffering from dementia. But he knows enough to know he’s suffering from it. Like Algernon, he knows his brain used to work better but knows it can’t now. That has to be my biggest aging fear. To not be able to communicate or think gives me chills. Again, Mr. Mosely doesn’t overdo it and Ptolemy’s struggle seems natural.
Of course, there’s a Faustian bargain where Ptolemy gets his mind back. He knows the bargain will kill him and he’s fine with that. He just needs to make sure of two things. First, that exacts revenge on someone and second, that he gets his hidden treasure chest in the right hands. Yeah, you read that right, a treasure chest. Complete with doubloons and everything. And that, I think, is the greatest part of the book.
It’s such an over-the-top plot devise it’s almost a McGuffin. It doesn’t matter that you know what’s going to happen at the end. It doesn’t matter that the doubloons should make the story feel hokey. It doesn’t. Ptolemy is such a great character and his struggles, both present and past, pull you in. The imagery, the dialect, the words themselves just pulled me in.
This is just a fantastic read.
Ptolemy Grey is an old, old man suffering from dementia. But he knows enough to know he’s suffering from it. Like Algernon, he knows his brain used to work better but knows it can’t now. That has to be my biggest aging fear. To not be able to communicate or think gives me chills. Again, Mr. Mosely doesn’t overdo it and Ptolemy’s struggle seems natural.
Of course, there’s a Faustian bargain where Ptolemy gets his mind back. He knows the bargain will kill him and he’s fine with that. He just needs to make sure of two things. First, that exacts revenge on someone and second, that he gets his hidden treasure chest in the right hands. Yeah, you read that right, a treasure chest. Complete with doubloons and everything. And that, I think, is the greatest part of the book.
It’s such an over-the-top plot devise it’s almost a McGuffin. It doesn’t matter that you know what’s going to happen at the end. It doesn’t matter that the doubloons should make the story feel hokey. It doesn’t. Ptolemy is such a great character and his struggles, both present and past, pull you in. The imagery, the dialect, the words themselves just pulled me in.
This is just a fantastic read.