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A review by mmcloe
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh lordy this is simply perfect. So so many ideas to talk about with this book, among them:
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence