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A review by marshamudpuddle
Known and Strange Things: Essays by Teju Cole
challenging
informative
reflective
4.5
Since stumbling upon it while perusing the wonderful Mr B's bookshop in Bath (and buying it in order to finish reading the brilliant first essay, 'Black Body'), I've been making my way through this collection gradually over most of this year, taking in a few essays at a time when I was between books, which was a great way to read it. I'm sad I've finally run out!
Cole is a superb essayist, a master of the form. He is erudite, thoughtful, and engaging, with many of the pieces evolving in unexpected directions, or meandering into fascinating side-streets of thought. The book is split into three rough subject areas -- literature, photography, and travel -- and I found Cole equally insightful on all three, with many of his thoughts on one topic informing his thoughts on another. Technology, race, and violence are other recurring themes. Baldwin comes up repeatedly, and he seems an important influence on both the style and the thinking here. There are occasional experiments ('In Place of Thought', for example) but these are mostly quite traditional essays, each one taking its subject and chewing it over, reflecting on it, making judgements but not coming to any conclusion. Reading one is like having a conversation with an extremely interesting and knowledgable friend, someone you could listen to for hours.
I have not read any of Cole's fiction, but will now definitely make an effort to do so!
Cole is a superb essayist, a master of the form. He is erudite, thoughtful, and engaging, with many of the pieces evolving in unexpected directions, or meandering into fascinating side-streets of thought. The book is split into three rough subject areas -- literature, photography, and travel -- and I found Cole equally insightful on all three, with many of his thoughts on one topic informing his thoughts on another. Technology, race, and violence are other recurring themes. Baldwin comes up repeatedly, and he seems an important influence on both the style and the thinking here. There are occasional experiments ('In Place of Thought', for example) but these are mostly quite traditional essays, each one taking its subject and chewing it over, reflecting on it, making judgements but not coming to any conclusion. Reading one is like having a conversation with an extremely interesting and knowledgable friend, someone you could listen to for hours.
I have not read any of Cole's fiction, but will now definitely make an effort to do so!