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A review by shimmery
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
3.0
The story of a family struggling through life overshadowed by the tragic events of their past, Sing Unburied, Sing is a difficult book to read.
I really struggled with it, I think partly because it is so sad and partly because it is quite repetitive. I felt the first part from Richie’s point of view was the strongest and would have worked well as a stand-alone short story. There were real flashes of brilliance in this novel, some skilled storytelling where huge revelations were delivered in a subtle and controlled way, but these appeared in amongst a lot of slow reading.
I think partly the pace of it, it’s hopelessness and repetitiveness, reflects the way the characters live and so is intentional. But I just found my breath sort of slowly leaving me as I read and had to keep stopping.
Not a book I enjoyed but one I can appreciate. I point people thinking of reading it toward the overwhelmingly good reception this novel has received (mostly 4 and 5 star reviews here on goodreads) as a more fair indication of its value.
I really struggled with it, I think partly because it is so sad and partly because it is quite repetitive. I felt the first part from Richie’s point of view was the strongest and would have worked well as a stand-alone short story. There were real flashes of brilliance in this novel, some skilled storytelling where huge revelations were delivered in a subtle and controlled way, but these appeared in amongst a lot of slow reading.
I think partly the pace of it, it’s hopelessness and repetitiveness, reflects the way the characters live and so is intentional. But I just found my breath sort of slowly leaving me as I read and had to keep stopping.
Not a book I enjoyed but one I can appreciate. I point people thinking of reading it toward the overwhelmingly good reception this novel has received (mostly 4 and 5 star reviews here on goodreads) as a more fair indication of its value.