Hi there!
Welcome to our February Modern Adaptation for the folktale of John Henry - Colson Whitehead's John Henry Days.
Trigger Warning: Racism, Slurs, Choking, Firearms, Drugs Mentioned, Murder, Mature Content in General
Overall
This book was challenging in a good way for us. First of all, it was driven by vignettes and character choices that don't seem to lead much of anywhere. We did realize, though, that the point of the book really wasn't the plot anyway.
At first, we loved that the book seemed to explore a neuro-divergent point of view, but then that kind of disappeared from J. Sutter's words as time went on.
We began to see that this book is definitely written as a collection of opinions and points of view regarding the John Henry folksong throughout time and space. We liked this aspect of the book, BUT we both wish we had been more prepared for it. We thought there would be a lot more plot, but there was, in fact, not that much plot at all.
Something we wanted to point out was that this book is absolutely worthy of every ounce of recognition it receives, we just weren't prepared for it.
This book seems to be mostly an exploration of what is lost and found throughout African American history, especially regarding the black identity. There are several scenes in several settings and time periods that explore how the legend of John Henry is connected to how we live in the here and now, and how he is seen as useful or useless depending on the context. An individual like J. Sutter, an ambitious black junketeer journalist, might see something different as he goes to experience a festival meaning to celebrate Black History that utilizes a possibly fictional legend for their role model instead of a bona fide historical figure. We totally understand that the Stamp Series in the book was focusing on American Legends, but we can't help but wonder how different the John Henry side of things would look if African American history was preserved the way that white colonizer history was.
Composition
So, we both ended up listening to the Audio Book in this case, because the book was so much longer than we expected, and we also resorted to relying on a summary for part of the book because we felt some POV whiplash while making our way through this novel.
We will say that we felt that the beginning of the book was not very well balanced with the end of the book, in that the end was much more quickly paced than the beginning. The end of the book was switching so often between viewpoints, that we got a little lost and had to backtrack more than once.
We recommend reading a hard copy of this book instead of listening to the audio book, unless you would like to hear some wonderful singing by the narrator.
So What Was the Point...?
In the end, we felt the point was not lost at all, just not in the place we expected it. Most of the time, when a novel is composed, the main point is really emphasized at the climax and finale. In this book, however, the main idea is underlined again and again, in every valid viewpoint that comes across the reader's eye. The point isn't really that J. Sutter will move on from being a junketeer, but more so that it doesn't matter what he does - as a black man, he deserves the freedom to choose and to be validated either way. He deserves not to be questioned, roadblocked, or stonewalled at any point regarding his future because that's just it- it's his future, and a white man wouldn't be treated the same way about this choice that J. Sutter is presented with at the end of the book.
The point isn't what he chooses, or if he even does, or why either way- that doesn't matter; the point is the readers' expectations and opinions of him as a black man that have influenced how the readers have experienced the different viewpoints in the book. Those expectations and opinions that we bring into everyday life as readers of the world, and how we treat others because of those things matter. That's the point.
With love, see you soon!
Ceraya & Brieanna
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