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jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
2.0
Such a wonderful premise for a book but it's so poorly executed. Kept waiting for the book to really start but it never does. There are great thought-provoking moments about race, identity, gender and privilege but they're fleeting. Such a shame - this could have been extraordinary. I recommend The Sellout, Mislaid or Welcome to Braggsville instead.
vegantrav's review against another edition
4.0
Furo, a 33-year-old, unemployed Nigerian man who still lives at home with his parents and younger sister, wakes up one morning to find that he has experienced a Kafkaesque transformation: he is an oyibo, a white man. Mystified and frightened of what his family will think, he runs away from home before they can see him.
And thus begins Furo's journey to find himself and his place now as a white man who speaks like a native-born Nigerian in Nigeria's preeminent city, Lagos.
Blackass is more than just the story of a physical transformation. As a white man, Furo is seen and comes to see himself as a radically different person, and Furo's personality undergoes a metamorphosis as significant as--if not more than--that of his skin color.
Blackass may be viewed by some as an extended parable or fable, but I don't think it really tells us anything we didn't already know about human nature and our ideas about race and identity--though as a white American, I was surprised to see that white privilege exists even in Nigeria. Instead, I simply enjoyed Blackass as a story qua story. It's fascinating to see Furo transform himself from a somewhat shy, quiet, submissive man to someone very different by the novel's end.
The pacing of the novel was a bit inconsistent: beginning with Furo's transformation, the novel immediately transfixes the reader's attention, but in the middle sections, it does seem rather slow in places; however, the last quarter of the book is fantastic. I was extremely disappointed in the ending of the novel not because it ended badly but because it ended without answering all of our questions and because.
Besides the issues surrounding race and skin color, there is also an interesting side plot with a transgendered character. Thus, Blackass thematically focuses on questions of race, gender, and identity. And it does so with a narrative thread that, although a bit uneven in some parts, is a great story in and of itself apart from these issues.
And thus begins Furo's journey to find himself and his place now as a white man who speaks like a native-born Nigerian in Nigeria's preeminent city, Lagos.
Blackass is more than just the story of a physical transformation. As a white man, Furo is seen and comes to see himself as a radically different person, and Furo's personality undergoes a metamorphosis as significant as--if not more than--that of his skin color.
Blackass may be viewed by some as an extended parable or fable, but I don't think it really tells us anything we didn't already know about human nature and our ideas about race and identity--though as a white American, I was surprised to see that white privilege exists even in Nigeria. Instead, I simply enjoyed Blackass as a story qua story. It's fascinating to see Furo transform himself from a somewhat shy, quiet, submissive man to someone very different by the novel's end.
The pacing of the novel was a bit inconsistent: beginning with Furo's transformation, the novel immediately transfixes the reader's attention, but in the middle sections, it does seem rather slow in places; however, the last quarter of the book is fantastic. I was extremely disappointed in the ending of the novel not because it ended badly but because it ended without answering all of our questions and because
Spoiler
it ends at the climactic moment when Furo, at long last, is about to face his family for the first time since he ran away from home. How will they react? Will they believe that this white man really is their Furo? And how will Furo himself react? Will Furo, who is now calling himself Frank Whyte and is, in most ways, a new man--this Frank Whyte--revert from being this new Frank Whyte personality and go back to being the person he was before, back to being Furo? Barrett leaves us to ponder all these questions and gives us no answers. And, in a way, I kind of like that he leaves these questions open rather than taking the easy path that many writers would have: he refuses to give us a nice, tidy ending and is instead requiring us to think deeply about the questions of identity and personality that the novel raises. Still, it would have been fascinating to see where Barrett would have taken the storyBesides the issues surrounding race and skin color, there is also an interesting side plot with a transgendered character.
Spoiler
This character is named Igoni, which is also the author's name, and so we have a bit of winking from the author in inserting himself as a character into his own novel. When we first meet Igoni, he is a man. At the novel's end, he is now living as a trans-woman. Interestingly, Furo, some time after his first meeting with Igoni while Igoni was still living as a man, at first recognized the trans-woman, Igoni, as being the same person he had previously met, but then later Furo seems so captivated by Igoni's new persona as a woman that he entirely forgets that Igoni had been a man and is thus surprised when, during some amorous activities, he discovers Igoni's penis. Furo has so transformed himself into Frank Whyte that it seems he has even shed some of his memories.courtney_westerlund's review against another edition
2.0
This was a very strange book. Parts of it were very interesting to hear about the changes the main character experienced from being a black man to a white man, but other parts were very, very strange.
geoforreal's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
fee_jay's review against another edition
3.0
Surreal and mundane at the same time. I'm fascinated by the hypermetropolis that Lagos seems to be.
titilayo_ak's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
This book fell at the wrong time for me, I think. I really liked the writing, the idea of using themes from Kafka's Metamorphosis to look at race and culture in Nigeria, but something just wasn't clicking. I don't know if I was expecting more biting satire (Furo just made me feel frustrated, particularly at the end of the book) or was missing some social cues or if I just didn't have the patience for this right now. I'd like to revisit Blackass in the future, to see if it reads better at a different time - Barrett does have an excellent style so I'll definitely keep an eye out for his next book.
ariya1's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I'm so glad I won. Although it's taken me a while to write this review, my delay had nothing to do with how much I enjoyed reading this book. I read this book shortly after reading some epic tomes set in medieval times so I was a bit cautious about how I would be able to switch to such a different format. Make no mistake about the potency of this book based on its relatively slim size. It packed so much character development within such a short space without overwhelming me or confusing me. By the time I reached the end, I was a bit surprised but not really given how well Barrett really set the scene of the book and let the reader get to know the protagonist. This novel provides an interesting perspective into one man's journey through identity, culture, and socialization and is witty to boot. I highly recommend this book!
tasharobinson's review against another edition
4.0
I was expecting more of a metaphor in this Metamorphosis-esque story about a Nigerian man who abruptly wakes up white one day, but it's bluntly straightforward about its magical switchover, which is just a plot enabler. And the fact that the protagonist, Furo, still has black buttocks after the change feels significant, as a sign of how his origins still follow him when he abandons his past, but the author doesn't really touch on it except as a practical question involving skin-lighteners and sexual choices.
But the book is still a fascinating look at life, work, and especially language and culture in Nigeria, as the protagonist navigates being white, and all the social benefits that come with it. And it's an interesting character study, watching as he abandons his family out of a fear they won't understand, and goes on to use anyone he can to get ahead. There's a large sideline in the book about his sister, and how she becomes a social-media queen after going online to enlist help in finding her missing brother, and I wound up wanting her to become more relevant, and for the story to loop back to her and suggest some kind of closure or purpose in her arc. As it is, her story feels like a terrific short story inserted into the middle of this novel. The conclusion wasn't terribly satisfying — it's narrated by someone other than the protagonist, and we lose his POV as he makes some key decisions — but I still found this book mesmerizing in the "what could possibly happen next" way.
But the book is still a fascinating look at life, work, and especially language and culture in Nigeria, as the protagonist navigates being white, and all the social benefits that come with it. And it's an interesting character study, watching as he abandons his family out of a fear they won't understand, and goes on to use anyone he can to get ahead. There's a large sideline in the book about his sister, and how she becomes a social-media queen after going online to enlist help in finding her missing brother, and I wound up wanting her to become more relevant, and for the story to loop back to her and suggest some kind of closure or purpose in her arc. As it is, her story feels like a terrific short story inserted into the middle of this novel. The conclusion wasn't terribly satisfying — it's narrated by someone other than the protagonist, and we lose his POV as he makes some key decisions — but I still found this book mesmerizing in the "what could possibly happen next" way.