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kimberlynpeterson50's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I think Whitehead was using the Intuitionist-Empiricist dynamic as a metaphor for race, but 1) it took a very long time to get there, and 2) the rest of the story wasn’t compelling enough to keep me engaged. The weird elevator details and depiction of the city (NYC?) were interesting, and the points about complicated race relations certainly were thought provoking, so if any of those appeal to you, this may be the book for you. But after reading The Underground Railroad, i just didn’t think this book came close to being that excellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
mudlizard's review against another edition
lost interest for a while but I was powering through because I thought this was conceptually interesting. but the writing is a bit of a slog for me right now. on top of that, Whitehead constantly moralizes fatness (frequently describing bigoted characters as fat and 'gluttonous' in a variety of ways, juxtaposing Lila Mae's 'good' thinness with the 'bad' fatness of another character, later describing thinness as "normal proportions") and has some generally mean spirited descriptors that feel regressive. I know it was 1999 it's kind of to be expected (and I ofc don't know how the author would feel about this now) but it's SO excessive and hurtful. it's just not workin for me. It's a shame because I think there is good stuff there but I lack the energy to get through the stuff I don't like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Torture
rorikae's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
'The Intuitionist' by Colson Whitehead is a novel about an elevator inspector caught up in the scandal surrounding an elevator crash.
Lila Mae Watson is the first female Black elevator inspector. Watson is part of the Intuitionists, a group that uses their intuition to inspect and diagnose elevator problems. The Intuitionists are in direct competition with the Empiricists, who use traditional methods and tools to inspect elevators. When an elevator falls at a building that Watson has recently inspected, she is pulled into the fight between the two groups that encompasses the Elevator Guild elections and a mysterious speculative elevator supposedly developed by the creator of the Intuitionist movement.
'The Intuitionist' is a fascinating speculative work, even more so as Whitehead's first novel. Watson is a complex character surrounded by a flawed and fascinating supporting cast. Whitehead creates a fascinating world with elevators at its core where the characters regard the machines with a religious reverence. The conspiracy at the center of the story is interesting though it's resolution didn't have as much going on as I would have hoped. Whitehead does a great job of taking a speculative concept and making it feel lived in. If you are looking for some slightly weird fiction with good characters and an interesting plot, I would recommend The Intuitionist.
Lila Mae Watson is the first female Black elevator inspector. Watson is part of the Intuitionists, a group that uses their intuition to inspect and diagnose elevator problems. The Intuitionists are in direct competition with the Empiricists, who use traditional methods and tools to inspect elevators. When an elevator falls at a building that Watson has recently inspected, she is pulled into the fight between the two groups that encompasses the Elevator Guild elections and a mysterious speculative elevator supposedly developed by the creator of the Intuitionist movement.
'The Intuitionist' is a fascinating speculative work, even more so as Whitehead's first novel. Watson is a complex character surrounded by a flawed and fascinating supporting cast. Whitehead creates a fascinating world with elevators at its core where the characters regard the machines with a religious reverence. The conspiracy at the center of the story is interesting though it's resolution didn't have as much going on as I would have hoped. Whitehead does a great job of taking a speculative concept and making it feel lived in. If you are looking for some slightly weird fiction with good characters and an interesting plot, I would recommend The Intuitionist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Torture, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Toxic friendship
zosiablue's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Jesus, imagine this being your first published novel. Just stunning. A racial allegory involving elevators and detective noir and a Wizard of Oz mystique. It's better to go in knowing nothing. Don't try to read behind the lines. It's a beautiful story heavy with meaning but best interpreted later.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Kidnapping
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
mar's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
this is a speculative fiction novel and a mystery novel and an alternate history novel and a noir detective novel and a novel about race and, most of all, this is a novel about elevators. and it FUCKS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Fatphobia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Lila Mae Watson is the first Black female elevator inspector ever in the department, she's an Intuitionist who can enter an elevator and "intuit" any defects. She's outnumbered by Empiricists in the department, who are almost all white and male, and eager to blame an Intuitionist when an elevator goes into freefall after Lila Mae's inspection.
The divide between Empiricists and Intuitionists seems like a simple ideological divide at first, but that central question becomes more complicated as Lila Mae learns more about Intuitionism's founder while investigating the crash. Lila Mae isn't the first Black inspector, and I'm unsure whether she's the first female one, but the combination of the two means that a nearly endless slurry of sexism and racism are directed her way, either singly or in combination. It's consistent but not constant, and whether and how characters disparage her is part of their characterization and contributes to the worldbuilding as a whole. The antagonists attempt to weaponize her identity for their own gain in a variety of ways, whether from things she chose (being an Intuitionist) or things she didn't choose (being Black and female).
There are long sections which contain delightful thoughts about elevators, including but not limited to competing theories of elevators, how the passenger exists in context with the elevator, where escalators fit in as vertical conveyances, and many more.
The mystery is tense and engaging, I was hooked almost immediately, became riveted about a third of the way in, and was completely engaged through to the end. Lila Mae is purposeful and conscientious, which are excellent qualities for the protagonist of a mystery. Excellently layered, I love this.
The divide between Empiricists and Intuitionists seems like a simple ideological divide at first, but that central question becomes more complicated as Lila Mae learns more about Intuitionism's founder while investigating the crash. Lila Mae isn't the first Black inspector, and I'm unsure whether she's the first female one, but the combination of the two means that a nearly endless slurry of sexism and racism are directed her way, either singly or in combination. It's consistent but not constant, and whether and how characters disparage her is part of their characterization and contributes to the worldbuilding as a whole. The antagonists attempt to weaponize her identity for their own gain in a variety of ways, whether from things she chose (being an Intuitionist) or things she didn't choose (being Black and female).
There are long sections which contain delightful thoughts about elevators, including but not limited to competing theories of elevators, how the passenger exists in context with the elevator, where escalators fit in as vertical conveyances, and many more.
The mystery is tense and engaging, I was hooked almost immediately, became riveted about a third of the way in, and was completely engaged through to the end. Lila Mae is purposeful and conscientious, which are excellent qualities for the protagonist of a mystery. Excellently layered, I love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, and Car accident
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