Reviews

A fantastic and clever idea; an execution that left much to be desired.

I've never felt so strongly aware of an author pushing his extensive research on the reader as I was while reading [b:White Tears|30780283|White Tears|Hari Kunzru|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473185233s/30780283.jpg|51368613]. Kunzru spares no details as he delves into heavy descriptions of the sound editing process and audio engineering. He name-drops. His characters contemplate music theory ad nauseum. It felt unnatural, like the author was ever-present behind the narrative, showcasing his impressive amount of research into the subject matter. The book would have been stronger without it.

I also agree completely with other readers who noted that this is a book of two VERY different halves. The first half is much more palatable and enjoyable, even with the addition of the aforementioned info-dumping. This first half explores wealth, privilege and class, developing the two main characters - Seth and Carter - and their ~~fascination~~ obsession with vintage blues music.

[b:White Tears|30780283|White Tears|Hari Kunzru|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473185233s/30780283.jpg|51368613] is essentially about the very real dangers of cultural appropriation as two twenty-something white hipsters play around in the world of black music. When Seth records a random singer in a park with a beautiful blues-y voice, Carter puts it online and claims it is a long-lost vintage blues recording by the made-up Charlie Shaw. In a strange turn of events, a collector contacts them saying the recording and musician are actually real.

This is where the book is strongest. Kunzru shines a light on the extent of Seth and Carter's privilege, firstly emphasizing how Carter's economic prosperity aids him, but then also showing the ways in which Seth gains as a white man capitalizing on a black man's music (whether fictional or not). It takes steps toward exploring the tumultuous history of black music in America but, unfortunately, this is where the book goes, um... completely nuts.

The second half of the book reads like a random stream of nonsense. The author quickly switches to a tale that is perhaps supernatural, maybe nonsensical, definitely confusing, and it is extremely jarring. I don’t think I ever quite got back into the book. Is Charlie Shaw real? Is ANYTHING real?! It becomes ever more rambling and incoherent before finally sort of being pulled together in the last fifty-ish pages.

But I don’t think it’s enough to excuse the amount of time I felt completely disconnected and baffled. [b:White Tears|30780283|White Tears|Hari Kunzru|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473185233s/30780283.jpg|51368613] totally lost me on its spiral into bizarroland. It’s almost like the author vomited random words onto the page and the reader is left to decide whether they see something deep in said word vomit, or nothing at all. I’m afraid I’m mostly in the latter camp.

Part of me wants to rate this book higher because there were good parts. But, after some consideration, I feel like even at its best this was barely more than a 3-star read for me. At its worst, it was a real struggle to get through.

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jslive's review against another edition

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3.0

"White Tears" by Hari Kunzru is a weird noir thriller about cultural appropriation and the many facets of power. I could have done without some of the "ghost story" aspect, but it is a compelling book and the writing is taught and interesting.

maryeverettb's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

stephashryver's review against another edition

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5.0

This is another book of 2022 that I ended up basically almost completely re-reading for an essay and then felt compelled to come back and review properly/change my rating here. Note to self: hard books generally are worth reading twice.

This book is a genuine masterpiece and perhaps one of the best books I've ever read. It covers so many important themes and it has so many disparate elements working in tandem the whole time - it's just an amazing feat of writerly craftsmanship in the sense that so many things have to fit together for it to work, and they do! Links are created across time and between characters, seemingly random elements are really pointing to something specific, symbols and motifs are repeated throughout, chronological confusion adds to the atmosphere and heightens the message. All of these are techniques that I have grown to love in fiction - and White Tears pulls all of it off at once!

I can see why so many reviewers felt that the book lost the plot in the second half. It's true - it becomes confusing and incoherent and difficult to follow and the tone shifts markedly - but while difficult and confusing it IS possible to extract meaning from the confusion and follow what's going on, it just takes a lot of work on the part of the reader. And the very confusion that seems to have put so many people off I think in fact adds to the atmosphere and the layers of meaning through the blurring together of different characters' narratives and the temporal fluidity.

So you definitely have to be in the right state of mind to tackle this book. It's not an easy read, the content is often sickening if not blatantly triggering and the story and ideas become difficult to comprehend at times. But if you feel that you're up to the challenge, it really is an intellectual marvel. This book pushed me right out of my comfort zone, that's for sure, but this made for one of the most stimulating and engaging reading experiences I've had in a long while.

initial thoughts

This is so hard to rate. Ahhh.

Halfway through I was so gripped and I was thinking a definite 5 stars - but towards the end it became such a discombobulating mindfuck - it will probably take me about 2 rereads and 3 essays to decipher all the layers of meaning, never mind form my own opinion.

However, it made some great points. I felt the more experimental narrative style generally served a purpose to try and say something interesting and wasn't just a gimmick.

So overall good, I think.

*4.5*

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