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A review by bumblyduck
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
The story is deeply entrenched in grief, injustice and how the veins of history still carry in everyone. A half autobiography, half memoir, Ward writes with poetry, confidence and bluntness, there is no shying from the torment of growing up where and how she did, there is no sugar coating the racism, violence and death.
The story follows an interesting structure, which Ward explains to the reader in the opening chapter, how diving into her losses backwards allowed her clarity. We follow the deaths of 5 young black men from her community, from the most recent to the first - her own brother. As a reader, spending the book getting to know her brother on a level that feels intimate, through the lens of his big sister's eyes and heart, makes the story ending with his tragic death all the more of a gut-punch. But in a way, this structure does lose its impact when it comes to the other men. They each have one chapter that describes their life, their tragedy, and their deaths. Each one is steeped in love, care, language that paints the landscape, and a reminder of the creeping, inevitable end, yet when compared to the impact felt at reading Joshua's - her brothers - chapter, it almost felt we didn't have enough time with them. This can also be seen as symbolic; Ward didn't have enough time with them either.
The writing style of Ward is, in a word, poetry. There is a sharpness when there needs to be, punctuating the impacts of her coming to understandings of the world she is growing up in - its carelessness to her community, her womanhood and everyone around her - and yet there is almost a rhythm, and intense descriptions of scenes and memories so vivid it draws the reader in completely. The motif of the wolf of Delisle, and how it keeps hunting down these young men, representing the fears, doubts, and helplessness of it all, alongside the darkness that grows in Ward, from this constant feeling of otherness, makes each part of the book feel purposeful. There is no memory told just for the sake of it, each one tells a story bigger than itself.
The only issue a reader might pick up, is that some parts of the text lose the idea of subtext. Clues, both blatant and subtle, are carved throughout the writing, that everything boils down to the racism and classism of the world, and yet at several points it feels as though the reader is not trusted to put these together themselves, and instead the writing hands you the answers. It doesn't detract from the impact, but considering the language of the rest of the book, it does stand out. Maybe this was a choice within editing or maybe not leaving anything up to imagination or thought was a choice of Ward: needing the audience to know exactly what permeated her childhood.
Overall, a painful, raw and beautiful book, that commemorates the life Ward has lived, and the lives of those young men with love and understanding.
The story follows an interesting structure, which Ward explains to the reader in the opening chapter, how diving into her losses backwards allowed her clarity. We follow the deaths of 5 young black men from her community, from the most recent to the first - her own brother. As a reader, spending the book getting to know her brother on a level that feels intimate, through the lens of his big sister's eyes and heart, makes the story ending with his tragic death all the more of a gut-punch. But in a way, this structure does lose its impact when it comes to the other men. They each have one chapter that describes their life, their tragedy, and their deaths. Each one is steeped in love, care, language that paints the landscape, and a reminder of the creeping, inevitable end, yet when compared to the impact felt at reading Joshua's - her brothers - chapter, it almost felt we didn't have enough time with them. This can also be seen as symbolic; Ward didn't have enough time with them either.
The writing style of Ward is, in a word, poetry. There is a sharpness when there needs to be, punctuating the impacts of her coming to understandings of the world she is growing up in - its carelessness to her community, her womanhood and everyone around her - and yet there is almost a rhythm, and intense descriptions of scenes and memories so vivid it draws the reader in completely. The motif of the wolf of Delisle, and how it keeps hunting down these young men, representing the fears, doubts, and helplessness of it all, alongside the darkness that grows in Ward, from this constant feeling of otherness, makes each part of the book feel purposeful. There is no memory told just for the sake of it, each one tells a story bigger than itself.
The only issue a reader might pick up, is that some parts of the text lose the idea of subtext. Clues, both blatant and subtle, are carved throughout the writing, that everything boils down to the racism and classism of the world, and yet at several points it feels as though the reader is not trusted to put these together themselves, and instead the writing hands you the answers. It doesn't detract from the impact, but considering the language of the rest of the book, it does stand out. Maybe this was a choice within editing or maybe not leaving anything up to imagination or thought was a choice of Ward: needing the audience to know exactly what permeated her childhood.
Overall, a painful, raw and beautiful book, that commemorates the life Ward has lived, and the lives of those young men with love and understanding.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence