A review by mazza57
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5.0
I received an ARC copy of this book via net galley in exchange for an honest review. I have read some of this author's non fiction and found something to love in them. I feel he has a real handle on what can and cannot be achieved.
This is my first fictional offering from him and I am finding it difficult to sum up what i feel. I avoid slave fiction like the plague. I find it too depressing, despite its truth I don't read to come way feeling sickened by a book This book however has a mystery of lyricism and prose and whilst it does have some elements of the suffering of these people it wraps it up in their struggle to come through it. It is not an easy read, I found I could only do so much at a time but it is a representation of slavery that brought me a real understanding of the people and the places.
The "fantastical" conduction elements just added another dimension. I felt as if i was there. I have long resisted reading [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493178362l/30555488._SX50_.jpg|48287641] a book about essentially the same subject but I am so glad that I picked up Coates' offering. The feelings, evocation and emotion will stay with me for a long time.
This is my first fictional offering from him and I am finding it difficult to sum up what i feel. I avoid slave fiction like the plague. I find it too depressing, despite its truth I don't read to come way feeling sickened by a book This book however has a mystery of lyricism and prose and whilst it does have some elements of the suffering of these people it wraps it up in their struggle to come through it. It is not an easy read, I found I could only do so much at a time but it is a representation of slavery that brought me a real understanding of the people and the places.
The "fantastical" conduction elements just added another dimension. I felt as if i was there. I have long resisted reading [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493178362l/30555488._SX50_.jpg|48287641] a book about essentially the same subject but I am so glad that I picked up Coates' offering. The feelings, evocation and emotion will stay with me for a long time.