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A review by horsley123
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3.0
This really is a book of two halves. The first half I loved - if reading about slavery can be enjoyable. Hiram is an interesting character and his life as a slave in the failing plantations of the south was beautifully described. His relationship with his father and brother introduced a level of intrigue and helped propel the story forward.
Then something happened - it all went a bit misty, magical and frankly odd. Hiram has magical powers which enable him to move around the country. Now something similar happened in 'The Underground Railroad' by Colson Whitehead. Not content with the stories of the Underground Railroad which brought slaves out of the south, Whitehead introduced a mystical underground train. In the same vein this author has our hero affecting Dr Who like 'conductions', movements through space on a bank of mist.
I felt a little cheated, I had built up my outrage and sympathy for the characters, but if all they needed was a bit of water and mist, why were they hanging around as slaves? I expect I will be firmly in the minority as Oprah has endorsed this book, but I do wonder if she read it all the way through.
Then something happened - it all went a bit misty, magical and frankly odd. Hiram has magical powers which enable him to move around the country. Now something similar happened in 'The Underground Railroad' by Colson Whitehead. Not content with the stories of the Underground Railroad which brought slaves out of the south, Whitehead introduced a mystical underground train. In the same vein this author has our hero affecting Dr Who like 'conductions', movements through space on a bank of mist.
I felt a little cheated, I had built up my outrage and sympathy for the characters, but if all they needed was a bit of water and mist, why were they hanging around as slaves? I expect I will be firmly in the minority as Oprah has endorsed this book, but I do wonder if she read it all the way through.