A review by ruthnessly
Brother by David Chariandy
4.0
This book was wonderful. There's a delicate balance to it, which perfectly captures the delicate balance of Michael and his mother's life after the death of his brother. This isn't a spoiler: it's pretty clear that something tragic happened within the first few pages, although Michael himself skirts around it for a while. It's very reflective of the characters themselves, skirting around what happened to Francis, not able to talk about it or process it.
The weight of the story here is almost belied by the prose and by the length of the book itself. It's a very short novel (I think it's under 200 pages: it's slightly longer than a novella). I actually think the form choice is perfect for the story, which manages to encapsulate so much in so very few pages. It's not a particularly easy read -- Michael and his family have clearly had to struggle and there's a significant amount here about the experience of first and second generation immigrants. One of the most beautiful pieces of prose in the novel undoubtedly comes from the remembered trip of Michael's family back to Trinidad on a trip back to the place his mother deliberately never calls 'home.'
Honestly, I feel like this book is hard to write about because I don't know exactly where to start. There's an immense grief throughout from every corner and every character and a showcase of how what happened to Francis affected his family and how other deaths affect others. I think the central concern is of loss and family, of how difficult family relationships can be, of how difficult navigating poverty and a climate of violence can be. This isn't particularly long, but it tackles each so well, wrapping them all up in boys grappling with issues of masculinity, of identity, and then grief. The sense of inevitability that creeps throughout the book is so wonderfully, precisely evoked. I've thought a lot about that scene with the gunshots, or of Michael stumbling across a boy being brutally beaten who doesn't make a lot of noise. I've already thought a lot about several pivotal scenes with Francis.
Structurally the novel folds in on itself often, compressing timelines, echoing events throughout. It's all very precise and very deliberate. It's an intense novel, but that's not to say that it's without levity because there's some wonderful scenes that made me smile. I think it's a stunning portrait of a family who've suffered through a tragedy and didn't have any choice to live it, even though how far they've coped is debatable.
I'd highly recommend this.
The weight of the story here is almost belied by the prose and by the length of the book itself. It's a very short novel (I think it's under 200 pages: it's slightly longer than a novella). I actually think the form choice is perfect for the story, which manages to encapsulate so much in so very few pages. It's not a particularly easy read -- Michael and his family have clearly had to struggle and there's a significant amount here about the experience of first and second generation immigrants. One of the most beautiful pieces of prose in the novel undoubtedly comes from the remembered trip of Michael's family back to Trinidad on a trip back to the place his mother deliberately never calls 'home.'
Honestly, I feel like this book is hard to write about because I don't know exactly where to start. There's an immense grief throughout from every corner and every character and a showcase of how what happened to Francis affected his family and how other deaths affect others. I think the central concern is of loss and family, of how difficult family relationships can be, of how difficult navigating poverty and a climate of violence can be. This isn't particularly long, but it tackles each so well, wrapping them all up in boys grappling with issues of masculinity, of identity, and then grief. The sense of inevitability that creeps throughout the book is so wonderfully, precisely evoked. I've thought a lot about that scene with the gunshots, or of Michael stumbling across a boy being brutally beaten who doesn't make a lot of noise. I've already thought a lot about several pivotal scenes with Francis.
Structurally the novel folds in on itself often, compressing timelines, echoing events throughout. It's all very precise and very deliberate. It's an intense novel, but that's not to say that it's without levity because there's some wonderful scenes that made me smile. I think it's a stunning portrait of a family who've suffered through a tragedy and didn't have any choice to live it, even though how far they've coped is debatable.
I'd highly recommend this.