injustice « Novel Ideas

Homegoing

Posted on August 9, 2017

After a long hiatus, Novel Ideas has returned with an episode about Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Ignore anything we say about timing in this episode as we recorded it back in March. I’d apologize, but by now you’ve been burned so many times by our erratic schedule that you would probably assume that I don’t mean it. In this episode we talk about strong characterization, elements of storytelling, the impact of the past, and history. We also discuss our lack of qualification to discuss this book, rehash the badness of slavery (we’ll stop when you guys finally get it), grudgingly reference Light in August (about which no more needs to be said), and get really uncomfortable trying to discuss racial issues despite being a pair of white idiots.

The music bump is “The Long Way Home” by Joshua Redman.

Homegoing – A Book Without Happy Endings

Our recommendations: It’s probably been too long since we read this to assign a realistic numerical rating, but it’s the kind of book that you read and think that everyone should read it regardless of their level of enjoyment. So I guess 10/10 for relevance and 0/10 if you hate it on principle because we’re telling you that you have to read it.

This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged a book without happy endings, Ben's ignorance, context, cotagonist, genetic memory, genre?, going home, hidden history, history, Homegoing, impact of the past, injustice, intersectionality, Light in August, missionaries, narrative expectations, no joke prepared, notagonist, prison system, race, racism, required reading, slavery is bad, slavery is gross, spoilers, storytelling, strong characters, uncomfortable, unique structure, unofficial contest, we are white idiots, what is an anthology, why don't we learn this shit in school, Yaa Gyasi.

The Color Purple

Posted on February 2, 2016

The Novel Ideas roulette wheel landed on a classic this month, so we’re back with The Color Purple by Alice Walker. In this episode we discuss racism, injustice, abuse, and other upsetting things. We also talk about the cold open, black comedy, down home cookin’, and laughably ineffective missionaries.

The music bump is Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington’s band performing “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” based on our unresearched speculation regarding how this book became a musical.

102 – The Color Purple – Coming of (Old) Age

Our ratings:

Ben: Purple/10. Which is the best rating, I think. I don’t really understand that part of the rating system. But I would definitely recommend this one.

Gabs: 9/10 for literary value. Also worth reading for the purpose of making yourself less shitty.

This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged abuse, age=wisdom, Alice Walker, being an asshole is bad, black comedy, challenged books, cold open, colonialism, coming of age, control, direct prose, down home cookin', epistolary, exploitation, feminism, fluid family dynamics, gaining respectability, healing, independent women, ineffective missionaries, injustice, inner strength, innocence, love is good, murderous rage, nature of god, not white people, plot relevant rape, Pulitzer Prize, racism, sexuality, subtle writing, synchronicity, The Color Purple, The Musical, trigger warning, unspoken sisterhood, upsetting things, weakness, what measure is smart?.