I must admit, this was my least favorite book that we've read so far. I felt like it wasn't so much about the mystery, but more about racial differences. There were also too many sexual undertones for my liking. In fact, some of the novel had blatantly sexual comments from the women, which led me to feel disgusted. I'm not sure if Chester Himes was purposely playing this up to exaggerate the differences between the races or social classes, but I found it tasteless. From the start of the novel, I figured that the stolen money had been stashed in the bale of cotton, so it didn't seem like much of a mystery. In the other noir novels we've read, the characters haven't been as in your face with their sexuality. In general, this was a difficult novel for me to get through. Did anyone else have that same reaction? I felt as if Himes were shoving racial inequality and class differences down my throat. I understand that during the time period there was racial unrest, but in my opinion, this was a poorly concealed race plot hidden within a somewhat noir plot.
Also, on another note. I found an amusing article about Patricia Highsmith http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-kornbluth/the-talented-miss-highsmi_b_382551.html
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ReplyDeleteIf you're objecting that the novel portrays black Harlemites as very backward, I understand that part — but I'm not sure I get a couple of the other objections. There is no mystery as to where the cotton is hidden, so far as the reader is concerned: Himes takes pains to indicate it. And I gotta say, Cora Papadakis does a lot of throwing her sexuality in your face too . . .
ReplyDeleteI found the sexuality strangely overt as well, yet it didn't really bother me. Sex seemed to be treated almost as cartoonish as the rest of the characters/motives/motifs in the novel. But I can see where yr coming from.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't my favorite, but it was certainly entertaining, if only because Grave Digger and Coffin Ed are two larger than life characters in a world where everything is already totally crazy. At least for me, they carry the story on their broad, scarred shoulders.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that the sexuality was very in-your-face, but I wasn't bothered by it - rather, it just lends to the hyper-sexed, hyper-violent tone of campy pulp novels and I found it all pretty entertaining. That being said, I can see how it wouldn't work for you; I just got a kick out of the absurdity.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yeah, I agree that race was a larger theme than the standard noir crime/mystery aspect, however I don't find that to be an issue with the novel. Rather, I found it interesting to see how characters' stories would play out outside of the white male noir standard, how the angst/ressentiment would manifest.
I do like how Himes used African-American characters who did not necessarily conform to the popular idea of the time that black characters needed to be good representations to combat racism. I wonder if there is any significance that the novel is set in Harlem yet Himes is rebelling against the idea that the Harlem Renaissance promoted where black characters in literature must be good representations of the race. I don't know whether he was attempting to show the differences between different classes of black citizens to demonstrate the class differenation amongst African-Americans that was discussed in Alain Locke's "The New Negro," but it seems that Himes is making a commentary on class differentiation. While I understand the need to establish positive images of African-Americans in the media and think that is important, if other African-American authors are restricted to only being allowed to write positive characters I feel that is denying black authors the opportunity to write other types of realistic characters who just happen to have a dark side. I thought it was impressive how Himes was able to highlight the dangers and absurdity of racism by focusing on plot rather than on characterization. He didn't need to rely on directly victimizing African-American characters in a realistic manner to critique racism. He was able to use absurdity and surrealism to critique a real-life issue; he was also able to have fun, be entertaining, and use sex and violence while still having a good message.
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