book REviewHiram is born into slavery; when his mother is sold away, Hi loses all memories of her and discovers this mysterious power that saves him years later from drowning in the river. After his brush with death, he decides to escape and starts on a journey he would have never imagined that led him to help in the underground war effect to bring justice to the south and freedom to families. I am kicking myself for letting this sit on my TBR for so long! In one of my many book related emails, I had seen a lot of rave about this book coming out. I recognized the name, though I hadn’t read any of Coates other work. So it was my easy choice for October’s Book of the Month (BOTM) selection. They warned that you needed to be in the right mind space for this deep read, which is why I waited until now to try to dive in (haha get it? dive in, water dancer… I want to be puny). I’m glad I did, because this is a beautiful book that deserved my full attention. The Water Dancer is a beautiful written novel. While the beginning was a little slow for me, once I got about 70 pages in I found myself engaging more. The characters in this book are complex, round characters that I want to know more about. The main characters of Hiram, Thena and Sophia, the secondary characters of Corrine, Mr. Field, Otha, and even characters that only show up for a couple scenes. I want all of their life stories. Coates did such an amazing job making me feel connected to them, despite all of the obvious differences between us. I especially loved Sophia’s character; she is this strong woman with her own agenda… I’ll get into all the details in my feminist review but I am about this character! I was really kind of nervous to read this book, because the premise felt a lot like The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and I didn’t really enjoy that book. The Water Dancer exceeded my somewhat muted expectations. The “fantastical” aspect of his power/gift did not feel as awkward as parts of The Underground Railroad did. It worked really well in the novel, held some great symbolism for me about the importance of stories, family, and knowing who you are, and didn’t overpower the rest of the novel. Honestly, my only negatives are that the beginning felt slow, but that definitely could have been me just being slumpish, and that I don’t get to know everything about everyone. When I loved a book as much I did this one, and the next day I still can’t think of any negatives about it, I make sure to read negative reviews from other people. What I found was people who didn’t like this book were really put off by the fantasy aspects; some people felt it took away from the horribly true stories of those in slavery and those who worked in the Underground Railroad. Personally, I didn’t feel this way or consider it. I guess because of who Ta-Nehisi Coates is and what he’s known for, plus my whiteness, I didn’t question it at all. But it is something to consider. It took me longer to read this book than I wanted because I found myself having to take breaks. I’ve been reading a lot of books that focus on race related issues, and the intensity of this story and the attention I wanted to give it, meant I had to take time between reading sessions. Because of this, I think I appreciated all of the messages a lot more. Coates brings up questions on freedom that I hadn’t considered before. What does freedom look like? Can true freedom actually exist or are we just tied down by something different? I’m still thinking on these questions, haven’t come up with any of my own answers yet, but if you have any opinions I’d love to hear them! The other major message was about family, and the importance of connection. What is life without connection and loved ones? Throughout this story, in multiple ways, we are brought back to the reminder of how important family is, and how tragic it is to lose them. These ideas coupled with the stories of people being torn from their mothers, fathers, spouses, children and siblings—either from death, being sold away or left behind—broke my heart. Many times it was after a chapter that really hit on these issues I would have to take my break, dry my eyes and think before I could continue. Ta-Nehisi Coates blew me away with The Water Dancer. It is a thought provoking novel that will stay with readers long after they finish it. For this, I give the story 🛤 5/5 conductions. It is a story that reminds of the humanity needed in our lives, and how so many had it torn away. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Feminist AnalysisI said in the review I loved this character, I will say it again: Sophia made this book so much better for me. She is truly a feminist character. Even though her “role” as a Tasked is basically a sex slave to one to one of the family members, she is strong, independent, free thinker who doesn’t want to be tied to any man. Literally says multiple times that to have her, she can’t be yours. She makes the choices she wants to make, within her ability of slavery. Her choices don’t rest on a man’s opinion, but her thoughts. She refuses to be with someone who doesn’t respect her to the level she feels she deserves and I have to give her major props for that.
Her story in relation to Hiram’s where he realizes that he hasn’t thought about her, but about this idea of her he created to fit his fantasy was huge to me. So often this can happen. People don’t actually know each other but like the idea, and create this idea of who they could be and are upset when they aren’t that way. Hiram took it in stride, was like “shoot, I messed that up. gotta go apologize” and did! I’ve heard/seen/read too many stories of that situation ending differently for too many women. It makes me love Hiram even more. Another great, strong, don’t need no man character? Corrine. She is basically the bad ass boss bitch of Virginia. She has some moments in relation to Hiram’s story that ruffled my feathers a bit, but I feel like if I had a story based entirely about her life, I would devour it. She breaks gender norms by living by herself and owning estate. While she still dresses up and holds in stereotypical feminine traits of the time period, as you get farther in the story you can see nonconformity reasons for this. Now, one thing I need to talk about is that Corrine and Sophia do kind of plan to use men to their own ends. In a truly feminist/ideal society, no one would use anyone for any ends. Feminism is about equality for all, not hatred of men (let me repeat that because its important—feminism is not misandry, you can’t want all men to suffer and be truly feminist). From my perspective, they don’t hate men. Both women are trying to survive in a world where women can’t get far. Corrine discusses how the only benefit to getting married was she would have access to other avenues she doesn’t as a spinster (think buying land under her name). Sophia is trying to survive both the patriarchy and slavery—she was a sex slave. So despite the usage of others, I do still view them as feminist because of the time period and the context that implies. Overall, I do view this novel as feminist. It has great female characters and a male character that doesn’t show toxic masculinity (actually a lot of men are talked about in a fashion that doesn’t scream toxic masculinity). Feminist articles I considered during this analysis: “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution” by Judith Butler “Race, Class, Age and Sex” by Audre Lorde To learn more, check out some information I shared on feminist theory.
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Hello, love! Please, don't mind the cat hair. I'm a lover of all genres (except romance, ironic, I know), and potentially --accidentally-- obsessed with feminist literary theory. Feel free to scroll around, hopefully see a few cats, and find a good new book or two!
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