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A review by silverliningsandpages
A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley
5.0
🥁
R E V I E W
.
A Different Drummer was William Kelley’s début novel, published when he was 24.
🥁
The speculative story is set in an imaginary state in southern USA during summer 1957. Tucker Calibran, an African-American and descendant of slaves, has persuaded his employer to sell him a plot of land. Shortly afterwards, he salts the fields, kills his horse and cow, burns his house and smashes a grandfather clock previously owned by the slaver family. He leaves the state with his family, leading to a silent mass exodus of the entire black population to other states. Each chapter of the novel is told by a different character - young, old, poor, wealthy, male and female. However, very cleverly, Kelly’s narrators are exclusively white townspeople and their various presumptions and attitudes to Tucker’s departure are unraveled. The powerful effect of not giving over a chapter to Tucker or black townsperson is the message that this is deliberate refusal to engage in subordination. As Kathryn Schulz explained in her article in The New Yorker, this is “black retribution” and “renunciation”.
🥁
The events are related in almost mythical style, and whilst the plot is simple, it is compelling right up to its shocking and brutal climax. The racist attitudes of some characters are very subtle, whilst others are overt, and still feel very relevant, reminding me of some viewpoints in these Brexit times:
“Sure! What do we need them for anyways?....Now we can live like we always lived and don’t have to worry about no n****r come a-knocking at the door....”
🥁
“The publisher, Quercus believes so strongly in the importance of the novel, they gave staff a day off work to read this. I feel this is a book that will have huge reverberations. My reaction is similar to when I first read Great Gatsby, that it is special, and probably an initial rating of 4-4.5/🌟, but I think it could be a grower with a second read!
🥁
My thanks to @anabooks and @quercusbooks for the proof and essay by K Schulz, “The Lost Giant of Literature”. A Different Drummer is published today - read it!
R E V I E W
.
A Different Drummer was William Kelley’s début novel, published when he was 24.
🥁
The speculative story is set in an imaginary state in southern USA during summer 1957. Tucker Calibran, an African-American and descendant of slaves, has persuaded his employer to sell him a plot of land. Shortly afterwards, he salts the fields, kills his horse and cow, burns his house and smashes a grandfather clock previously owned by the slaver family. He leaves the state with his family, leading to a silent mass exodus of the entire black population to other states. Each chapter of the novel is told by a different character - young, old, poor, wealthy, male and female. However, very cleverly, Kelly’s narrators are exclusively white townspeople and their various presumptions and attitudes to Tucker’s departure are unraveled. The powerful effect of not giving over a chapter to Tucker or black townsperson is the message that this is deliberate refusal to engage in subordination. As Kathryn Schulz explained in her article in The New Yorker, this is “black retribution” and “renunciation”.
🥁
The events are related in almost mythical style, and whilst the plot is simple, it is compelling right up to its shocking and brutal climax. The racist attitudes of some characters are very subtle, whilst others are overt, and still feel very relevant, reminding me of some viewpoints in these Brexit times:
“Sure! What do we need them for anyways?....Now we can live like we always lived and don’t have to worry about no n****r come a-knocking at the door....”
🥁
“The publisher, Quercus believes so strongly in the importance of the novel, they gave staff a day off work to read this. I feel this is a book that will have huge reverberations. My reaction is similar to when I first read Great Gatsby, that it is special, and probably an initial rating of 4-4.5/🌟, but I think it could be a grower with a second read!
🥁
My thanks to @anabooks and @quercusbooks for the proof and essay by K Schulz, “The Lost Giant of Literature”. A Different Drummer is published today - read it!