Reviews with content warning for Torture - Harlem Shuffle

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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

5 reviews

mayze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A great book set in New York City between the late 50s to the mid 60s.

The main character is a black man who owns a furniture shop and like most Americans of his time is chasing The Dream by doing things by the book, eventually realising there's little to no chance for a man like him to achieve it that way.

The book then follows the main character trying to keep his head above water while outside forces are pulling him down (sometimes he dives willingly too).

This book was my introduction to Colson Whitehead and really liked this book and have since bought the sequel to this book and got his critically acclaimed "The Underground Railroad" which I add a review here later

Content Warnings

bel017's review against another edition

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dark informative sad

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

In 1960s Harlem, NYC, a black man tries to balance and separate his straight and criminal lives.

Lots of CW for marginalised people living in desperate, violent, poverty stricken and oppressive situations.

Content Warnings

alisonvh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’m not a huge fan of the fact that the plot was more like three separate stories than one overarching plot. But his writing is so beautiful I can’t help but love it. And he is good at including phrases throughout the book that tie all three stories together.

Content Warnings

reggiethebird's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A really well crafted vibe throughout the whole book. Colson Whitehead has a great voice than can really get you lost in the world at times. Sort of a lazy recollection type feel to the whole thing deal, with some really nice sentences that jump out at you every few pages.

Content Warnings

jessgreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Rating: ⭐⭐✨⬜⬜

Title: Harlem Shuffle

Author: Colson Whitehead

Genre: Heist Novel

Setting: Harlem, NYC, USA

Month Read: March 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2021

Publisher: Doubleday

Pages: 318

*Book of the Month Selection

TRIGGER WARNING-

Death / Murder / Drugs / Sex / Language / Crime / Racism

"Alma used the word settled the way less genteel people used motherfucker, as a chisel to pry open a particular feeling."

No Spoiler Summary:

Ray Carney is a black furniture salesman in Harlem, NYC in the 1960s. He comes from a hard family, his dad did crime and was rarely around, and his cousin Freddie is an on-again / off-again drug addict who ends up getting Ray involved in a heist of the Hotel Theresa. Once the heist goes off as planned, Carney stays in the crime world on the side, and used his money to upgrade his family status, as well as expand his growing furniture store.

You follow Carney through the 1960's in Harlem- race riots, heatwaves, and a cast full of characters from rich to poor, black to white, and seedy and seedier. Will Carney stay in his new double life, or will he have to pick between the two empires he's built?

Review:

I really get why people like this novel a lot, and Colson Whitehead in general- his writing is captivating and beautiful and he paints a scene better than a looooot of authors I've read. However, after this and Nickel Boys, I have to come to the hard conclusion that Whitehead's books just aren't for me- and that's okay! You won't like every book you read, or every author, and even if they're highly rated and highly hyped, some things just don't stick with you. That's really how I felt about this book, as much as I really tried to love it.

The characters were interesting, and having lived in Harlem I LOVED the setting, and could almost see the buildings and locations set. I just wish that it was a faster book? It took me over a month to read 319 pages, which is not usual for me, and eventually had to get down to a 'just finish this one chapter per day' way to get through it because I hate to DNF a book, especially when I'm already halfway through something before I realize how much I don't like it.

If you like a slow build heist novel with an open ending (Whitehead said in an interview on Book of the Day, I think, that there will be a sequel) this is for you. I personally think this book would work great in a television format, but he also said in that same interview he isn't open to adapting this.

Recommendation:

Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

"You have to have an inside you, she used to say, and an outside you. Ain't nobody's business who you are really, so it's up to you what you gave them."

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