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A review by richardrbecker
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
3.0
As much as The Nickel Boys is an important book, it is not an enjoyable book in that as a dramatization of American history; it sacrifices the semblance of the masterful fiction that generally characterizes the work of Colson Whitehead. Perpahs it was as simple as miscasting his tragic protagonist as too intellectual and idealistic to share the fear and terror that accompanies this kind of abuse. Perhaps it is something else.
For all its merit, the novel documents and dramatizes rather than allowing one to climb into the head of those who lived it and, thus, leave some of themselves with us in the process (fiction or not, based on fact or not). Where it wins, however, is in the subject matter itself. Yes, there were places where the war against poverty played out as the war on those living in poverty regardless of color or creed.
Although the book is based on the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, it's also important to point out that the Nickel Academy's version of events punctuates a racial thread that existed at the time but did not diminish the horrors administered to ALL of the unfortunates who were cast there. Even the story of our protagonist, Elwood Curtis, sent to the school because he was charged with car theft (the kid only hitched a ride), is based on the story of a white student. This real-life person, Jerry Cooper, is the same student who was beaten with a leather strap, some 135 lashes before he passed out.
It doesn't really matter, but maybe it does matter in that the real White House Boys were equally brutalized. So even Colson's characters might think some students have it a little easier, they didn't. I felt a similar pang of misperception when reading how school books carried insults and demeaning comments supposedly because those students knew where they would end up. Maybe it is true, but it doesn't ring true because I remember reading all of those same insults in the used books we used at my innercity public school too. Where they were going has less to do with it other than kids will be jerks no matter where you are.
So, in the end, the reasons I would recommend this book not because of what most reviewers write about it (Jim Crow laws and whatnot), but because despite developing an empathic bond with Elwood, I do appreciate his perseverance, consummate hope, and drive to climb out of circumstance. I also appreciate how Whitehead wove the brilliance of Martin Luther King Jr. into the book as a point of inspiration. May we all aspire to the legacy he left us.
For all its merit, the novel documents and dramatizes rather than allowing one to climb into the head of those who lived it and, thus, leave some of themselves with us in the process (fiction or not, based on fact or not). Where it wins, however, is in the subject matter itself. Yes, there were places where the war against poverty played out as the war on those living in poverty regardless of color or creed.
Although the book is based on the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, it's also important to point out that the Nickel Academy's version of events punctuates a racial thread that existed at the time but did not diminish the horrors administered to ALL of the unfortunates who were cast there. Even the story of our protagonist, Elwood Curtis, sent to the school because he was charged with car theft (the kid only hitched a ride), is based on the story of a white student. This real-life person, Jerry Cooper, is the same student who was beaten with a leather strap, some 135 lashes before he passed out.
It doesn't really matter, but maybe it does matter in that the real White House Boys were equally brutalized. So even Colson's characters might think some students have it a little easier, they didn't. I felt a similar pang of misperception when reading how school books carried insults and demeaning comments supposedly because those students knew where they would end up. Maybe it is true, but it doesn't ring true because I remember reading all of those same insults in the used books we used at my innercity public school too. Where they were going has less to do with it other than kids will be jerks no matter where you are.
So, in the end, the reasons I would recommend this book not because of what most reviewers write about it (Jim Crow laws and whatnot), but because despite developing an empathic bond with Elwood, I do appreciate his perseverance, consummate hope, and drive to climb out of circumstance. I also appreciate how Whitehead wove the brilliance of Martin Luther King Jr. into the book as a point of inspiration. May we all aspire to the legacy he left us.