#40: Between the World and Me; The Way of Kings
Note: I’m calling these “Bite Size Reviews” going forward and my book-loving friend Michael will be contributing from time to time. I hope you enjoy the content and new format.
The two reviews this week couldn’t be more different: One is a 176 page non-fiction memoir and the other is a 1,000+ page fantasy epic. Enjoy!
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Published 2015 | 176 pages
Tags: Non-fiction, Black history, National Book Award Winner
What is it about?
In 2015, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote an open letter to his 14 year old son, Samori. In the letter, Mr. Coates grapples with the memory of the death of his college friend, Prince Jones, who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2000 (a story that itself could fill its own book). That letter became the book which was later adapted to a stage play and then a movie you can watch on HBO.
After a couple pages it may seem to be more “stream of consciousness” writing than a focused story, but Mr. Coates has a strong, confident voice and a lot to say about being a Black man in America. Without beating around the bush, he tells his son that Black people, and more specifically Black men, carry an extra burden:
But you are a black boy, and you must be responsible for your body in a way that other boys cannot know. Indeed, you must be responsible for the worst actions of other black bodies, which, somehow, will always be assigned to you.
This reminded me of a quote I read recently by a Black professor at BYU, my alma mater and a majority white university in Utah:
Each morning I do a mental walkthrough of my day: Who am I going to meet with? Who am I going to talk with? What am I going to have to do to compensate for the preconceived notions that people might already have about who I am and what I stand for and what my intentions are? (source)
How did it impact me?
This book was uncomfortable to read. It created empathetic feelings for this father who has to have hard conversations with his son. I can tell my sons to stay out of trouble and respect police officers and send them out with confidence that if they do so, they’ll be ok. I’ll still worry about them, obviously, but I’m not worried they’ll be racially profiled. Not so for Ta-Nehisi and a multitude of others who feel like safety isn’t guaranteed even when they do everything right. He says:
One must be without error out here. Walk in single file. Work quietly. Pack an extra number 2 pencil. Make no mistakes. But you are human and you will make mistakes. You will misjudge. You will yell. You will drink too much. You will hang out with people you shouldn’t. Not all of us can always be Jackie Robinson—not even Jackie Robinson was always Jackie Robinson. But the price of error is higher for you than it is for your countrymen, and so that America might justify itself, the story of a black body’s destruction must always begin with his or her error…
This landed with a punch. I’ve never thought of racial oppression as the pressure to be “twice as good” and avoid the type of mistakes that are costlier for you because of your race. While I may not agree with everything Mr. Coates says, it was important for me to understand this perspective.
Who would I recommend this to?
I recommend that everyone read this. It is not a huge time investment. It may offend you and you might disagree with Mr. Coates, but that’s ok. I think this exists as an expressive work of art that gets you into the mind and heart of a Black father. It is at times uncomfortable by design.
He doesn’t claim to speak for every Black person in the country, but he is using his unique voice, experiences, and writing ability to express what some Black people might be feeling. Nobody has a magic wand that will fix all race relations once and for all, but my friend Shelby taught me that the first step to understanding is to listen. What I heard from Mr. Coates was a lot of pain and frustration, but also hope.
If you are someone who is looking to listen and learn from Black voices and experiences, this is perfect for you.
Other noteworthy quotes
I feel the fear most acutely whenever you leave me….When I was your age the only people I knew were black, and all of them were powerfully, adamantly, dangerously afraid. I had seen this fear all my young life, though I had not always recognized it as such. It was always right in front of me. The fear was there in the extravagant boys of my neighborhood, in their large rings and medallions, their big puffy coats and full-length fur-collared leathers, which was their armor against their world.
Slavery is not an indefinable mass of flesh. It is a particular, specific enslaved woman, whose mind is active as your own, whose range of feeling is as vast as your own; who prefers the way the light falls in one particular spot in the woods, who enjoys fishing where the water eddies in a nearby stream, who loves her mother in her own complicated way, thinks her sister talks too loud, has a favorite cousin, a favorite season, who excels at dressmaking and knows, inside herself, that she is as intelligent and capable as anyone.
This next review was contributed by my book-loving friend Michael Perkins
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Published 2010 | 1,137 pages
Tags: Fiction, High Fantasy
What is it about?
The Way of Kings is the first book in an epic fantasy series that almost defies description. The world feels huge. The worldbuilding is expansive and deep. Where to start? Okay, there is a world/continent called Roshar, with lots of different countries, races, class systems, religions, etc. The magic of the world comes from gemstones which can contain “Stormlight”, a power they are infused with during highstorms. There is a deep lore/mythology in the world that goes back thousands of years (something called the “Desolation” and an ancient order of powerful beings called the Knights Radiant, who possessed special armor and weapons called Shardblades and Shardplate).
The immediate story is kicked off with a political assassination of the King of Alethkar (one of the world’s most powerful nations), by a new group of people (the Parshendi) that the King had just entered into a treaty with. This kicks off a vengeance pact by the people of Alethkar, who go to war with the Parshendi people in a place called the Shattered Plains.
The POV characters in some way are connected to this conflict or the deceased King’s family. There is Kaladin, a soldier who becomes a slave. Shallan Davar, a young woman who becomes the ward of Jasnah Kholin (the daughter of the slain King), who is engaged in deep research regarding the history of the world, and trying to understand why her father was assassinated. Dalinar Kholin, brother of the slain king, uncle of the current king, and one of the main high-princes in the conflict on the Shattered Plains. Adolin Kholin, son of Dalinar, and a great, if somewhat impulsive, warrior in his own right.
It’s hard to overstate how detailed and rich this world and these characters are. Brandon Sanderson started planning this series in the 1990s, and the first draft was finished in 2003, and it shows. The magic system is complex, but is logically connected to the world itself and its history. The characters each go on epic journeys that are some of the most engaging I have read anywhere.
There is a lot of backstory and background, and this is a long book. That’s one of the reasons I was intimidated and put off starting it, even though I had heard from so many different people how amazing the series is. And while it took some time to get to know the characters, and place myself in the setting, understand some of the history and magic, once I dipped my toe in a bit, the book hooked me and refused to let go.
One of the best compliments I can give this book is that it’s massively long, but feels like a quick read. It’s never slow. It’s always moving. And the stories are so compelling, so thrilling, so emotionally engaging, that it’s extremely hard to stop once the story really gets going.
How did it impact me?
There are four novels and two novellas that have already been released for this series. The novels are all over 1,000 pages. The novellas are each 250+ pages. By the end of this book I was so engrossed in the world and the stories of these characters that I can’t wait to read all of them, as quickly as I can.
I felt things. I was constantly engaged. It made me think about topics across the spectrum of human experience, philosophy, religion, conflict, scholarship, etc. etc. etc. It made me hungry for more stories and experiences in this world.
Who would I recommend this to?
If you love fantasy novels, then it is a crime that you haven’t read this book. You will love it and you need to read this next.
I would also recommend this to anyone who wants to try out fantasy as a genre, and isn’t sure where to start.
Honestly, if you have the attention span and patience to read a few hundred pages, then this book is worth the investment of time and effort. I have a hard time imagining anyone giving this book a fair shot and not falling in love with it.
I appreciate you taking a bite out of these books with me! What streams of literature are you wading in lately?
Kyle