Obama found the time to read Sing, Unburied, Sing* during his presidency, which means you can
too. Time published Obama’s top-ten reading list for 2017, and Jesmyn Ward’s novel made the cut. I can understand
why.
Sing, Unburied, Sing is an intense
depiction of a dysfunctional three-generation family. They’re hampered by
drugs, death, poverty, racism, and a lack of self-love. There is not a breath
of fresh air in this story; it’s clear that Ward has a need to convey the
brokenness of the family with a dire sense of urgency that trumps the reader’s
need to pause and relax. I got through the novel quickly, partially because the
writing is poetically compelling and partially because I needed closure on the
entirety of this family’s struggles. Whew.
Alongside the intensity is a
downright spookiness. The novel has ghosts, and the spirit world has a say. They are loud and proud, contributing to the mood/dialogue/thoughts of the living characters. In this
way, Sing, Unburied, Sing strikes me
as a much more polished Beloved. Beloved, Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel,
also deals with the dead but more haphazardly. As I mention in my review, I wasn’t
always sure who was speaking in Morrison's piece. Sing,
Unburied, Sing effectively jumps between points of view and those
transitions are clear. In fact, each chapter states whose perspective will be
narrating in giant letters that you can’t miss. Having multiple narrators
helps me understand the family’s plight in a more well-rounded way. I will say
that I’m disappointed we didn’t get to hear from Michael, the imprisoned white
father.
Sing, Unburied, Sing won the
2017 National Book Award—a prestigious award that Jesmyn Ward also won six
years prior for her novel Salvage the Bones. Is Jesmyn Ward crushing it? Yes. You can read my review of another
National Book Award winner, Let the Great
World Spin here, which also contains links to reviews of several National
Book Award finalists. National Book Award National Book Award blah blah blah.
Lastly,
what impresses me so much about this novel isn’t the heart-wrenching story, but
the powerful execution of simile and metaphor. I’ve been annoyed in the past by
authors (ahem, Murakami) who sometimes use analogy in an awkward, unhelpful way. As if they’ve heard that
throwing a metaphor in the mix will make you sound smarter. Obviously, it has
the opposite effect of making you sound like a donk. Jesmyn Ward is no donk. Her
novel is packed with similes and each one contributes to the text in a
meaningful way. Sing, Unburied, Sing receives 5 out of 5 camel humps.
*Ward, Jesmyn. Sing, Unburied, Sing. New York: Scribner, 2017. Print.
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