It’s a bit, Just When I Thought I Was Out They Pull Me Back In, but to great effect. Whitehead is a fantastic writer. I tried to pay more attention this go around as to what I particularly like, and his Thing that I really like is using a great metaphor, which is subsequently qualified. Most writers cannot pull this off at all. But Whitehead manages to get the full effect and then add a completely new layer of depth to the character with the qualification, which cuts out so much additional sentences that would tell the reader about the character, at some point.

Usually the qualifications feed into the historical aspects of the novel. Greater themes around gentrification, racism, but also the culture of the time. Which is wild because many of the lifted events from the time I recall, albeit vaguely. It’s part of getting older I guess, and an interesting feeling to feed into a novel. Maybe one of the first times nostalgia has worked for me because I could situate events, as well as the disparity of those things contrasted to my own life, making the setting highly effective.

Once again, though, I also was not completely blown away. I think I’ve yet to give any of Whitehead’s novels 5 stars, but they are always on the cusp of it. Honestly, the fact that they’re so solid all the time may be a case for them being bumped up.