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philsbookcorner 's review for:
Greenland
by David Santos Donaldson
Narration: 5 Stars
Story: 5 Stars
David Santos Donaldson's debut Greenland was like a fever dream, one in which the past, present & future collided to tell a wholly original & unique story unlike anything I've ever experienced before.
I had to sit with this one for quite a while, it's a particularly difficult book to review - there's a ton going on here, a mix between contemporary & literary fiction, historical fiction, & a ghost story, but at no point did it ever feel like too much, I was completely engrossed right from the start & captivated through the very end. It was fascinating being in Kip's mind as he struggled with what it means to be Black & queer, to be in a relationship with a white man at a time when racial tension throughout the U.S. is at an all-time high, to be fully seen as a human being, one worthy of having his story told in an industry that prioritizes whiteness over marginalized voices. & to see how Donaldson so seamlessly weaved Mohammed's story into the mix, how the life of a queer Black man in the 1910's isn't that different from the life of a modern queer Black man, was eye-opening. & I've got to give it up for the narrator, he did such a fantastic job & really sold the raw emotion behind so many of Donaldson's words. It's been a while since I've felt so impacted by a piece of fiction & I can't believe this was a debut, I think this is such an important, timely story that more readers need in their hands - this would make the perfect book club book. I'll be thinking about this book for a very long time. Highly, highly recommend, easily one of my top reads of the year!
I tabbed so many quotes for myself, but I wanted to end this with one that really stood out to me, one that I feel like perfectly captures an argument at the heart of the novel:
'Gay’ is when you have the power to choose your identity. The luxury. We are Black, we cannot be gay! [Y]ou talk about freedom to choose your identity, no? But I am no fool, Kipling. I see the Black man has no freedom in America or the UK. How can you say you are gay when you have no freedom? Whites can be happy & gay - but not us. They all use god to control us, to deny our humanity!
Story: 5 Stars
David Santos Donaldson's debut Greenland was like a fever dream, one in which the past, present & future collided to tell a wholly original & unique story unlike anything I've ever experienced before.
I had to sit with this one for quite a while, it's a particularly difficult book to review - there's a ton going on here, a mix between contemporary & literary fiction, historical fiction, & a ghost story, but at no point did it ever feel like too much, I was completely engrossed right from the start & captivated through the very end. It was fascinating being in Kip's mind as he struggled with what it means to be Black & queer, to be in a relationship with a white man at a time when racial tension throughout the U.S. is at an all-time high, to be fully seen as a human being, one worthy of having his story told in an industry that prioritizes whiteness over marginalized voices. & to see how Donaldson so seamlessly weaved Mohammed's story into the mix, how the life of a queer Black man in the 1910's isn't that different from the life of a modern queer Black man, was eye-opening. & I've got to give it up for the narrator, he did such a fantastic job & really sold the raw emotion behind so many of Donaldson's words. It's been a while since I've felt so impacted by a piece of fiction & I can't believe this was a debut, I think this is such an important, timely story that more readers need in their hands - this would make the perfect book club book. I'll be thinking about this book for a very long time. Highly, highly recommend, easily one of my top reads of the year!
I tabbed so many quotes for myself, but I wanted to end this with one that really stood out to me, one that I feel like perfectly captures an argument at the heart of the novel:
'Gay’ is when you have the power to choose your identity. The luxury. We are Black, we cannot be gay! [Y]ou talk about freedom to choose your identity, no? But I am no fool, Kipling. I see the Black man has no freedom in America or the UK. How can you say you are gay when you have no freedom? Whites can be happy & gay - but not us. They all use god to control us, to deny our humanity!