The Nickel Boys: A Novel

Highly recommend this book. It started out a little slow but kept getting better the more I read. Well written and pulls no punches examining a topic that remains relevant to this day. Bit of a twist ending that reinforces the importance of the material even more.

If my review were to confine itself to the first few chapters, I would be shouting from the rooftops in praise of an intimate look at life as experienced from a student in a reform school in the deep south during the 1960s. The genius of the writer was in getting me into the body shell of a survivor of a ‘school’ that got away with abuse and murder for more than a hundred years. Mind you, it is a novel of fiction, but is based on a real school and is told so well that many will forget it is a work of fiction. However, my review is based on the entire book. Bearing in mind that four stars is high praise, I don’t want you to get the impression that this is not a terrific read, because it is. For many readers, it will, or should become a transformational read. The author doesn’t bludgeon us with horror. Rather, he slips us into the scenes and memories. So, why lower the rating to four stars? It tends to get mired down into sadness and misery. Not in an especially depressing manner, though. Had it become depressing, I would have lowered my rating still further. I guess what I’m expressing is actually almost a confession. I grew up in Southern California in a small town that, during the fifties and sixties, boasted of its ‘success’ in remaining wasp. Most residents would have sworn that they had not a single racist bone in their bodies. They would have decried the segregation and inhumane treatment of blacks in the south. Yet, they took pride in a police force that boasted of picking up men passing through town after working at the local cement factory and releasing them at the town’s boundary with Watts. Yet, that very city went on to survive, even thrive, during integration once the real estate folks were forced to sell without discrimination. It even, for a second time in its history, became an “All American City.” So, what I am getting at is this: Colson Whitehead has put together a narrative, based largely on fact, and weaved us an intimate tale of life, and death, of young men who made mistakes in judgment while pursuing simple pleasures taken for granted by children in more affluent neighborhoods, and who were then punished more severely for their lapses in judgment than were white children guilty of equally poor judgment. Perhaps the brief excerpt will better explain my meaning… BLUSH FACTOR: The eff-word pops up now and then, so you may want to be choosy when deciding to whom you will share this novel. Still, the insight you will gain into life for a young black person growing up in America, especially during segregation will outweigh concerns for language. WRITING & EDITING: Mechanically, first rate editing and the writing is solid. EXCERPT ‘…Flipping pages during lulls. Elwood’s shifts at Marconi’s provided models for the man he wished to become and separated him from the type of Frenchtown boy he was not. His grandmother had long steered him from hanging out with the local kids, whom she regarded as shiftless, clambering into rambunction. The tobacco shop, like the hotel kitchen, was a safe preserve. Harriet raised him strict, everyone knew, and the other parents on their stretch of Brevard Street helped keep Elwood apart by holding him up as an example. When the boys he used to play cowboys and Indians with chased him down the street every once in a while or threw rocks at him, it was less out of mischief than resentment. People from his block stopped in Marconi’s all the time, and his worlds overlapped. One afternoon, the bell above the door jangled and Mrs. Thomas walked in. “Hello, Mrs. Thomas,” Elwood said. “There’s some cold orange in there.” “I think I just might, El,” she said. A connoisseur of the latest styles, Mrs. Thomas was dressed this afternoon in a homemade yellow polka-dot dress she’d copied from a magazine profile of Audrey Hepburn. She was quite aware that few women in the neighborhood could have worn it with such confidence, and when she stood still it was hard to escape the suspicion that she was posing, waiting for the pop of flashbulbs. Mrs. Thomas had been Evelyn Curtis’s best friend growing up. One of Elwood’s earliest memories was of sitting on his mother’s lap on a hot day while they played gin. He squirmed to see his mother’s cards and she told him not to fuss, it was too hot out. When she got up to visit the outhouse, Mrs. Thomas snuck him sips of her orange soda. His orange tongue gave them away and Evelyn half-heartedly scolded them while they giggled. Elwood kept that day close. Mrs. Thomas opened her purse to pay for her two sodas and this week’s Jet. “You keeping up with that schoolwork?” “Yes, ma’am.” “I don’t work the boy too hard,” Mr. Marconi said. “Mmm,” Mrs. Thomas said. Her tone was suspect. Frenchtown ladies remembered the tobacco store from its disreputable days and considered the Italian an accomplice to domestic miseries. “You keep doing what you’re supposed to, El.” She took her change and Elwood watched her leave. His mother had left both of them; it was possible she sent her friend postcards from this or that place, even if she forgot to write him. One day Mrs. Thomas might share some news. Mr. Marconi carried Jet, of course, and Ebony. Elwood got him to pick up The Crisis and The Chicago Defender, and other black newspapers. His grandmother and her friends subscribed, and he thought it strange that the store didn’t sell them. “You’re right,” Mr. Marconi said. He pinched his lip. “I think we used to Whitehead, Colson. The Nickel Boys (pp. 22-24). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. BOTTOM LINE Readers who are open to a narrative that deals with sadness and hints of tragedy, but vacant violence and suspense, will probably find “Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys” to be an entertaining, educational, way to gain some understanding of life for your typical black kid during the sixties. The time spent will make the reader the richer for his/her investment. It might not change the world, but, for that reader, it might well change his view of the world. Four stars out of five.

The Nickel Boys exemplifies literary artistry in so many ways that it’s difficult to know where to start praising this masterpiece. Shall I begin by admiring the expertly crafted story structure? Whitehead begins this tale with a snapshot of its gruesome and haunting historical legacy (it is inspired by the horrifying true story of a mid-20th-century Florida “reform school”), proceeds with the story of Elwood Curtis (a promising young Black man who is unjustly ensnared in the juvenile “reform” system and ends up at Nickel, where he suffers unspeakable brutality that is magnified by its banality), jumps forward in time, circles back to the main narrative, and concludes with a revelation that is both unexpected and completely logical. Perhaps I should also mention the superb characterization. Whitehead expertly creates and develops his characters with such deft strokes that even supporting characters become flesh within the space of a sentence or two. And then there’s the flawless prose. Whitehead possesses an almost preternatural command of the language and writes so beautifully of such ugliness that his skillfully ironic style becomes enmeshed in the novel’s themes of injustice, oppression, and astonishing faith in humanity despite all evidence to the contrary. One of the best novels I’ve read in quite a long time.

“We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness.” I heard about the Nickel Boys through recommendations from friends and other avid readers, none of them mentioned how heavy this tale was. Being black woman I know too well the unfortunate circumstances that come with "living while black". Whether it's recaps from my grandparents or parents on times “back in the day" or simply picking up the newspaper today to recount yet another story of how an innocent black man was snatched away from his family. The Nickel Boys is a vivid account of a dime a dozen, poor unfortunate soul in the black community. Nothing in the story Whitehead delivered was far fetched or outlandish, and I think that's what makes this all the more upsetting. SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD! The novel’s main protagonist, Elwood Curtis, was a silver lining to the tale to say the least. His perseverance and stubbornness to quell his moral compass were something to take notice of. Elwood’s strong reserve is noted throughout this novel and while it ultimately leads to his demise you can’t help but feel that spark light up in yourself. His relationship with the other characters in the novel was to be expected, if they could have used a word to describe him it might possibly have been “uppity”, as educated black men during those times were often called. My favorite quote from the novel that perfectly describes young Elwood was as follows “If everyone looked the other way, then everybody was in on it. If he looked the other way, he was as implicated as the rest. That's how he saw it, how he'd always seen things.” Throughout the novel we understand the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s teachings to young Elwood, how they reinforced his character and supported his own ideals. I loved Whitehead’s ability to both pepper in facts and history and provide a foundation for his character to live off of. The Nickel Boys secretly contained a second protagonist within Jack Turner, otherwise known as our grown up version of Elwood Curtis. This twist in the story was obvious at the end given the change in mannerisms and focus of our older Elwood. While creating his own moving company is a major accomplishment, it seems somewhat modest for the true Elwood. Someone who was hellbent on improving his education and learning as much as he could possibly fill his head with. This can even be made clear when we discover our older Elwood waited some years after moving to NYC to go back to school and obtain his GED. Nonetheless, Turner’s thoughtfulness and dedication to live a full life to honor his lost friend was admirable and tear-jerking. When we zoom out of focusing on the characters within this novel, what we have here is the story of growing up black in the south during the 1960s. I wish I could say this story was a one-off, but while Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys was a work of fiction the ongoings of this tale are a dime a dozen. Sure young Elwood had a severe case of “wrong time, wrong place”, but it’s not unlike that of Emmet Till, the Central Park Five, Tamir Rice, and many more.

This is one of those books that is heart-wrenching and horrible, but it is so well-written that it is amazing. Thankfully, the author doesn't spend lots of time on the grotesque details, but allows the reader's imagination to do the work. The story is excellent, but horrifying. It is a very important book that, from my understanding, is based on the realities of so-called "reform schools." An excellent, saddening work by an outstanding author.

Very intriguing story based on a factual, hellish place. It bounced back and forth from present day to the past and back again. It made for a little confusion but was overall a fun read.

To know that this story is based on a true story , it had me engaged and I wanted to finish it and get into all the details. This authors writing style brought me straight into the time that certain events took place during that particular time in American history.

This story had a lot of potential. Colson could have expanded upon the characters, provided more details about their experiences, dove deeper into the emotional impact, explored more into the findings of the grave site, and the community. It turned out to be a good book, but short of its potential. Plot & Story Structure: 3.5 Character Development: 3.5 Writing Style & Quality: 4 Emotional Impact: 3.5 Originality & Creativity: 4 Pacing & Flow: 4 Overall Satisfaction: 4

Excellent read. One of best I have read in years. Keen for my daughter to read it but quite confronting subject matter.

Bella scrittura, inizialmente agile e nervosa, con un'ironia sottile e tagliente. Che poi, però si perde lasciando spazio ad una seria e sacrosanta accusa sociale, contro iriformatori per minori bianchi e neri, che sono luoghi di orrori diversi a seconda del colore della pelle. Se è nera, è peggio anche nell'America dei nostri giorni. Pur condividendo il punto di vista dell'autore, trovo che questo libro politicamente corretto non sia però per nulla innovativo . Mi ha fatto ricordare alcune pagine di Steinbeck, e me ne ha fatto rimpiangere lo spessore letterario.

Produto perfeito e recebido adequadamente.

Wonderful story, to fall in love with Elwood and at then you find what friends are capable of, that is what friendship is about.

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission here in Canada, we've been dealing with very similar stories from a different point of view. The suffering inflicted on our First Nations brothers and sisters in the last 150 years is unfathomable when viewed from the lens of today's Canadian society. But fear and cruelty are never far away. We look at the madness of the 47th president of the United States, his determination to unsettle us all and betray us, to threaten us with extinction and think, how did we get to this? Colson Whitehead asks the same question. Still we look for a reasonable answer to the wrong question. The better question is how do we look with love and compassion upon those who oppress us with. Trump and his cabal of American oligarchs are a very hard group of men to love. Until we discover how in our hearts we will love the American people who love us. And they are legion. E Kent Stetson, CM.