Painful. That is the word that comes to mind as I forced myself to crawl through this week’s reading. It was painful. Ok- maybe I’m being a bit over-dramatic there, but let me explain.
This book was written in the mid 70s and it takes place in New York in the mid 20s. This was a turbulent time in American History to begin with. As a nation, we were struggling through the aftermath of a war that had taken thousands of young American men to Europe and returned them maimed-physically and/or emotionally-if they were returned to us at all. Alcohol had been made illegal, the flapper generation was pulling at the moral fiber of our country and the blacks were in the mix as well, trying to find their rightful place in society.
This seems to be what Mumbo Jumbo is about: finding that rightful place, but the style of writing is jumbled and chaotic. There is a mix of fact and fiction; real names and real places interact with the fictional names and places. The mix makes me wonder how much of what I was reading really happened and what is made up of whole cloth. I suppose this adds an element of believability to the story.
Though the book is supposed to be “a racy and uproarious commentary on our society”(back cover), I have yet to even crack a smile. I see the book as a clash between black and white. The whites in the book (most of them) want things to stay the same and they feel the blacks should keep their place in society as backward, submissive, uneducated former slaves, while the whites continue to dominate society and keep the blacks from progressing as they naturally would and should. This archaic attitude has caused discontent and anger between both races. It makes me want to say, “I don’t understand.. why can’t we all just get along?” Adding to the difficulty is the style in which the book is written. 1's are used instead of the word one. Quotations aren't marked, making it difficult to figure out who is talking to whom. There seems to be no organization to the chapters or to the order of the book. The rules are ignored. Is that one of the points the author is trying to make? No one is following the rules?
So- what is the first half of the book about? I wish I knew. We have two cultures clashing- one culture is arrogant and brutish while the other is intelligent and sophisticated. The whites are portrayed as the brutes, trying to force this other, alien culture back underground. Meanwhile, Jes Grew, a plague to some, anti-plague to others is making its way around the country, infecting people by the tens of thousands. What is Jes Grew? Is it acceptance? Is this why the dominant culture wants to squelch it, so they can force the other culture into hiding and submission?
I have begun work on the second half of the book and that will, I hope, shed a bit of light on what I have read thus far. This has, admittedly, been a difficult read for me, but now I need to know if it is my own attitude that prevents my understanding or if the book itself is the stumbling block.
Stay tuned.
Christmas Memories, Part 1
4 years ago
2 comments:
You brought up a lot of good facts. Mumbo Jumbo is a book that ignores all the rules and maybe that is what Reed want from us. I have an attitude when I read the book also so my understanding is not all that good, Maybe that is why the book is called Mumbo Jumbo. Are you still reading or have you given up? Many times I feel like given up in with this book but I know deep down I need to continue because everything is not easy. My focus is to try and read everything I can with an understanding that it leads to something. I think Reed wanted to ignore all the rules. When I look at other writings from other author's, I notice that they have ignored many rules. Do all rules count when you are writing? Should everything be perfect? Maybe Reed wanted us to get all Mumbo Jumbo about his book. He knew that he was going to confuse the average reader and that is what he is aiming for. He does have a lot of fiction with facts and this is what he does to take us off track. I think Mumbo Jumbo is just what it is, Mumbo Jumbo.
How are you doing in your annotations? I haven't did mine yet because I am falling behind just a little. I think maybe I should have taken this class later after a few more literature classes. I know I can do it but it gets hard sometimes. Maybe you can give me some tips on managing my reading. I think that I am going to finish up Mumbo Jumbo tomorrow and get straight into Love Medicine. We have a draft to put together by the end of the week, so I may be needing some help. I can get lost sometimes. I hope Love Medicine is better reading than this book. I did enjoy "Family Linen." This book reminded me alot about my own family and I really got into it. I know there will be books that will take me in a direction that I don't want to be in, but if I am going to teach English I have to be ready for anything.
I need to know if it is my own attitude that prevents my understanding or if the book itself is the stumbling block.
I would suggest that it is a case of both. :-) AND, I'd suggest that this is true of every text you read. See, here's the thing. We grow accustomed to seeing certain conventions in text, and when we find things which don't follow that status quo and therefore push us outside our comfort zone (or our experience zone), then we struggle--at least initially.
This is NOT an easy book to read. But it's important, and it gets easier as we adjust our expectations or expand our comfort zone to allow it residence.
Likewise, as *we* change, sometimes we find that our reception to a text changes. This may be one of those which raises an entirely different response for you in five years--and it won't be because the novel itself has changed.
Hang in there and shout if I can help!
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