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A review by beriboo
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I was left slightly confused when I had finished this book, I would recommend it, but it isn’t without its flaws.
I would say this is a book of two halves. In the first half we meet Wash a young slave on a plantation in Barbados. The depiction of the treatment of slaves doesn’t shy away from the brutality of it all. Even when we are introduced to Titch and he takes Wash under his wing, I thought the sense of Wash’s hopelessness came through so clearly. I was hooked on this first part, the growing friendship between Titch and Wash, the science, the details. Reflecting on it now, I think it was a sense of excitement about what was to come. The beginning of the story was excellent, but it looses its track half way through.
By the time we are in the Artic camp, we are in the second half of the story. Almost a separate story from the beginning. It lost its momentum for me, I stopped reading for a while and came back to it. This break is probably what allowed me to continue reading, I had detached slightly from the story at the beginning and could accept this new path we were following.
The second half never quite matches up with the first, I feel it never finds its purpose. I don’t see the benefit of the Goffs other than to introduce a girlfriend and mechanism for Wash to go to London. However a lot of time is spent on Wash’s time with them. So much focus goes on to building Ocean House, yet we never have any conclusion to this storyline. There is in fact no real conclusion to the story. The Morocco chapters feel rushed and again have no real purpose, then the story just ends. I had to flick back to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I wasn’t expecting a fairytale happy ending, but we got nothing. I almost feel as though Edugyan didn’t know how to wrap up Wash’s adventures.
Still I did enjoy the book, being disappointed that you don’t get the more from a character is, to me, a sign of excellent character writing. You follow Wash through so much, you care for him. I know some of the plots are far fetched, but this is a fiction, and it’s a great story. I didn’t feel like the unlikelihood of these circumstances took anything away from the enjoyment of reading.
I just felt a bit flat by the ending, I would have liked a bit more than what we were left with.
I would say this is a book of two halves. In the first half we meet Wash a young slave on a plantation in Barbados. The depiction of the treatment of slaves doesn’t shy away from the brutality of it all. Even when we are introduced to Titch and he takes Wash under his wing, I thought the sense of Wash’s hopelessness came through so clearly. I was hooked on this first part, the growing friendship between Titch and Wash, the science, the details. Reflecting on it now, I think it was a sense of excitement about what was to come. The beginning of the story was excellent, but it looses its track half way through.
By the time we are in the Artic camp, we are in the second half of the story. Almost a separate story from the beginning. It lost its momentum for me, I stopped reading for a while and came back to it. This break is probably what allowed me to continue reading, I had detached slightly from the story at the beginning and could accept this new path we were following.
The second half never quite matches up with the first, I feel it never finds its purpose. I don’t see the benefit of the Goffs other than to introduce a girlfriend and mechanism for Wash to go to London. However a lot of time is spent on Wash’s time with them. So much focus goes on to building Ocean House, yet we never have any conclusion to this storyline. There is in fact no real conclusion to the story. The Morocco chapters feel rushed and again have no real purpose, then the story just ends. I had to flick back to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I wasn’t expecting a fairytale happy ending, but we got nothing. I almost feel as though Edugyan didn’t know how to wrap up Wash’s adventures.
Still I did enjoy the book, being disappointed that you don’t get the more from a character is, to me, a sign of excellent character writing. You follow Wash through so much, you care for him. I know some of the plots are far fetched, but this is a fiction, and it’s a great story. I didn’t feel like the unlikelihood of these circumstances took anything away from the enjoyment of reading.
I just felt a bit flat by the ending, I would have liked a bit more than what we were left with.