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Long Division (2013)

by Kiese Laymon(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1932841725 (ISBN13: 9781932841725)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Agate Bolden

review 1: Kiese Laymon brought it in Long Division, playing around with time, space, place and race in a way that was dizzying at times (and I mean "dizzying" as a positive here). He brought deep South poverty and relationship to life here. Laymon's Long Division read like a memoir to me, one with an important lesson about the past, present and future not necessarily being written in stone. Wonderful characters, realistic actions, a fiction novel that didn't feel like fiction. That's what made it a very good read. As someone who looks at most fiction the way most people look at brussels sprouts, Laymon's Long Division was a welcome change, and a reminder to pick up and read some Octavia Butler after a 23-year hiatus.
review 2: A teenager named City in 2013 reads a book c... morealled Long Division about a teenager named City in 1985 who travels through time to 1965 and 2013. 1985 City is also reading a book called Long Division. Are you with me so far? The book’s exuberant dialogue and storytelling style reminded me a bit of Junot Diaz. The book also reminded me of The Invisible Man; 2013 City could be seen as a representation of the African American experience in the 21st century; the book both obliquely and directly touches on issues such as affirmative action, institutionalized racism, internalized racism, feminism, the civil rights movement, etc. The Invisible Man homage certainly would explain some of the stranger aspects of the story. However, despite the promise of great ideas and original packaging, the execution didn’t work for me. I found the time travel/story within a story metafiction confusing. less

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