The nostalgia presented in this novel so far is overwhelming, and I love it! The early pages took me back to my own family road trips, crammed into the backseat with both my brother and my sister. While we never ventured up to the Hamptons (it was mostly south Mississippi for us), I can definitely empathize with getting out of bed and trying not to really wake up so I could sleep through some of the long trip. I loved the way Benji described how he and his brother, Reggie, were joined at “the spot on yourself where you meet the world.” I thought that was such a poignant description, especially given the ages they were during the beginning of this novel.
To me, the most salient pieces of this novel so far have been the discussions of race. While Benji seems to have a great sense of humor revolving around such a heavy topic, you can still read through to sincerity, truth, and real emotion. I thought the inclusion of the song lyrics from the Carpenters in opposition to a song played on the black top 40 was a great introduction into the types of messages communicated. I think there is an interesting juxtaposition between Benji’s family having a high socio-economic status and his father’s feelings of identity with the black power movement (p. 15). Of course in reading further, we do see that Benji is also aware of this “paradox” (p. 57).
Another telling example of race relations was Benji’s mention of The Rock (p. 36) which served as delineation between the white and black people on the beach. Once again, a very poignant example of symbols that segregates. What examples can you think of that serve as Rocks in today’s age? I immediately start to think of neighborhoods and schools.
The other piece that has stood out to me in the readings so far has been the allusion to Benji’s coming of age. Obviously, his hormones are raging, but several other examples, such as his decision to start going by Ben rather than Benji (p. 32). You can see that he’s also starting to look at the world more critically in his recognition that “everybody was faking it” (p. 66) when seeing his friends fumble through a handshake. I can only speak assuredly for myself, but didn’t we all go through middle school and early high school “faking it?” Trying desperately to align ourselves with what everyone else was doing, or with what we thought we should be doing, for fear of being an outlier and easy target.
So far, I find this novel to be very telling, very honest, and also entertaining. I love all the pop culture references and the almost stream of consciousness-type writing style. What do you all think so far?
Ellen
I like that the character Benji is racially/culturally aware and aligned but he's not a simplistic, one dimensional portrait. There are unexpected pieces, like his musical choices, that make him a more three dimensional, real character.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting that, while he seems to be solidly middle or upper middle class, he still must deal with the same race-based realities (like the segregation, etc.) that African Americans of all SES levels most likely deal with.
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