Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club)
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Description
Winner of the Gotham Book Prize
One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year"
Oprah's Book Club Pick
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and TIME Magazine
A Washington Post Notable Novel
From the author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year.
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range.
The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood’s Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself.
As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters—caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York—overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion.
Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us.
Book Information
Posts
Das Buch hatte für mich leider überhaupt keinen roten Faden. Viele Charaktere, die teilweise nur wenig beleuchtet werden und zur Geschichte überhaupt nicht beitragen. Zum Schluss wird ein Charakter eingeschleust um eine Zusammenhang zwischen vielen wirren Bruchstücken herzustellen. Die Story ist lahm und der Schreibstil war auch nicht so besonders :( Hab das Buch gelesen, weils in der Readers Choice der NYT aufgeführt war. Keine Empfehlung
I really struggled with this book. I was really pumped to read it as I had heard alot of booktubers hype it and add it onto their tbr lists. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype for me. The writing was okay albeit a little exhausting because he kept repeating concepts too frequently. It would have done better to be shorter than it was. But I think the worst thing for me was that the story itself though mildly entertaining was an absolute bore. It didn't have any real purpose and it wasn't captivating as I thought it would be. Deacon Sportcoat was an okay character not great and I didn't find the humour in it engaging at all. The only memorable thing about him was that he was constantly drunk which wasn't written in an interesting manner to make me like him. Honestly I've felt like this was a waste of time to have read the book. I don't know how I would have chosen to end the book but in all honesty although it tied the concept together, the ending was anti-climatic. It also added to the whole effect of the book being directionless. I won't be picking up another of his books for a while just so I can recover from this mess I've pushed myself to read. This would be better as a TV show..
Description
Winner of the Gotham Book Prize
One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year"
Oprah's Book Club Pick
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and TIME Magazine
A Washington Post Notable Novel
From the author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year.
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range.
The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood’s Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself.
As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters—caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York—overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion.
Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us.
Book Information
Posts
Das Buch hatte für mich leider überhaupt keinen roten Faden. Viele Charaktere, die teilweise nur wenig beleuchtet werden und zur Geschichte überhaupt nicht beitragen. Zum Schluss wird ein Charakter eingeschleust um eine Zusammenhang zwischen vielen wirren Bruchstücken herzustellen. Die Story ist lahm und der Schreibstil war auch nicht so besonders :( Hab das Buch gelesen, weils in der Readers Choice der NYT aufgeführt war. Keine Empfehlung
I really struggled with this book. I was really pumped to read it as I had heard alot of booktubers hype it and add it onto their tbr lists. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype for me. The writing was okay albeit a little exhausting because he kept repeating concepts too frequently. It would have done better to be shorter than it was. But I think the worst thing for me was that the story itself though mildly entertaining was an absolute bore. It didn't have any real purpose and it wasn't captivating as I thought it would be. Deacon Sportcoat was an okay character not great and I didn't find the humour in it engaging at all. The only memorable thing about him was that he was constantly drunk which wasn't written in an interesting manner to make me like him. Honestly I've felt like this was a waste of time to have read the book. I don't know how I would have chosen to end the book but in all honesty although it tied the concept together, the ending was anti-climatic. It also added to the whole effect of the book being directionless. I won't be picking up another of his books for a while just so I can recover from this mess I've pushed myself to read. This would be better as a TV show..