It’s been so long! I
could blame my grading or my spring yard clean up or training for and running
The Flying Pig Marathon (Just the relay race -- I’m not CRAZY!) But I won’t. It was just a lull in my reading and writing.
A lull. I had read so many good books in
a row – books that I read every night, books that kept me from my grading and
general obligations – that it was bound to happen. I didn’t really like a book after I ripped
through those two Phillip Meyer books until I picked up The Good Lord Bird (GLB), and even this one took me 3 or 4 weeks to
read! At any rate, the lull is over!
James McBride, author of
GLB, is best known for The Color of
Water, a book I put down after 50 pages (no offense, James). I just didn’t like it. I resisted reading Good Lord Bird for a while, but then it kept having success in The Morning News Tournament of Books,
eventually winning the whole thing, so I felt like I had to give it a go. I respect the TOB judges and general commentating
community there at The Morning News;
they have rarely pointed me in a wrong direction.
And that was the case for The Good Lord Bird. The
voice is fresh and original and hilarious.
Many parts of the book reminded me of Huck Finn: the unique voice of a
young boy, the masquerading of that young boy as a girl and /or other
characters, the skewering of the racist and mean-spirited locals, the themes of
slavery, the powerful force of inertia, even in the face of injustice. Hey! I’m giving someone a dissertation topic here! Are you listening?
GLB is the story
of Henry “Onion” Shackleford, who is “saved” by the white abolitionist John
Brown. When Henry’s father is killed, John
Brown takes him away from his master (even though Henry didn’t necessarily want
that….) and enlists him in his cause.
Early on, Brown mistakes Henry for a girl, and for a variety of reasons
(mostly to get out of work) Henry maintains that disguise throughout the entire
book.
Henry calls John Brown “The Old Man,” and describes him as
God-fearing and God-loving, courageous and driven in his one great cause. He prays for hours, doesn’t seem to need food
or sleep, and is maniacally single-minded in his pursuit of freedom for the
slaves. I came to respect McBride’s
version of Brown, as the author intended, I believe. The Old Man is a little crazy, that’s for
sure, but his heart is pure.
The reader knows what happens at Harper’s Ferry even as
Brown and his followers are planning the raid (that’s dramatic irony, people)
and so even as Brown is deceived and betrayed and beset by bad luck we can
marvel at his strength of character and moral fortitude. Even our young narrator – a self-preservationist
if there ever was one -- is abashed at his desire to save his own skin. John Brown sets that kind of example.
McBride’s book made me want to learn more about Brown and his raid, and the internet didn’t disappoint.
I was surprised so many of the details of GLB were true, especially Brown’s relationship with Harriet Tubman
and Frederick Douglass. Actually, the
more I write about it, the more I wonder if The Good Lord Bird would be a useful book to teach
in my American Literature class…. It may
be time for a re-read with that purpose in mind! The lull is over!
