James McBride's "DEACON KING KONG"
Review by Dennis D. McDonald
Having grown up in a lily white Midwestern suburb in the 20th century I have no idea how accurate the 1969 Brooklyn underclass cultural details presented in Deacon King Kong are. They certainly sound realistic especially as performed by the narrator Dominic Hoffman in the recorded version of this sprawling novel.
Each of the myriad characters has a unique voice. This is essential if one is to keep track of the multiple story arcs that loop and intertwine from beginning to end.
There is rage aplenty at ingrained racial and economic inequality, sometimes subtle, and sometimes overt. We have young and old blacks, urban and rural backgrounds, petty criminals and gangsterish drug dealers, Irish cops, Italian gangsters, Haitians, Puerto Ricans, and lots of church ladies. The author plays with stereotypes while standing them on their ear thus forcing us to see beyond the stereotypes to the fundamental humanity of all.
People are definitely the victims of “the system“ here but the stories of how they survive the evils of drugs, poverty, and systemic racial oppression are always fascinating and sometimes profound.
The central character is a “lovable old drunk“ whose story plays out in ways that eventually tie together all the storylines in both expected and unexpected ways.
What mysteries there are that seem to underlie the motivations (both bad and good) of the players are only gradually revealed. Thankfully, these mysteries never really overpower the insights provided by the author into why the characters behave as they do. We end up caring about these people. Despite all the tragedy, cruelty, stupidity, coincidences, and laugh out loud humor that emerge along the way, these people seem real.
By the end of the book it is hard to avoid the sense that one of the things the author is attempting in Deacon King Kong is express the fundamental idea that the only way we can overcome our differences is to embrace our common humanity no matter how diverse our backgrounds. Whether or not that such idealism is realistic or naïve is left up to the reader.
Review text copyright (c) 2022 by Dennis D. McDonald