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A review by bibliorow
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0
JCO has so many different writing styles that it feels like all of her books are written by different authors. This latest release is a poetic and eloquent literary journey of a family after the death of the patriarch. In the midst of the family’s individual lives, the story is timely and topical in that it tackles police brutality and corruption, and addresses racism. But the main focus is on the family, the five children and the widow as they mourn and try to move on from the death of their father at the hands of police. For the most part, the adult children are absolutely terrible people - Virgil, Sophia, and Jessalyn were the only characters I genuinely liked and found parts of myself in. The other characters are written to be hated. Beverly and Lorene and Thom each have their own struggles, but they are so unlikable. However this book is just written so well that I gave it 5 stars because of the flow of the story and the journey of each of the characters. The ending leaves a few things unanswered but it’s easy for the reader to draw their own conclusions. This is a very dense novel but it’s full of personality and life.
Now, speaking on the racism and police brutality that underlies this story. I think it’s done in a respectful way as it’s written by a white woman, and the victim of police brutality is a white man. I think JCO was writing in the way she knew how. It would’ve been different if she as a white woman was writing about a Black character who had died at the hands of police. But I think this novel still does a good job of showing the corruption and racism in law enforcement, without being inappropriate.
That being said, it’s not even the focus of the novel - the focus is the family. It feels maybe a little bit off to write a novel that starts with police brutality, and then only make that a small part of it. While I loved this book for the language and style, it just feels like it could’ve or should have been written in a different way. Racism is a theme in this novel but it’s not really what the story is about. I’m thinking of JCO’s “Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart,” a book that deals with race at the center of it and is largely structured around it. I’m struggling to put my thoughts coherently but I think what I’m trying to say is that this novel missed an opportunity, although it still touches on important topics.
Now, speaking on the racism and police brutality that underlies this story. I think it’s done in a respectful way as it’s written by a white woman, and the victim of police brutality is a white man. I think JCO was writing in the way she knew how. It would’ve been different if she as a white woman was writing about a Black character who had died at the hands of police. But I think this novel still does a good job of showing the corruption and racism in law enforcement, without being inappropriate.
That being said, it’s not even the focus of the novel - the focus is the family. It feels maybe a little bit off to write a novel that starts with police brutality, and then only make that a small part of it. While I loved this book for the language and style, it just feels like it could’ve or should have been written in a different way. Racism is a theme in this novel but it’s not really what the story is about. I’m thinking of JCO’s “Because it is Bitter and Because it is My Heart,” a book that deals with race at the center of it and is largely structured around it. I’m struggling to put my thoughts coherently but I think what I’m trying to say is that this novel missed an opportunity, although it still touches on important topics.