Rowena's review
The Fortress of Solitude
by Jonathan Lethem
Rowena's review
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Rowena's review
rating:
The Fortress of Solitude is aptly named. At first the title didn't quite click with me but after finishing the book, I see what Lethem meant to evoke. The story begins in Brooklyn, Boerum Hill to be exact. In the 70's it was a dump... gentrification a far-off wonder. Dylan Ebdus is encouraged by his ex-hippie mother, Rachel to "play" with the black children on the block, and to shun the few whites that were scattered about. Dylan's father, Abraham, is an abstract and abstracted painter who doesn't immediately see Dylan as a pressing concern.
Dylan grows up in this almost-all black environment of Boerum Hill and learns to be both proud and ashamed of his "whiteness." He discovers he's smart enough to launch himself out of the slums, acing entrance exams to both prestigious high schools and colleges. However, Dylan is constantly haunted by what and whom he's left behind, particularly his childhood friends, Mingus Rude and Arthur Lomb.
The most interesting charac...more
Dylan grows up in this almost-all black environment of Boerum Hill and learns to be both proud and ashamed of his "whiteness." He discovers he's smart enough to launch himself out of the slums, acing entrance exams to both prestigious high schools and colleges. However, Dylan is constantly haunted by what and whom he's left behind, particularly his childhood friends, Mingus Rude and Arthur Lomb.
The most interesting charac...more
