Rage in Harlem, A (A Grave Digger & Coffin Ed Novel) in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 20, 2014 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: new-york-city, noir, black-voices

Himes is something of a lost gem, but the visceral strength of his work shines through. He's exploring social underbellies in the vein of Hammett or Chandler, but putting his own unique perspective on the tone and circumstances. A series that I'm looking forward to for much enjoyment to come. ...more

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Sep 01, 2021 Missyjohnson1 rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Disjointed. For the most part this almost read like a comic book. The con games, fighting, murder and all other sorts of vice. The dialogue seemed stilted and was certainly dated, but the book was written in 1958. that also may not be a fair assessment as I am not the least bit aware of how folks in Harlem spoke to each other back in the 50’s. There were a few places where the author did a good job of describing the neighborhood and tenements. Some were vividly and nicely written, the rest with ...more

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Jun 14, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, nyc, hard-boiled

He didn’t care whether it was a man, woman, or child he was kicking. He was riding a lightning bolt of maniacal violence, and all he could see was a red ball of murder.

How have I lived this many years without reading a Chester Himes novel??? I'd never even heard of him until a few years ago. How many other amazing books/authors are lurking out there, waiting for me to read them??? Better late than never?

I wasn't really surprised to discover that it's excellent, because other reviews had indi

He didn’t care whether it was a man, woman, or child he was kicking. He was riding a lightning bolt of maniacal violence, and all he could see was a red ball of murder.

How have I lived this many years without reading a Chester Himes novel??? I'd never even heard of him until a few years ago. How many other amazing books/authors are lurking out there, waiting for me to read them??? Better late than never?

I wasn't really surprised to discover that it's excellent, because other reviews had indicated that. And I was delighted but not really surprised to find that it's a clear influence on popular modern mystery novels, from Mosley's Easy Rawlings to Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. What surprised me the most was that it's funny!!. How can a gritty, hard-boiled, blood-spattered crime novel also make me laugh out loud? I don't know, but it did. I think Himes was an influence on the Pixar movie The Incredibles, too!

This exchange (between Imabelle's sister and Imabelle's gullible boyfriend) is just a few steps away from Frozone yelling "where's my supersuit?!":

“You know where she might be?”

“Do I know where who might be?”

“Imabelle?”

“Oh, her? How do I know if you do not know? You are the one who is keeping her.”

“Know where I can find Jodie, then?”

“Jodie? And who might Jodie be?”

“I don’t know his last name. He’s the man who told you and Imabelle about the man who raises money.”

“Raises money for what?”

Jackson was getting mad. “Raises it to spend, that’s for what. He raises dollar-bills into ten-dollar bills and ten-dollar bills into hundred-dollar bills.”

She turned around from the stove and looked at Jackson.

“Is you drunk? If you is, I want you to get out of here and do not come back until you is sober.”

“I ain’t drunk. You sound more drunk than me. She met the man right here in your house.”

“In my house? A man who raises ten-dollar bills into hundred-dollar bills? If you are not drunk, you is crazy. If I had met that man, he would still be here, chained to the floor, working his ass off every day.”

But "funny" doesn't mean "light-hearted." There are some slapstick antics, yes. But Himes is not just playing here, he's dishing up some nitty gritty realness. People lie and cheat and steal and double cross. People are brutally murdered. Lives burn out quickly. Harlem glimmers under a dark murkiness.

Looking eastward from the towers of Riverside Church, perched among the university buildings on the high banks of the Hudson River, in a valley far below, waves of gray rooftops distort the perspective like the surface of a sea. Below the surface, in the murky waters of fetid tenements, a city of black people who are convulsed in desperate living, like the voracious churning of millions of hungry cannibal fish. Blind mouths eating their own guts. Stick in a hand and draw back a nub.

That is Harlem.

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