Deacon King Kong by James McBride -- Spoilers

[Mary Anne]

They say you can’t tell a book by its cover. Well, I admit that I did not want to read this book because the title was off-putting. King Kong? Why would I want to read a book about King Kong? Eventually, someone straightened me out, and I am grateful for it.

Thanks to Larry, we look at some of the reviews the book received: https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/dea...

What I find so compelling about this book are his characters. It seems that sheer volume of very distinctive characters, a few with qualities that are stated in a scant few sentences, and others who are seemingly bit players but turn out otherwise. Here, I am talking about the love story that blooms between the policeman Potts and the church lady Miss Gee. If you want to relive that moment, reread chapter 9. Even mere ants have a role to play in this book!

And the nicknames:
Sportcoat
Hot Sausage
Hirly Girly – Funeral Director
Lightbulb
Pudgy Fingers
The Elephant
Miss Four Pie
Bum Bum
Soup
Potts

I could go on. Here is James McBride on Amanpour & Co:
https:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atwv-...

In this video, the interviewer mentions that the book takes place in 1969. That brings to mind the fact that there is very little in the book about the 60s, as tumultuous as those years were. We do hear bits about the 1969 Mets, but that’s it. With this, McBride underscores the isolation of the Cause Houses. McBride himself grew up in the Red Hook projects of Brooklyn. Also, the Five Ends Church, a community-raised church, and its importance within the community, comes through so strongly.

What strikes you about this book?

[Donna]

Loved the video interview - thanks Mary Anne! I loved that he said “do what you can do” because that has been my mantra for a while now. You know, you may not be able to control the things that are happening in the world around you, but instead of feeling hopeless and overwhelmed, just start where you are and do what you can do.

The book is a marvel and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished it a few days ago. It started out slowly for me - so, so many characters and I wasn’t sure where he was going with it all, but the second half of the book pulled everything and everyone together.

The thing that stood out for me the most was the humanity in the characters that made all of them recognizable and relatable. And I think this was surprisingly present even in Elefante and Potts - two characters who were outside of the periphery of the project community and maybe could have been viewed less sympathetically without access to their internal worlds. This novel - and all great literature, really - is saying that as humans we are all more alike than different, regardless of how we may appear on the outside.

Another thing that stood out for me was the dialog. It was hilarious in parts and just so pitch perfect. Again, in the interview, McBride mentions that it’s not always what is said but how it’s said that communicates the most. He also mentions how important it is to truly listen. I could hear the voices in the book play out in my mind as I read the dialog. It made the characters come to life.

[Ann D]

I read this book over a year ago and gave it 5 stars. The plot is wonderfully intricate and I had forgotten the details. This summary at Bibliofile helped me refresh my memory: https://the-bibliofile.com/deacon-kin...

At the time I read it, I noted that parts of the book made me laugh out loud, but the humanity of the characters also really touched me. Donna mentioned that underlying humanity as well.

McBride is a great story-teller. Like many of the best books I have read, this book took a while to get into, but I'm so glad I continued. McBride takes some time to set up all the characters, but he ties the different threads together in a most satisfying way by the end.

I am looking forward to the discussion.

[Mary Anne]

Here's James McBride at Politics & Prose, speaking about the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wfaQ...

Here's the full review in the New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

I love this comment in the New Yorker review:

And the sentences! The prose radiates a kind of chain-reaction energy. After some chapters, you feel empathetically exhausted, in the way you might feel drained by watching an overtime football game. The experience of traversing a simple flashback paragraph is like trying to leap from stone to stone across a river, except occasionally one of them turns out to be not a stone after all but a lily pad, or a shadow, and into the river you go ... A consciously suppressed anger emerges only rarely, but often enough to make you read the comedy differently.

A grammarian might say that the sentences are run-on sentences, but they seem to be fitting in this context. Does anyone have any favorite or least-favorite sentences they want to call out?

[spoko]

Just finished the book today, and really enjoyed every minute of it. Well, it might have taken me a bit to warm up, as Ann noted too. But all I really remember is that this has been my go-to book for the last few weeks, any time I want to just read for pleasure.

I have to say, it took me by surprise. The only thing I’ve read from McBride before was The Color of Water, which I enjoyed, but it didn’t really make me think that I’d love to read some fiction from that writer. Granted, that book is from 20-some years ago, but still. I didn’t see this one coming.

[Tamara]

I'm a bit late to the party. I started this yesterday and am about 100 pages into it. I'm loving it. It pulses with energy. The characters feel so alive and the dialogue realistic. And it's funny. Just amazing writing.

[Gina]

I agree, Tamara. I'm loving every minute.

[Tamara]

I finished it a few days ago.
I loved it! Hilarious, energetic, with delightful characters, authentic dialogue, and an exciting plot.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mary Anne]

Thank you, Spoko and Tamara, for your comments.

Spoko, I think you are right that one can keep going back to this book for the sheer pleasure of it, and you'll find a fresh sorrow, a new laugh, a complete delight that you forgot was there.

Tamara, I like your description that the book "pulses" or "sizzles" with energy. Very apt.

I know this is very stereotypical thinking, but I would love this book as a series. You would need a masterful director, though, who would build something powerful enough to muscle through the humorous scenes so they don't seem like throw-backs to Amos & Andy, but at the same time keep the audience knowing that this is a real community with real people who are just so special that you cannot turn away.

[Ruth]

The Amos and Andy factor was what made me give up on this book when I tried to read it a year or so ago. I fully intended to try it again for this discussion, but the time wasn’t right.

[Tamara]

Mary Anne wrote: "Thank you, Spoko and Tamara, for your comments.

Tamara, I like your description that the book "pulses" or "sizzles" with energy. Very apt.

I know this is very stereotypical thinking, but I would love this book as a series. .."

Thanks, Mary Anne.
I love your idea of turning the book into a series. I also think it would make a great movie.

[Gina]

Ruth wrote: "The Amos and Andy factor was what made me give up on this book when I tried to read it a year or so ago. I fully intended to try it again for this discussion, but the time wasn’t right."

It never occurred to me that this might be an Amos and Andy throwback. I was delighted by the characters. They seemed like real people. I will also want to reread just for the pleasure it brought me.

[Mary Anne]

Gina, I don't think McBride means it that way, which is why I say that it would take the right director to keep it just right.

Also, in one of the videos, McBride expresses his own surprise that his book turns into a love story, and notes that he didn't start it out that way. As a non-writer, I find it interesting that he didn't have the outline in mind all along.