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Moon and the Mars
February 2022: Thought Provoking
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Moon and the Mars - Kia Corthron - 4.5 rounded down
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Just in case you were intrigued by the northern lights bit:https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/06...
Or Comet Donati:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_D...
There was a night just a couple years ago that you could see the aurora borrealus across most of eastern US...of course nyc was overcast as usual with those kinds of celestial events. Now of course I don't remember why they could be seen.
Theresa wrote: "There was a night just a couple years ago that you coul see the aurora borrealus across most of eastern US...of course nyc was overcast as usual with those kinds of celestial events. Now of course ..."I thought it was amazing that it could be seen all the way in Cuba.
I think that you would love the description and feeling of NYC during this time. Theo had an aunt who lived in Seneca Village where Central Park is now, but had to move because they were building the park.
I am not sure you could stand the punctuation and style. As I was reading it, I could really see it working well as a tv series, with wonderful and vibrant street scenes.
Booknblues wrote: "Theresa wrote: "There was a night just a couple years ago that you coul see the aurora borrealus across most of eastern US...of course nyc was overcast as usual with those kinds of celestial events..."I added to my TBR possibles list actually because of the mention you made of NYC. It would be something I would hope to borrow from library so if it was too irritating, I just return it. Now if a cheap ebook offer appears...
BTW she won the Center for Fiction's first novel prize for her debut novel in 2016. That is a library/writers/readers center in Brookkyn just a couple subway stops from Manhattan. It is where I took my Proust discussion group, and it also has a great bookstore. That award is competitive. Here is a link to the Center: https://centerforfiction.org/Since pandemic they offer a lot of excellent virtual options for readers and writers.
Theresa wrote: "BTW she won the Center for Fiction's first novel prize for her debut novel in 2016. That is a library/writers/readers center in Brookkyn just a couple subway stops from Manhattan. It is where I too..."I loved her first book and I read someone's glowing review of it or possibly heard it on NPR, but other than that it never got much buzz.
While each of them look at many of the same issues they read much differently.
I think if you read this one remembering she is a play wright, it will read much better.
On the youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT86F...
at about 20 minutes in she does a book reading. I think you can get a feel for the book from that. I was really impressed with it all over again listening to her reading.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Ulysses (other topics)Moon and the Mars (other topics)
The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter (other topics)
So, I will start this way several years ago, I had preordered The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter after reading a glowing review of it. It arrived in my kindle as I was flying cross country to Pittsburgh, to visit my mom who was failing due to Alzheimer's. Memories of that visit will forever be intertwined with the book which made my top 10 for the year.
I later learned that Corthron is a playwright and a tv writer for such series as The Wire. I vowed to read anything that she wrote and so when I saw Moon and the Mars was to be released, I jumped to purchase it.
While Moon and the Mars is quite different from Castle Cross, they do have certain similarities. Neither are short books and both examine the interconnections between characters and races and the historic dynamic behind it.
Moon and the Mars is told from the perspective of young 7 year-old Theo Brooks who lives in the Five Points district of New York City. Theo is an orphan whose father was Black and mother was Irish. She is loved and is being raised by both families. The main time frame of the book is from 1857 to 1863 and as Theo ages her voice develops.
This book does an excellent job in immersing the reader in NYC of that time. I was so impressed with the research that Corthron did in writing this book. I really learned so many things about this time in history. Who knew that there was a time in 1859 that the Aurora Borealis could be seen in Cuba or that Comet Donati came by in 1858 and will not be seen again for another 1600 years? So many details included in this book. So many details that I loved finding out about, but surely will make this book inaccessible to many.
I am not one who needs quotation marks, but I know many readers find it objectionable when they are forgotten. The reader really needs to go with the flow in order to appreciate Moon and the Mars.
There is the small sweet and bitter story of Theo and her family and there struggles set against the backdrop of the larger story of slavery, inequities and the social dynamic which often pits poor against poor and the way it impacted the 1850s and 1860s and how that plays out in our world today. This is a valuable story.
I'm not sure how many people will have the patience to read this book, which even I can see needed editing. I wonder if Corthron loved the time and the place so much that she didn't even want to let go of just a little of it.