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Feb. 12th, 2009 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsOkay, it takes someone very special - in the best possible way - to write and pull off a noir novel about the shady underworld of elevator inspection.
Which is not the only reason why Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist is a really, really good book! Basically it is the story of Lila Mae Watson, the first black female elevator inspector in the Elevator Inspector's Guild, in a city that may or may not be a version of Manhattan and takes place at no set time but feels at any rate like it was filmed in grayscale. The city is torn in a bitter rivalry between the Empiricists - who believe in the traditional mode of elevator inspection - and the Intuitionists - who believe it is possible to tune oneself into the elevator and sense its elevator-y problems and desires. Lila Mae is an Intuitionist by practice, and has the highest success rate in the department, but isn't really a part of either political group - at least, not until one of her elevators plunges into total freefall, quite possibly taking her career with it.
Like in all the best noirs, Lila soon finds herself accidentally involved with secret shady conspiracies, double-crossers, goons and corrupt politicians (the leader of the Elevator Inspector's Guild has ties to the mob! They put the heat on reporters who might reveal elevator inspection secrets!) And, like in not all that many of the best noirs, the story engages with issues of race and class and philosophy and the dream of a better future (through the discovery of the perfect elevator, of course.)
I just have one complaint about the book - and that is, though it is very important to the novel that Lila Mae is the first black female elevator inspector, and we see another black elevator inspector who came before her and who is significant to the plot, there don't appear to be any other women in the Guild. Or if so, they're not mentioned. Is Lila Mae the first woman to be an inspector as well as the first black woman? Because that is important if she is, and should be talked about, I think! And if she's not, and there are other women in the Guild who are apparently as invisible as Lila Mae, then I sort of feel that . . . that should be mentioned too. I don't mean to say that the focus of the book should shift at all, but it seems clear that this is a sexist as well as a racist society, and it would be nice if it were at least touched on.
That aside, though, it's a pretty incredible story. I really liked it reading on my own; I also sort of wish I had a chance to read it with a class or a book group, because it's the kind of book that asks for in-depth discussion to start disentangling all the themes and metaphors underlying the plot.
Which is not the only reason why Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist is a really, really good book! Basically it is the story of Lila Mae Watson, the first black female elevator inspector in the Elevator Inspector's Guild, in a city that may or may not be a version of Manhattan and takes place at no set time but feels at any rate like it was filmed in grayscale. The city is torn in a bitter rivalry between the Empiricists - who believe in the traditional mode of elevator inspection - and the Intuitionists - who believe it is possible to tune oneself into the elevator and sense its elevator-y problems and desires. Lila Mae is an Intuitionist by practice, and has the highest success rate in the department, but isn't really a part of either political group - at least, not until one of her elevators plunges into total freefall, quite possibly taking her career with it.
Like in all the best noirs, Lila soon finds herself accidentally involved with secret shady conspiracies, double-crossers, goons and corrupt politicians (the leader of the Elevator Inspector's Guild has ties to the mob! They put the heat on reporters who might reveal elevator inspection secrets!) And, like in not all that many of the best noirs, the story engages with issues of race and class and philosophy and the dream of a better future (through the discovery of the perfect elevator, of course.)
I just have one complaint about the book - and that is, though it is very important to the novel that Lila Mae is the first black female elevator inspector, and we see another black elevator inspector who came before her and who is significant to the plot, there don't appear to be any other women in the Guild. Or if so, they're not mentioned. Is Lila Mae the first woman to be an inspector as well as the first black woman? Because that is important if she is, and should be talked about, I think! And if she's not, and there are other women in the Guild who are apparently as invisible as Lila Mae, then I sort of feel that . . . that should be mentioned too. I don't mean to say that the focus of the book should shift at all, but it seems clear that this is a sexist as well as a racist society, and it would be nice if it were at least touched on.
That aside, though, it's a pretty incredible story. I really liked it reading on my own; I also sort of wish I had a chance to read it with a class or a book group, because it's the kind of book that asks for in-depth discussion to start disentangling all the themes and metaphors underlying the plot.
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Date: 2009-02-12 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 06:24 pm (UTC)Seems...unintentionally comical?
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Date: 2009-02-12 06:27 pm (UTC)Like I said, most people could not pull it off, but somehow how he manages.
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Date: 2009-02-12 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-13 01:49 am (UTC)I've been thinking of joining a book club (once I move to civilization), because I miss talking about books in my daily life. I'm afraid of ending up in a pretentious one, though.
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Date: 2009-02-13 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-13 02:39 am (UTC)I don't know of any YA book clubs, though. Maybe I will start one.
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Date: 2009-02-13 04:01 am (UTC)You should! I would totally join. :D