Behold the Dreamers (by Imbolo Mbue)
This highly acclaimed novel has a highly acclaimed audiobook version, and fit the last category I needed to complete the 2017 Read Harder Challenge: By an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative.
Behold the Dreamers is about the Jonga family from Cameroon trying to make it in America, and the rich, white family they work for. (The husband works for Lehman Brothers in 2007, so you can imagine how well that works out.) Barack Obama's campaign and election also are in the background, influencing how the African characters think of America. It's a meditation on, of course, the American Dream, and what it means to these two families -- and how that changes over the course of the novel.
The narrative is not as predictable (or, dare I say, as black-and-white) as the description maybe makes it out to be. The rich white family is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes not. The poor immigrant family is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes not. I appreciate the complexity of the ending, too -- this could have been so tricky and I feel like Mbue really nailed it.
The production of the audiobook is indeed outstanding. Prentice Onayemi does a wonderful job with all the voices and accents. Overall a nice way to round out the Read Harder Challenge -- which, this year, was indeed challenging because it included Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Here is the final list:
Total: 24/24
[X] Book about sports: The End of the Perfect 10
[X] Debut novel: All the Birds in the Sky
[X] Book about books: Among the Janeites
[X] Set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author: 100 Years of Solitude
[X] By an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative: Behold the Dreamers
[X] All-ages comic: Princeless
[X] Published between 1900 and 1950: The Custom of the Country
[X] Travel memoir: Wild
[X] Book you’ve read before: I re-read, but did not blog about, Murder on the Orient Express
[X] Set within 100 miles of your location: Tales of the City and All the Birds in the Sky
[X] Set more than 5000 miles from your location: The Three-Body Problem
[X] Fantasy novel: Carry On
[X] Nonfiction book about technology: Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime
[X] About war: The Fall of the House of Dixie
[X] YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
[X] Book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country: The Handmaid's Tale
[X] Classic by an author of color: Kindred
[X] Superhero comic with a female lead. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1
[X] A book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
[X] An LGBTQ+ romance novel: Treasure
[X] Published by a micropress: Joy
[X] Collection of stories by a woman: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
[X] Collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love: Anxiety of Words
[X] A book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and many others
Behold the Dreamers is about the Jonga family from Cameroon trying to make it in America, and the rich, white family they work for. (The husband works for Lehman Brothers in 2007, so you can imagine how well that works out.) Barack Obama's campaign and election also are in the background, influencing how the African characters think of America. It's a meditation on, of course, the American Dream, and what it means to these two families -- and how that changes over the course of the novel.
The narrative is not as predictable (or, dare I say, as black-and-white) as the description maybe makes it out to be. The rich white family is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes not. The poor immigrant family is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes not. I appreciate the complexity of the ending, too -- this could have been so tricky and I feel like Mbue really nailed it.
The production of the audiobook is indeed outstanding. Prentice Onayemi does a wonderful job with all the voices and accents. Overall a nice way to round out the Read Harder Challenge -- which, this year, was indeed challenging because it included Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Here is the final list:
Total: 24/24
[X] Book about sports: The End of the Perfect 10
[X] Debut novel: All the Birds in the Sky
[X] Book about books: Among the Janeites
[X] Set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author: 100 Years of Solitude
[X] By an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative: Behold the Dreamers
[X] All-ages comic: Princeless
[X] Published between 1900 and 1950: The Custom of the Country
[X] Travel memoir: Wild
[X] Book you’ve read before: I re-read, but did not blog about, Murder on the Orient Express
[X] Set within 100 miles of your location: Tales of the City and All the Birds in the Sky
[X] Set more than 5000 miles from your location: The Three-Body Problem
[X] Fantasy novel: Carry On
[X] Nonfiction book about technology: Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime
[X] About war: The Fall of the House of Dixie
[X] YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
[X] Book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country: The Handmaid's Tale
[X] Classic by an author of color: Kindred
[X] Superhero comic with a female lead. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1
[X] A book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
[X] An LGBTQ+ romance novel: Treasure
[X] Published by a micropress: Joy
[X] Collection of stories by a woman: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
[X] Collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love: Anxiety of Words
[X] A book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and many others
Labels: 2017 read harder challenge, audiobook, litfic
posted by mo pie at 3:05 PM
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