THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead

THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead

Truthfully, I don’t know if I’ve recovered completely from reading this masterpiece in order to eloquently put my thoughts and feelings into words. Colson Whitehead managed to fit into 200 pages was others try to accomplish in 800. He fit decades of insurmountable struggle, oppression, and trauma into these pages, each word of each sentence sitting on the page like an iceberg, hiding so much damage and heartbreak beneath the surface. Not one word was out of place among these pages. Everything about this book was perfect, in whatever way such a painful story can be.⠀
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This book was like so many greats before it, like Native Son and To Kill a Mockingbird and Invisible Man, in that it told me stories of things I’ve always known existed while simultaneously teaching me of things I couldn’t even begin to grasp. My heart broke for the boys of this story, from the first page to the very last. ⠀
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I could say so much more, but my words won’t ever do this story justice. So instead I’ll say this: novels like this one are few and far between. Don’t let this one pass you by, my friends.⠀
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CW: violent and graphic, derogatory language, child abuse, dead children, corporal punishment, child molestation, reformatory school setting