"One minute there was a God with the whole world in his hands; the next minute the world was plummeting, ceaselessly, toward an ever-shifting bottom."
With this unprecedented year quickly coming to a close, I've got just a few more weeks to tackle my 2020 reading list and achieve my goal of reading a book a week. I've been not so patiently waiting to read Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom pretty much from the moment I closed the cover on her stunning debut Homegoing. I was left astounded at the way Gyasi brilliantly captured the enormous scope of systemic racism across the timeline of American history while maintaining a relatively small page count. The depth of emotion that she presented in 300 pages was masterful. This new novel clocks in at an even shorter page count but still delivers all of the emotional heft of a much larger work.
Gifty is in the 6th year of her doctorate studies at Stanford, working diligently each day to understand the inner workings of neurological processes. Specifically, her science deals with the tragic cycle of addiction and the emotional trauma it leaves in its wake. She watches as the mice navigate her experiment, getting their fix from a chemical concoction that keeps them coming back for more. Gifty sees the agony of the mice who are denied this drug. She sees the depression set in, the will to live diminishes, and the sheer desperation that fills the poor creatures. But these mice are mere pawns in a science project. For Gifty, the realities of addiction and depression hit much closer to home.
Gifty and her family moved from Ghana to Huntsville, Alabama when she was just a small child. Her father quickly left the family to start a new one, and her mother sought solace in the only place that was available to her, the evangelical southern church. With one parent out of the picture and the other too worried about protecting the soul of her family to have a real conversation with her children, Gifty and her older brother Nana formed an inseparable bond. The two could turn to each other no matter what. That is, they could until Nana injured himself on the basketball court. The rising star soon became dependent on prescription drugs, and the family was never the same.
Transcendent Kingdom sees Yaa Gyasi juxtapose science and religion through a grounded story about a family and their struggle to find their place in the world. There's no narrative gymnastics in this one. Gyasi deftly keeps her story small in scope, remaining intentional in the way she reveals the trauma of her characters. Her main character Gifty is a young woman caught between devotion to caring for her family and a desire to make more of her own life and become her own person. She longs to move on and make her mark on the world but is constantly held back by her past. She is simply unable to tend to one without neglecting the other. Gyasi has written a novel that is classical in its modernity, a story that is both of this time and transcendent of any particular moment in time. This family, these words, all come together to form one truly Transcendent Kingdom.
For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2020, 49)
I've seen so many glowing reviews for this book! I really need to read it one of these days.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely worth the time spent. Plus it is pretty short!
DeleteHomecoming was one of the first reads of the year for me when it released and I was enthralled with the writing and, as you say, what got packed into the condensed pages. I can't believe I haven't grabbed this one up yet. Great review, Ethan!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very different book from that one, but still an incredible read!
DeleteOh, and forgot to add, cheering you on for your book a week goal.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays!
Thank you! Happy holidays to you too!
DeleteI've been meaning to read something by Gyasi all years and it just hasn't happened. Gifty sounds like an amazing character and I like the theme of wanting so much for your future but feeling tied to the past.
ReplyDeleteShe is such a gifted author. I've really enjoyed both of her novels!
DeleteWell, your 2020 reading list just spilled over into my 2021 TBR list. ;D This book sounds amazing. I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteMy 2021 list is already huge haha
DeleteI liked her first book, it made me want to read something entirely set during the first story. WOuld sure be different
ReplyDeleteI agree. I love how she spent just enough time in each era to leave you wanting a little bit more!
DeleteBooks dealing with addiction always hit me hard, because I lost my cousin to drugs. Sounds very emotional
ReplyDeleteThis might hit a little too close to home then. But it is such a powerful read.
DeleteThis sounds like I definitely need to read it, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou absolutely should!
DeleteThat sounds really interesting but I'm not sure I could read a story with experiments on mice.
ReplyDeleteThere is one scene that is a bit graphic, but it is short enough that you could probably skim over it.
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