Okay so we started reading Mumbo Jumbo, and to my utter
embarrassment I have no idea what's going on. I had little bursts of
understanding as I read, but as a complete story not a lot registered. I
thought the class discussion would clarify some things, but all it did was
throw me into a whole other spiral of confusion. So I'm just going to get down
everything I know and see if I can come to some kind of a consensus on what the
hell is happening.
The book starts out with the mayor, who's with who is most likely
a prostitute or something similar. He gets a call about some sort of sickness
and takes a break from being a sleazy bastard to be the kind of mayor people
generally trust. So far, so good. The problem I had was that I didn't expect
phonetic spelling, nor did I expect that grammar. I don't know what these
people are saying. There were almost no words commonly used in the English
language. Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo, if I may. Not only that, but I didn't
know what Jes Grew was referring to yet, so I assumed it was a literal plague.
Maybe Jes Grew refers to black culture? Is that racist? If
Jes Grew is black culture is Reed being racist for characterizing it as a
disease or is he writing it like that to point out that other people are
racist?
Pretty sure chapter 3 was a glitch. Reading it reminded me
of what happens when you have a really good idea but you're afraid you'll
forget it so you just write down whatever is in your head. It's like Reed was
brainstorming and he forgot to take the page out before publishing it.
That's pretty much all I've gotten out of the book so far,
but hopefully, as I continue reading, I'll get used to the style of writing.
Maybe I'll even figure out what the plot is.
Well, this post pretty much sums up my feelings on this book. It feels like someone wrote a book and then gave it to a 10 year old and told him to edit it and then just published that. Yet, I will admit it is kinda interesting and I'm curious to see where this book goes.
ReplyDeleteWell, this post pretty much sums up my feelings on this book. It feels like someone wrote a book and then gave it to a 10 year old and told him to edit it and then just published that. Yet, I will admit it is kinda interesting and I'm curious to see where this book goes.
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly starting to understand what's going on in this book (but very, very slowly). I think it's plausible that Jes Grew refers to black culture. Of course there's the historical context, but also because I think it makes sense that Reed would want to exaggerate the reactions to Jes Grew to point out/show the readers how ridiculous the racism towards black culture is. I also hope the book gets easier to read since the plot is so strange and interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe novel so far is extremely confusing. It jumps all over the place and is hard to follow. All the meanings are veiled and hidden behind typos, slang, and made up words. I agree that understanding what is happening isn't that complicated, as some of the scenes are pretty clear. Connecting the dots to form the plot is where the challenge lies for me.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone; I had trouble putting together any coherent comprehension of our first reading section (probably most of us did), but chapter 10 onward has actually congealed a lot of my thoughts. There seems to be a follow-able plot now with the bantering males at the Chitterling Switch, and I feel like the conversation between PaPa LaBas, Herman, and Abdul have placed things like Voodoo, the Jes Grew, and black culture into more context.
ReplyDeleteLike others have said, there is no doubt that this book is intentionally jarring. I'm just hoping that Reed decides he's had his fair share of fun slamming around his readers after these first few chapters and a more discernible plot emerges. Either that or we just have to get used to this. It's kind of fun, in a way, but I feel like he's obscuring any meaning he's actually trying to convey to us.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that I am not the only one that feels this way. I happen to agree with people in class who think that Reed is doing this knowing that it will mess with our heads. Like some of the people above, I hope that it will become more clear as time goes on but I am doubtful.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Reed is trying to make the book as confusing as possible because there's going to be numerous plots and subplots, with lots of twists and turns in the novel. You have to love his characters though.
ReplyDelete"Maybe Jes Grew refers to black culture? Is that racist? If Jes Grew is black culture is Reed being racist for characterizing it as a disease or is he writing it like that to point out that other people are racist?"
ReplyDeleteBut as PaPa LaBas and Reed both say, Jes Grew isn't a typical disease. It's an anti-plague; those who have it seem happier, livelier. It's "the delight of the gods." It's only those who are against Jes Grew who treat it like a dangerous disease; when (if?) Reed describes it that way directly, I have a feeling he's being ironic/messing with POV.
Honestly, the book isn't making much sense to me so far and it's definitely a difficult read (pun unintended), but I'm enjoying the characters and plot (what I can understand, anyway). I want to see where this goes.
Same, man. Mumbo Jumbo is really confusing to me. I understand who the narrator is or where they are coming from, not to mention we just keep jumping around. In terms of Jes Grew representing black culture, I don't think that the author is being racist. I think he's trying to present a heightened and ironic version of how people against integration might have felt.
ReplyDeleteThe entire book is hella confusing to say the least. It jumps from character to character making it hard to get into the mind of a single character. It also makes it really hard to keep track of who is who and their role in the book. I think it would be really help if there was like a character list somewhere in the book. Obviously, we should be able to do this ourselves. But, with Mumbo Jumbo, it is very easy to miss details regarding a certain character because of how jumpy the novel is, no matter how close you read the book.
ReplyDelete