Monday, April 30, 2018
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan is such a unique book that you must read it! Set in WW2 Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied France and in the 1990s in the USA and Poland, this historical fiction novel tells the tale of Sid Griffiths, a jazz bass player. Sid and his fellow players Heironymous (Heiro) Falk, Chip Jones, and Ernst, along with a their friend Delilah, must hide their jazz playing in Germany because Hitler has outlawed it. They eventually flee Germany hoping to find a better life in Paris, France. Unfortunately, Nazis invade Paris a few years later and their lives are in turmoil again. Escaping Paris becomes their only hope of survival, but it proves to be quite difficult. Heiro is captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp.
Flash-forward 60 years and Chip visits Sid, still his best friend, and pleads with him to go to Poland to see a documentary about Heiro, their former band member and friend. Sid reluctantly agrees and during the film, Chip reveals that it is Sid's fault for Heiro's capture. Sid is infuriated and storms away, leaving the audience to wonder if Sid really is responsible or not. The book continues to switch between the two time periods and we learn about their lives, their struggles, their loves, their losses, and their music.
We also learn that Heiro may actually be alive, despite his friends thinking he's been dead for decades. Chip convinces Sid to travel to Poland with him to try to find Heiro. Whether or not Heiro is alive is the mystery of the novel which I will not spoil for you. Along this journey, however, the men reveal more and more about their pasts and secrets are revealed, secrets neither men can hide from any longer.
As a huge fan of WW2 historical fictions, I knew I would enjoy this book. I learned so much and didn't realize how badly jazz musicians were treated. I did know that black Germans - or any black person for that matter - were rounded up by the Nazis and most were killed. But this novel provided a new perspective on this rather delicate and under-represented topic. We tend to focus only on the Jews who were killed, but there were any other races and cultures that were targeted by the disgusting antics of the Nazis.
This book is a very challenging read, however, because of its unique language style. The book is told from Sid's perspective and Sid speaks as did most of his fellow black musicians, with unusual slang, improper grammar, and many errors. Sometimes, as a result, I had to reread paragraphs to grasp what was happening. As an English teacher, it's always difficult to read text that is not correctly written. But this language style is necessary to understand the character and the world in which he lives. This language style helps to make the novel more authentic and immersive.
I can easily see why this novel made it to the Booker Prize finalists. It's educational, humorous, heart-breaking, mysterious, and captivating. You should certainly read it!
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