Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

If anyone would like to lead the May discussion for SOMEONE LIKE US, by Dinaw Mengestu, please let me know. You can respond here or dm me directly. Thanks!

I have a hold for this at my library but unless a couple of people in queue ahead of me are fast readers or cancel their holds, I likely won't be reading this before June, unfortunately.

CJ wrote: "I have a hold for this at my library but unless a couple of people in queue ahead of me are fast readers or cancel their holds, I likely won't be reading this before June, unfortunately."

Fingers-crossed it works out for you, CJ.

Pleased to announce that the author, Dinaw Mengetsu will be joining us for this months discussion. Pick up your book, start reading and have your questions ready!

Don’t forget! Secure your library copy now, pick it up at your local indie store or get the ebook. Dinaw Mengestu is an amazing writer and this novel continues the trend!

I have this book. Happy it was picked for May Discussion and that the Author will be part of this. Always great when that happens.

Kristine wrote: "I have this book. Happy it was picked for May Discussion and that the Author will be part of this. Always great when that happens."

Same here, Kristine. A lot of material in this book for an interesting discussion. Get your questions ready!

Just finished this book. Wow. I need to sit with it for a while. I can’t wait to hear from the author, thank you to whoever made that happen. So much in this to talk about out, I loved this book.

Karen A wrote: "Just finished this book. Wow. I need to sit with it for a while. I can’t wait to hear from the author, thank you to whoever made that happen. So much in this to talk about out, I loved this book."

Karen, I so agree with you. I’m really in awe of his writing & storytelling…..And he contacted the group about answering questions and participating. How about that?!

Hi everyone--

Very grateful to all of you for choosing this novel to discuss. The novel in many ways reveals as much as it withholds, or perhaps it's better to say that it allows the characters to tell their stories obliquely, that it questions what it means to know or understand another person, and at the same time, all these characters are desperate to be known and understood, to be seen and cared for. The title of the novel comes in part from a line from Susan Sontag's Regarding the Pain of Others: for "the other, even when not an enemy, is regarded only as someone to be seen, and not someone (like us) who also sees. While writing this novel, I thought constantly about what it meant to create characters that were "relatable," and what it would take to create characters who were complex and fully formed, precisely because we don't know or understand everything about them. I'm happy to answer questions if it helps with the conversation. Thank you all again for creating this group, and to ColumbusReads for making space for me to join the conversation. yrs
DM

Thank you to the author for giving us a little of his thought process in writing the characters. Greatly appreciated.

ColumbusReads wrote: "Kristine wrote: "I have this book. Happy it was picked for May Discussion and that the Author will be part of this. Always great when that happens."

Same here, Kristine. A lot of material in this ..."

Columbus,

Have you set a reading schedule? I may have been remiss in not letting you know if I would lead the discussion, but I can't as I'll be out of the country the second half of the month. I can try to keep things moving the first half though.

Dinaw wrote: "Hi everyone--

Very grateful to all of you for choosing this novel to discuss. The novel in many ways reveals as much as it withholds, or perhaps it's better to say that it allows the characters to..."

Thanks for that, Dinaw. Before I get into the meat of the book,( I don't want to give away any spoilers for those still reading), I was wondering, do you still live and write in the DMV as I do? I've been lucky enough to have social and professional colleges and friends in the Ethiopian community here. Before retirement I worked as an agricultural economist. It was a popular profession for many Ethiopian academics.
Having read at least two of your other books the characters and locations jump off the pages for me.
I'm now at the last few pages of this one. It's a bit different in that, in your words, "it reveals as much as it withholds", and "it allows the characters to tell their stories obliquely". Key points.
I'm looking forward to the discussion!

Happy May 1st everyone!

Our discussion for Someone Like Us begins today. We are grateful to have the author join us this month. If I’m not mistaken, with SLU, we will have voted in & discussed three of his four books (All Our Names, The Beautiful Thing That Heaven Bears and now Someone Like Us). Unprecedented? Other than the classics - Baldwin & Morrison, not sure if we read any other as much.

As for the schedule. The book is broken into three parts. How about the following:

Part 1 - today thru 6th
Part 1/2 thru 12th
Entire book open May 13th

How does that sound?

William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "Kristine wrote: "I have this book. Happy it was picked for May Discussion and that the Author will be part of this. Always great when that happens."

Same here, Kristine. A lo..."

Ok, Bill. I figured you were busy and out of the country. Thanks much!

The author at Politics & Prose in DC. A bookstore I must visit the next time I’m in DC.

The reads from the book, talks about the themes and characters and answer questions.

https://www.youtube.com/live/xR6KxglV...

Question for the author:
I was immediately struck by the inclusion of photographs in the book. How they closely mirrored the scenes. The first photo coming a mere 13 pages into the book. I don’t ever recall seeing that in literary fiction before. Can you tell us what inspired you to do this? Were these photographs you searched for to fit the narrative or how did this come to be? Was it personal in any way? I thought it was expertly done for this book.

Dinaw, will you be participating any book festivals this year like the National Book Festival in Washington, DC?

There was a lot said about Mamush and Hannah's son in the first chapter. That after an active growth spurt in his first year he then started to regress. To the point that it seemed he had trouble even sittingup straight by himself. I was anxious to find out what might have been wrong with the child and how did it effect his parents but he seemed to pretty much disappear from the narrative in the rest of the book except when Mamush would tell himself how much he missed him. Wondering if this was a conscious decision to move the child to the background of the story?

William wrote: "There was a lot said about Mamush and Hannah's son in the first chapter. That after an active growth spurt in his first year he then started to regress. To the point that it seemed he had trouble e..."

I'd love to know that too - it is such an important and heart wrenching thing to drop - especially in a book that is so well crafted, without drawing attention to that craft.

To answer the question about the photos--the photos began to appear at first as an experiment. I was thinking of how Hannah could have a voice in the narrative that was not only distinct but also, if possible, outside of language. She communicates with Mamush through gestures and images, and so at some point after the first draft was completed, I put an image into the text to see how it looked. I began to also think about how Hannah, like the other characters, could attain a certain kind of autonomy, how she could have a voice that was not only separate from her husband's but was also to some degree independent of me as the author. I asked my wife, who is a photographer, if she would be interested in creating images that would go along with the text. She would have complete autonomy to construct the images as she saw fit, and fortunately, she was kind enough to agree to do so.

The images, hopefully, tell their own somewhat ambiguous story and grow in meaning and depth as the narrative progresses.

Mamush's behavior at the airport was the first indication to me that all was not well with him. I've had a lot of experiences in airports but never have I deliberately missed a flight in order to buy a ticket to another destination and kept that change of plans secret from my family. Why all the lies and deception?

William wrote: "Mamush's behavior at the airport was the first indication to me that all was not well with him. I've had a lot of experiences in airports but never have I deliberately missed a flight in order to b..."

Yes, I was taken aback by that as well. Both the mystery of why he intentionally missed the flight and the non-linear narrative of this story. It was all a bit of a mystery for me which I didn’t expect from reading his previous books. That element was unanticipated but I was delighted it was there.

Dinaw wrote: "To answer the question about the photos--the photos began to appear at first as an experiment. I was thinking of how Hannah could have a voice in the narrative that was not only distinct but also, ..."

Thanks for your response.

Yes, I thought the photos were a really good addition to the book, albeit uncommon in my experience reading literary fiction. Your wife did a fantastic job!

Anyone have any initial thoughts on the characters, plot or setting early in the book? Karen, I know you were able to finish it and have it 5 stars. Were you immediately intrigued by the story or did it have to gradually grow on you?

Have you read other books by the author?

Thoughts on the book cover?

ColumbusReads wrote: "William wrote: "Mamush's behavior at the airport was the first indication to me that all was not well with him. I've had a lot of experiences in airports but never have I deliberately missed a flig..."

I felt like Mamuch is equally mystified about why he did this. I read it a few months ago so the details are hazy now, but my lasting impression is that he fascinated me because he is a black box to himself and wants to stay that way. A complicated and interesting response to the advice he gets from the previous generation about keeping yourself safe by keeping yourself obscure to the wider world.

William wrote: "Dinaw wrote: "Hi everyone--

Very grateful to all of you for choosing this novel to discuss. The novel in many ways reveals as much as it withholds, or perhaps it's better to say that it allows the..."

ColumbusReads wrote: "The author at Politics & Prose in DC. A bookstore I must visit the next time I’m in DC.

The reads from the book, talks about the themes and characters and answer questions.

https://www.youtube.co..."
Thank You for this post

Agree on your initial synopsis

Nadine in California wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "William wrote: "Mamush's behavior at the airport was the first indication to me that all was not well with him. I've had a lot of experiences in airports but never have I deli..."

I too gathered on the mystique but found it equally compelling as he wanted to be known across the world and not remain mysterious. passing out Business Cards, offering rides to take you wherever you need to go, The Atlas so he always knew where he was where he had been ... who he had taken or seen or known there.
What do we know? Where are we? Oh the philosopher the answer is not I do not know, maybe it is I do not know enough even if there is ever an answer.

ColumbusReads wrote: "Question for the author:
I was immediately struck by the inclusion of photographs in the book. How they closely mirrored the scenes. The first photo coming a mere 13 pages into the book. I don’t ev..."

agreed! I was not thinking they were not the actual photos he/or his fiance (partner), and other characters had taken and saved and he discovered as he tried to find where he had been, come from and where he needed to go, to complete himself.

Enjoying the first-person narrative storytelling. There isn’t enough Ethiopian immigrant and first generation experience being published. We should know more about peopme around us. Everyone is full of stories.

Entire book open to discuss

In this book where folks seem to be constantly re-inventing themselves..where as soon as you think you know a character they quickly shed that skin ..I was musing over whether some of Mamush's problems could be traced o his drug use. At one point , when he was in Chicago it seemed that he was intent on a death by overdose. At other times his use seemed causal and coincidental. Whereas Samuel came across as crippled by drugs and alcohol. Which in itself seemed strange to me because I've always thought of the Ethiopian community as rather conservative and straight-laced.
Perhaps it was the authors point to show that beneath that veneer all is not what it seems.

William wrote: "In this book where folks seem to be constantly re-inventing themselves..where as soon as you think you know a character they quickly shed that skin ..I was musing over whether some of Mamush's prob..."

Yes, I was thinking it was everything going on around him, no? His struggles with the past and trying to understand Samuel; his failing marriage to Hannah and the family dynamics; and his career is in disarray. His drug use appears to be just a coping mechanism and escape for all the pain and issues he’s experiencing.

Mengestu said in 2012, “I think American literature is full of immigrant narratives. We know that story quite well. Part of what I’m definitely interested in doing is adding to the complexity and levels of the immigrant narrative in America.” What’s your thoughts on this? Has the landscape for the immigrant experience, particularly from the African diaspora improved since then?

What’s your thoughts on the circuitous route the book takes? Doesn’t unfold chronologically. Was this an issue for you?

Thanks for those who participated in the discussion. I would strongly encourage you to pick up this incredible book when you have an opportunity. We would also like to thank the author for joining us this month. The thread will remain open if you have additional comments.

My library hold finally came in today! Already started and am very intrigued by it so far.

CJ wrote: "My library hold finally came in today! Already started and am very intrigued by it so far."

Awesome. Would love to hear your thoughts.