The Trees
Ratings53
Average rating4.2
A powerful, moving and darkly funny novel on the history and future of racial violence in the US. One of the best books I've read in 2022.
Equal parts scathing humour and eviscerating horror, this feels ripe for a Jordan Peele adaptation. I could happily continue reading as Everett skewers our current cavalcade of racists from the backwoods hillbillies who were “living proof that inbreeding does not lead to extinction” to the president of the United States stuck and cowering under the Resolute desk in the Oval Office forgetting his own wife's first name.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. We open on Money Mississippi with a dead and castrated white boy slumped beside a black man in a suit holding his severed testicles in his hands. It's a police procedural as two Black detectives try and unravel the mystery as the dead Black man mysteriously appears at the scene of another murder.
Everett is working on so many levels here from the broad to the subtle and meta textual. We have the vaguely voodoo Mama Z who has faithfully chronically every lynching in the United States since 1913 - all 7,006 of them - wryly noting to the published professor Damon Thruff that he has somehow constructing three hundred and seven pages on racial violence “without an ounce of outrage.” The Trees is about 307 pages from the Distinguished professor Percival Everett and it feels far from academic with the outrage hidden under a veneer of entertainment.
After reading ERASURE and JAMES, I looked forward to this novel, but did not enjoy it as much as these previous two books. Like most police procedurals I've read, there is very little exposition and an abundance of dialogue. Every character ends their scenes with quippy zingers and snarky commentary which becomes a bit tiring after a while. But the principal idea of the plot is interesting and the climax is worth reaching, making this book an enjoyable read even if a lot of the police investigation doesn't add much to the book's conclusion.
This book is about mainly lynchings and retribution for the racial crimes perpetrated by whites on people of color. A disturbing book and I was uncomfortable reading this book. Powerful, thought provoking, definitely everyone should read the book. I personally think that the book should berated 5 stars; however, there is an audience that will not read the book.
This book was uncomfortable to read from start to finish in the very best sort of way. It's a revenge horror satire, with each of those descriptors playing a part. The humor is dark dark, the crime scenes graphic, and the unexpected cameo by a certain election winner felt....honestly perfect. This novel will hold up well to re-reading, because there is just so much here. Really a standout.
Contains spoilers
I had no idea what I was getting into.
I was so pleasantly surprised when the tone finally clicked. I loved it but like so much absurdist satire it's hard to land. Especially with how real life rolled out.