when history and storytelling met

Book Review: Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior

(blog section after the review*)

…. Itamar Vieira Junior’s Crooked Plow is a beautiful exploration of ideas, issues, and individuals that are rarely given attention. This book is a fabulous talisman for why reading is so important. This does not necessarily mean that the narrative completely and utterly altered my view on life or suddenly gave me answers to existence's greatest questions. However, through alleviating my ignorance of the plight and struggle of a whole group of people, its significance cannot be understated. The book fed me a previously unknown pain in a brilliantly constructed and wonderfully engaging narrative. The story follows the life of two sisters and a family who live on a plantation in Brazil. The family, along with others in the local community, is essentially modern-day slaves, yet it has been generations since the abolition of slavery. They are bound to work the land of these plantations from sunup to sundown, Sunday to Sunday, in exchange for the “privilege” to live on the land itself. As part of their deals (deal is perhaps overselling the casual and informal nature of these agreements), they are allocated a small plot on which they can grow food (only enough to sustain themselves and no more) and shelter (strictly made from mud, no permanent structures - these mud structures are constantly broken down and destroyed by heavy rain). This plantation is one of many scattered across Brazil that held hundreds of thousands of “workers” throughout the late 20th century. It was simply slavery under the guise of work and land allocation.

Viera Junior does a remarkable job of intertwining the historical events and triggers leading these people to their current standing with the immersive fictional narrative. Through this book, you come to gain a deep understanding not only of the chronological story of these people but also of their cultural and spiritual story. The origins of which begin with the African slave trade hundreds of years ago. The community we find in Crooked Plow is descended from African slaves forcibly brought over to Brazil around the 16th century (Brazil was, in fact, the first major slave society in the Americas, as well as being the last to officially abolish it in 1888). After several hundred years of enslavement, the eventual abolishment of slavery in the 19th century brought about a whole new set of issues for the previously enslaved, despite now being free under the law. This is where the story of our community truly begins.

As a result of a country that revolted against the abolition of slavery, those freed slaves struggled mightily to create a life of basic standing post-1888. This left them incredibly exposed to exploitation from the landowners and employers who had been so opposed to abolishment in the first place. In this disjointed environment, the only work available to them as a people was at these plantations and farms (an obvious lack of education and skill set for other work was a great hindrance and constraint). Farmers would lure recently freed slaves in with the promise of fair wages, housing, as well as other benefits, yet would force their hand into the types of deals I previously laid out. For those who had just left the bounds of enslavement, this was a choice of survival; they had no other option. That generation had to pick servitude over death, and so the cycle began. Generation after generation is trapped in a state of subjection. This perpetual cycle is only enhanced by the legal definition of themselves as a group. As descendants of African slaves, they were not granted the same land ownership rights and protection as the Native South Americans in the country. A whole ethnic group, trapped, forgotten, and forced into labor for survival.

It may seem as if the novel reads more as historical non-fiction based on my previous analysis and descriptions. However, this explanation of historical facts and impact shows just how incredible Crooked Plow’s narrative is. Except for a few dates and more specific details, the historical elements I just spoke to all came from the fictional narrative itself. Viera Junior’s storytelling blends perfectly these poignant events and realities with the development of characters and plots. He skillfully weaves these fundamental keys into speech, family stories, as well as spiritual happenings, to make the history of these people undeniably bonded with their living, breathing story; it’s beautiful.

The family at the center of the story is fundamentally important to a wide array of elements in the book. The two sisters at the core are bound together with a special closeness. The novel follows their journey from childhood to midlife as they and their family navigate the ever-challenging world they find themselves in. The story combines the clash of generations, the deeply rooted spiritual connection to the land and nature, as well as their battle for basic rights and eventual “freedom”. The novel depicts the development into a point of friction, intergenerationally, but mainly focusing on those holding them in servitude (the plantation owners). The sisters themselves are pivotal in the movement of resistance and demand for rights, as well as the spiritual elements of the narrative. Spirituality and reverence for the land and nature are essential to this family’s story, along with that of their people. It is one that only emphasizes the injustice in the lack of a legal connection and ownership.

Itamar Vieira Junior’s Crooked Plow is a wonderful and deeply engaging book. Its historical foundations, paired with the closeness of vivid and real narratives, are what make this book so great. Vieira Junior connects these objective events with incredibly deep and complex characters who communicate the repercussions of institutional and societal action way better than simply reading the facts. That then is why this book and many alike are so important. They can communicate to us in a way that statements of fact cannot. They can make us feel and understand better than any detailed school textbook or history class homework can. They place people, faces, and personalities into the crosshairs of history. Crooked Plow is more than the words written down, but those words speak loudly enough.

 

4/5

 

…I decided to flip the order of things a little bit for this week. Gave you the review first and then finished up with my thoughts on a topic. I mainly did this because up picked up Crooked Plow alongside Small Boat, so their discovery tales are identical - nothing to add in relation to the order in which I picked them off the shelf. However, another reason is because of the book itself. It would feel a bit rude, honestly, to preface a review of a novel such as this one with my incessant rambling. So here we are now instead. What I wanted to discuss here actually ties in rather perfectly with the opening of my last one. An apt conclusion to my comments on the importance and brilliance of library books. I say this because while as you can tell from these past two reviews, I absolutely loved my first round of pickups from the Naestved Library - 2 for 2 success rate. My next round of harvest was far less fruitful, however. Upon returning Crooked Plow and Small Boat, I picked up another pair of different, but potentially great reads. It was by the guide of Goodreads and the small selection in front of me that I picked up An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, as well as Exhalation by Ted Chiang. The first is a novel about an African American couple in Atlanta whose life is torn apart by the false imprisonment of the husband. The second is a collection of short sci-fi stories that tackle some of humanity's oldest questions. Both intrigued me greatly, and along with being slightly out of my wheelhouse, they excited me to delve in. Here’s where the bookend to my library comments comes. I didn’t really like them. Not much at all. An American Marriage was…fine. A tragic story with an almost cliché ending. There were certainly elements that opened my eyes to the plight and dynamics of African Americans in America. Yet, outside of that, the story was nothing particularly enthralling. That is a glowing review compared to what I will give of Exhalation. I couldn’t even finish it. After 100 or so pages, I had simply had enough. I tried, I really did. The first short story was okay, the second marginally better, but by the time I reached the third and was a good way into I had to tap out. I attempted to grit my teeth and will my way into liking it at first, with the hope that the story would pick up. But it never did. I felt like a toddler being forced by their parents to eat greens (for me, this was courgettes [Zucchini]. Yeah, I don’t know why I had a problem with that growing up, but I would go to war not to eat those as a child.) until I realised I’m an adult now and can eat pudding whenever I want, so I binned it off. 

Look, do I think it's good practice to stop reading whenever you feel a bit of friction? No. But at the same time, there are so many books out there, ones you could love and could do so much for you, that it seems offensively stubborn to always see a book through if you’re really not liking it. This series of events really emphasizes to me - and hopefully to you also - the advantages of library books. I would have been a whole lot more annoyed if I had spent a considerable sum on these two books. Maybe I would have stubbornly pushed through and enjoyed parts - I doubt it. But the fact remains the same, I was able to try these books risk-free as well as throw them back and quit without any consequences. So, to return to my original point from last week, try library books and give genres, styles, and authors you wouldn’t typically read a go. You might find something you love, or you might just get a DNF on an author the Guardian called “The best science-fiction writer of his generation”.