Ring Shout
by P. Djèlí Clark
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"In this dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan's reign of terror, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. show more Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan's demons straight to Hell. But something awful's brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up. Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?"-- show lessTags
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The Publisher Says: Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns with Ring Shout, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan's reign of terror.
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest thoughts and wishes from the heart of America. Now, rising in power and prominence, the Klan has a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.
Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she's not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she's fighting monsters she calls "Ku Kluxes." She's damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh—and her show more own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
I RECIEVED A REVIEW DRC OF THIS TITLE VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Seriously, this would've been a full five-star read had it not been for nine, maybe ten, w-bombs dropped like seagull shit on a picnic.
That's where we start, mes vieux, that's all in the first thirty or so pages! You are in medias res, and no doubt in your mind that you're not gettin' the full burden of the lyric. To help you along, our generous cicerone Author Clark offers us, in the voice of a crossdressing Harlem Hellfighter, this perfect summation of how Griffith's sorcerous manipulation of the US took such easy hold:
Still works today. 45's vile "basket of deplorables" full up on that kind of scumbag. Hating people is as old as humanity, and the ones that're least like your sacred itty self are the easiest to get in the habit of downin' on. (I'm sure not innocent of this: I hate the Deplorables with a cold, contemptuous superiority. "Me? Like that no-class lowbrow hillbilly? I don't think so, and fuck you for thinking it.")
And then there's the delight, once you've figured out the Klans are people and the Ku Kluxes are actual, terrible monsters, of trying to get your head around why that should be, how that came about in our horrible-but-not-supernaturally-haunted time/space nexus. Author Clark got you covered:
She right on that. Can tell a Ku Klux straight away by all the water they drink. Colored folk who lived through the first Klans say they'd empty whole buckets, claiming they was the ghosts of soldiers from Shiloh. More water, they'd demand. Just come from hell, and plenty dry.
Can't be clearer than that...this isn't quite your (great-)grandmother's 1922. And yet has all the problems...none of the help.
Our story winds through Nana Jean, an old Gullah root woman, who sets up a team to fight the Ku Kluxes. She, and our narrator Maryse, are guided by three spirit-world women analogous to the Norns and other Triune Goddesses whose purpose is to maintain balance in their worlds. Maryse, Chef, and Sadie, all uniquely damaged and so able to access their existential rage, are the action arm of Nana Jean's ring-shout circle. Now, this is deep and old stuff, and there is not one single chance any of y'all reading this review have got the background in Vodoun, hoodoo, and all the other African and African-inflected spiritual practices to get every reference. I could link every third word in here, and that's just to the few little references I got. But don't feel too left out, twenty-first centurians, Author Clark uses a lot of literary references, too. Sethe, for example: a scientific type, aiding the group's scientist Molly, and proficient with a weapon. Honoring, I suppose I should say, Toni Morrison's immortal mother who loved her child so hard she made a haint of her. And haints there are in this story, plenty of them, their many, many songs of fear and betrayal and suffering powering Maryse's unique weapon of cleansing and destruction of evil and wrongness.
I have deliberately not reproduced Nana Jean's Gullah dialect. I consider it disrespectful for me to do so. You'll know when you see it whether you agree with me or not.
You're thinking that all this is going somewhere, but where...well, several places including through a forest of bottle trees, to an Angel Oak, into a place where there are Night Doctors of the *most*horrifying*sort* and whose lust for humanity's pain is unquenchable, and finally to a screening of The Birth of a Nation that is beyond your or my ability to conjure. It is a beautiful thing to be frightened by the capacity of people to hate. This book is a prayer to whatever force(s) rule the Simulation to open up our eyes.
There's a reason the last words spoken in the story are, "'Bout damn time!" show less
D. W. Griffith is a sorcerer, and The Birth of a Nation is a spell that drew upon the darkest thoughts and wishes from the heart of America. Now, rising in power and prominence, the Klan has a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.
Luckily, Maryse Boudreaux has a magic sword and a head full of tales. When she's not running bootleg whiskey through Prohibition Georgia, she's fighting monsters she calls "Ku Kluxes." She's damn good at it, too. But to confront this ongoing evil, she must journey between worlds to face nightmares made flesh—and her show more own demons. Together with a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter, Maryse sets out to save a world from the hate that would consume it.
I RECIEVED A REVIEW DRC OF THIS TITLE VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Seriously, this would've been a full five-star read had it not been for nine, maybe ten, w-bombs dropped like seagull shit on a picnic.
The Birth of a Nation came from a book. Two books really—The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots, by a man named Thomas Dixon. Dixon's father was a South Carolina slaveowner in the Confederacy. And a sorceror.
–and–
Sadie got it into her head that the Warren G. Harding government knows about Ku Kluxes. Say she pieced it together from the tabloids. That Woodrow Wilson was in on {D.W.} Griffith's plan, but it got out of hand. And now there's secret departments come about since the war, who go round studying Ku Kluxes. Girl got some imagination.
That's where we start, mes vieux, that's all in the first thirty or so pages! You are in medias res, and no doubt in your mind that you're not gettin' the full burden of the lyric. To help you along, our generous cicerone Author Clark offers us, in the voice of a crossdressing Harlem Hellfighter, this perfect summation of how Griffith's sorcerous manipulation of the US took such easy hold:
"Oh, I disagree," Chef {the Hellfighter} retorts. "White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages. But knowing we on the bottom and they set above us—just as good, maybe better.
Still works today. 45's vile "basket of deplorables" full up on that kind of scumbag. Hating people is as old as humanity, and the ones that're least like your sacred itty self are the easiest to get in the habit of downin' on. (I'm sure not innocent of this: I hate the Deplorables with a cold, contemptuous superiority. "Me? Like that no-class lowbrow hillbilly? I don't think so, and fuck you for thinking it.")
And then there's the delight, once you've figured out the Klans are people and the Ku Kluxes are actual, terrible monsters, of trying to get your head around why that should be, how that came about in our horrible-but-not-supernaturally-haunted time/space nexus. Author Clark got you covered:
"Thought you was a godless atheist{," Sadie smirked.}
"I am. But who's to say our universe is alone? Maybe there's others stacked beside us like sheets of paper. And those Ku Kluxes crossed over from somewhere else."
"They was conjured," Chef reminds.
"'Conjuring' is just a way to open a door. Explains why their anatomy is so different, and the extreme reactions to our elements."
"Why they like drinking water so," Sadie adds.
She right on that. Can tell a Ku Klux straight away by all the water they drink. Colored folk who lived through the first Klans say they'd empty whole buckets, claiming they was the ghosts of soldiers from Shiloh. More water, they'd demand. Just come from hell, and plenty dry.
Can't be clearer than that...this isn't quite your (great-)grandmother's 1922. And yet has all the problems...none of the help.
Our story winds through Nana Jean, an old Gullah root woman, who sets up a team to fight the Ku Kluxes. She, and our narrator Maryse, are guided by three spirit-world women analogous to the Norns and other Triune Goddesses whose purpose is to maintain balance in their worlds. Maryse, Chef, and Sadie, all uniquely damaged and so able to access their existential rage, are the action arm of Nana Jean's ring-shout circle. Now, this is deep and old stuff, and there is not one single chance any of y'all reading this review have got the background in Vodoun, hoodoo, and all the other African and African-inflected spiritual practices to get every reference. I could link every third word in here, and that's just to the few little references I got. But don't feel too left out, twenty-first centurians, Author Clark uses a lot of literary references, too. Sethe, for example: a scientific type, aiding the group's scientist Molly, and proficient with a weapon. Honoring, I suppose I should say, Toni Morrison's immortal mother who loved her child so hard she made a haint of her. And haints there are in this story, plenty of them, their many, many songs of fear and betrayal and suffering powering Maryse's unique weapon of cleansing and destruction of evil and wrongness.
I have deliberately not reproduced Nana Jean's Gullah dialect. I consider it disrespectful for me to do so. You'll know when you see it whether you agree with me or not.
You're thinking that all this is going somewhere, but where...well, several places including through a forest of bottle trees, to an Angel Oak, into a place where there are Night Doctors of the *most*horrifying*sort* and whose lust for humanity's pain is unquenchable, and finally to a screening of The Birth of a Nation that is beyond your or my ability to conjure. It is a beautiful thing to be frightened by the capacity of people to hate. This book is a prayer to whatever force(s) rule the Simulation to open up our eyes.
There's a reason the last words spoken in the story are, "'Bout damn time!" show less
There are so many books out there that attempt to humanize monsters so its really interesting to read a book where the monstrous humans out there are fully given horrific shape. They're horrible, they feed off hated, and they set out to make minions and food out of humanity. And they don't really seem that far of a stretch (outside their hulking unnatural forms) from the vitriol and inhumanity demonstrated by the likes of the KKK. It felt like a brilliant touch to have the people hunting these monsters be not just black people but black women, a wonderful nod to how much black women have been at the center of virtually every fight for equality in America. The version I listened to was narrated by Channie Waites and I'm just going to show more take a second to expound on her amazing narration. She put so much emotion into the story, gave wonderful voices to every character, there were times listening I literally had chills. I feel like her performance really brought the story to life in a way I would have struggled with if I had just read the book. show less
Doing Battle with Haters
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to exist to this day. In P. Djèlí Clark’s raucous novel of vengeance and retribution, an answer is that the Ku Kluxes where monsters.
In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, show more and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout. show less
What would possess a people to such an extent they would hold another people in bondage, and when freed commit horrible acts to suppress them to guarantee their own status as superior beings? Regarding slavery and Jim Crow in America, several reasons existed, and continue to exist to this day. In P. Djèlí Clark’s raucous novel of vengeance and retribution, an answer is that the Ku Kluxes where monsters.
In this mythology, only a few can penetrate the Ku Kluxes’ guise of human white flesh, though at heart all who don the white sheets, or support the wearers, or simply stand by are monsters. These stalwart few work in bands in various cities throughout the U.S., and a small group of fighters, Gullah women, show more and socialists in Macon, GA, feature in Ring Shout. The novel effectively blends fantasy, spiritualism, and the supernatural into an explosion of fists, elbows, swords, and gunfire, not to mention the Ring Shout ritual, that will leave readers reaching for the aspirin to stop the ringing its sets off in their minds.
The novel follows the exploits of three intrepid young Black woman, Maryse, Sadie, and Chef as they lead the fight in Macon in 1922. It opens on a set piece of action, the crew doing battle with the Ku Kluxes while the white sheets march in that year’s Fourth of July parade. Maryse emerges as the leader of the group, and she’s the one armed with a supernatural sword packed with the full vengeance of a race enslaved and murdered. She’s also the one who enters a supernatural realm, where she discovers that something big is coming. Turns out the Ku Kluxes plan a giant rally at Stone Mountain, where they will watch The Birth of a Nation. As an aside here, when released in 1915, historians credit the film with the revival of Klan. This reiteration of the Klan occurred in that year at Stone Mountain, and the Klan held a rally there each year Labor Day for around 50 years. Back to the novel. After much intervening action, the Ring Shout culminates in a preternatural battle of good and evil on the mountain.
You might find yourself thinking that imbuing the Ku Kluxes with supernatural possession somehow excuses the actions of ordinary humans; that is, something para human drives their actions. However, Clark cleverly turns this so that hate already possesses regular Klan, and it’s this hate that the supernatural puppet masters feed off of, and that allow for the turning of hate filled monsters into actual monsters. In other words, hated robs you of your humanity. So true.
An all around enjoyable excursion into horror and fantasy and one some not usually readers of the genre might also enjoy. Also, if you watched and enjoyed HBO’s Lovecraft County or reimagined Watchmen, you may be an audience for Ring Shout. show less
It’s super unusual for me to rate a novella higher than 4 stars. It’s never as fun for me when books are short. I always feel let down when they end so quickly. This was a 4 star read for the vast majority until the end hit, and it hit me so strongly that I immediately (with tears pouring out of my eyes) bumped it up to 5 stars! I can’t stop thinking about that final climactic scene.
Ring Shout is set in an alternate 1920s American South, where the members of the KKK, monsters on the outside as well as the inside, are hunted by a team of determined women.
This feels like a glorious, unexpected combination of a Jordan Peele film, with its blend of dark comedy and grotesque horror, and Madeleine L’Engle (The Aunties are clearly a show more nod to A Wrinkle in Time’s Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which)!
The book is full of some really cool elements. The sword that Maryse uses that holds all the memories! The concept of the Ku Kluxes as actual monsters. The uniqueness of the characters. The explanations of the various Shouts! And our narrator and guide through the story, Maryse. Her voice is so strong and well written.
I highly recommend Ring Shout! And I'm looking forward to reading more P. Djèlí Clark. show less
Ring Shout is set in an alternate 1920s American South, where the members of the KKK, monsters on the outside as well as the inside, are hunted by a team of determined women.
This feels like a glorious, unexpected combination of a Jordan Peele film, with its blend of dark comedy and grotesque horror, and Madeleine L’Engle (The Aunties are clearly a show more nod to A Wrinkle in Time’s Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which)!
The book is full of some really cool elements. The sword that Maryse uses that holds all the memories! The concept of the Ku Kluxes as actual monsters. The uniqueness of the characters. The explanations of the various Shouts! And our narrator and guide through the story, Maryse. Her voice is so strong and well written.
I highly recommend Ring Shout! And I'm looking forward to reading more P. Djèlí Clark. show less
*spoiler alert and i also go on a lengthy rant that is incredibly necessary for my sanity
If you're a non black person who refuses to google what a ring shout is (or just refuses to intently read as these character perform it IN DETAIL), this is not the book for you. It's extremely valid to not enjoy this or to struggle with its plot. Its not at all valid to read an entire novel ingrained in gullah culture, black history, and ring shout rituals, only to come on goodreads and ask us what 'all the ring business is about'? If you refuse to learn something new, to engage with a history that is uncomfortable, this is also not the book for you. If you can't engage with books with dialect and slang, this is definitely not for you. t is not show more "southern women speaking redneck", or someone who “doesn’t talk correctly”, it's black vernacular and short inclusions of the Gullah language. It was incredibly disheartening to read that so many people could read this and take absolutely nothing from it. Again, i have no problem with low ratings and genuine criticism. But I cannot sugarcoat that some peoples comments leave an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. I had to stare at a fucking wall to try and understand how someone could read this and pay so little attention that, by the end, they did not know what a ring shout was and how integral it was to the story. and then complain that they were confused. I personally had difficulties with the magic system so that is not what i'm talking about. But if you can read a 500 page high fantasy novel, this really should be child's play!
No hate on audiobooks (I think they are awesome resources especially for busy bees and those with disabilities in particular!), but the recurring theme here is that people who were confused were LISTENING to the book. I personally slip in and out of audiobooks and this is not the type of book that is accessible in that way. If at all possible, this works best in print or e-book. If not, this is one I'd read sitting in my bed doing nothing honestly. But ultimately, you need to be paying attention. You need to care. If you do not care, don't read the book. I’m being incredibly serious. If you do not care about the themes presented in the blurb, please do not go through the process of reading and then making comments about dialect and tradition that you would never say to a black person's face. And if you don't read the blurb and complain that you ‘seriously wished you'd known what it was about before reading because you would’ve never picked it up if you did’, KINDLY get a FUCKING grip.
ALL THAT BEING SAID,
Ring Shout surrounds Ku Kluxes, klan members turned monsters, that are evolving into something more powerful and hope to ~take over~. What they wish to take over is left intentionally vague, but it's important that they have hate to become more powerful. The badass main characters, who introduce us to the Gullah language and rituals, are saving the day with the help of ancestors and their ‘magical system’. I put quotes around magical system because, despite that being an accurate word for its function in fantasy, it is pretty deep rooted in real tradition, ring shouts, and Gullah culture in general. There’s bloodshed, dialogue heavy scenes, death, and dream-like sequences that were incredibly engaging throughout.
I wouldn't necessarily categorize this as horror to be honest. Its gore was not extremely gory or hard to swallow to me. And the fight scenes were incredibly short, in my opinion. But I actually really enjoyed that because I was more invested in the relationships of this group/community. The biggest emotional investment here for me was the main speakers unwillingness to tell us her trauma. And that trauma was not spectacularly surprising and unexpected, but hey! It's the KKK. They are not the most creative and inventive bunch! I do agree with some others that I felt the rules of the magic system should be less haphazard. For example, the Night Doctor element confused me a bit because, with the books explanation of them, they kidnapped and used black people for their own gain. But in the end, they help defeat the cyclops? Was a bit confused if we were supposed to be rooting for them.
I think my ultimate criticism is that I was a bit disappointed that the HUMAN klan members weren’t really antagonists here. They got to survive every time. And all the criticism received of them was always to their monster counterparts. So they didn’t really take on any responsibility for anything because there was always some scarier, bigger monster to worry about. The human monsters got to stumble away in confusion and awe. Despite the fact that there wasn’t quite enough connection between the KKK and Ku Kluxes for me, I think a fascinating aspect of the human members is their obvious lack of intelligence, how they are so easily recruited into the scheme, only to be taken over and used for evils they believed they were immune to. Not only this, but there was some seriously amazing commentary on their hate: “the hate they give is senseless…Their fears aren’t real—just insecurities and inadequacies. Deep down they know that. Makes their hate like…watered down whiskey”. There were just some amazing moments that solidified the klan members were merely pawns in a much larger game. They didn't necessarily LOSE (as they still exist, were not defeated) but definitely did not win. That was incredibly refreshing. And I think it’s important to say that, as mentioned in someone else’s review, the human KKK members are not absolved of their hate because they were taken over by the Ku Kluxes. The Ku Kluxes merely took advantage of the hate that already existed inside them. I think it’s quite rich that a white person could read the whole book, think about it enough to write a lengthly review on it, and still come to the conclusion that the author is trying to absolve the KKK of their crimes. Take away the gigantic cyclops/a hundred mouths and the monsters and KKK members are the same. In the end, I thought the concept was so so cool. I thought the execution was just as awesome. If anything, I wanted more history, more personal connections and exploration of self/identity.
P.S. I'm usually not so heated in reviews. Usually I am much more thorough on craft and what I enjoyed. And there was so much to enjoy here. but I thought some comments/reviews were genuinely insensitive. I would list them all in quotes here if I thought I could stomach it. show less
If you're a non black person who refuses to google what a ring shout is (or just refuses to intently read as these character perform it IN DETAIL), this is not the book for you. It's extremely valid to not enjoy this or to struggle with its plot. Its not at all valid to read an entire novel ingrained in gullah culture, black history, and ring shout rituals, only to come on goodreads and ask us what 'all the ring business is about'? If you refuse to learn something new, to engage with a history that is uncomfortable, this is also not the book for you. If you can't engage with books with dialect and slang, this is definitely not for you. t is not show more "southern women speaking redneck", or someone who “doesn’t talk correctly”, it's black vernacular and short inclusions of the Gullah language. It was incredibly disheartening to read that so many people could read this and take absolutely nothing from it. Again, i have no problem with low ratings and genuine criticism. But I cannot sugarcoat that some peoples comments leave an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. I had to stare at a fucking wall to try and understand how someone could read this and pay so little attention that, by the end, they did not know what a ring shout was and how integral it was to the story. and then complain that they were confused. I personally had difficulties with the magic system so that is not what i'm talking about. But if you can read a 500 page high fantasy novel, this really should be child's play!
No hate on audiobooks (I think they are awesome resources especially for busy bees and those with disabilities in particular!), but the recurring theme here is that people who were confused were LISTENING to the book. I personally slip in and out of audiobooks and this is not the type of book that is accessible in that way. If at all possible, this works best in print or e-book. If not, this is one I'd read sitting in my bed doing nothing honestly. But ultimately, you need to be paying attention. You need to care. If you do not care, don't read the book. I’m being incredibly serious. If you do not care about the themes presented in the blurb, please do not go through the process of reading and then making comments about dialect and tradition that you would never say to a black person's face. And if you don't read the blurb and complain that you ‘seriously wished you'd known what it was about before reading because you would’ve never picked it up if you did’, KINDLY get a FUCKING grip.
ALL THAT BEING SAID,
Ring Shout surrounds Ku Kluxes, klan members turned monsters, that are evolving into something more powerful and hope to ~take over~. What they wish to take over is left intentionally vague, but it's important that they have hate to become more powerful. The badass main characters, who introduce us to the Gullah language and rituals, are saving the day with the help of ancestors and their ‘magical system’. I put quotes around magical system because, despite that being an accurate word for its function in fantasy, it is pretty deep rooted in real tradition, ring shouts, and Gullah culture in general. There’s bloodshed, dialogue heavy scenes, death, and dream-like sequences that were incredibly engaging throughout.
I wouldn't necessarily categorize this as horror to be honest. Its gore was not extremely gory or hard to swallow to me. And the fight scenes were incredibly short, in my opinion. But I actually really enjoyed that because I was more invested in the relationships of this group/community. The biggest emotional investment here for me was the main speakers unwillingness to tell us her trauma. And that trauma was not spectacularly surprising and unexpected, but hey! It's the KKK. They are not the most creative and inventive bunch! I do agree with some others that I felt the rules of the magic system should be less haphazard. For example, the Night Doctor element confused me a bit because, with the books explanation of them, they kidnapped and used black people for their own gain. But in the end, they help defeat the cyclops? Was a bit confused if we were supposed to be rooting for them.
I think my ultimate criticism is that I was a bit disappointed that the HUMAN klan members weren’t really antagonists here. They got to survive every time. And all the criticism received of them was always to their monster counterparts. So they didn’t really take on any responsibility for anything because there was always some scarier, bigger monster to worry about. The human monsters got to stumble away in confusion and awe. Despite the fact that there wasn’t quite enough connection between the KKK and Ku Kluxes for me, I think a fascinating aspect of the human members is their obvious lack of intelligence, how they are so easily recruited into the scheme, only to be taken over and used for evils they believed they were immune to. Not only this, but there was some seriously amazing commentary on their hate: “the hate they give is senseless…Their fears aren’t real—just insecurities and inadequacies. Deep down they know that. Makes their hate like…watered down whiskey”. There were just some amazing moments that solidified the klan members were merely pawns in a much larger game. They didn't necessarily LOSE (as they still exist, were not defeated) but definitely did not win. That was incredibly refreshing. And I think it’s important to say that, as mentioned in someone else’s review, the human KKK members are not absolved of their hate because they were taken over by the Ku Kluxes. The Ku Kluxes merely took advantage of the hate that already existed inside them. I think it’s quite rich that a white person could read the whole book, think about it enough to write a lengthly review on it, and still come to the conclusion that the author is trying to absolve the KKK of their crimes. Take away the gigantic cyclops/a hundred mouths and the monsters and KKK members are the same. In the end, I thought the concept was so so cool. I thought the execution was just as awesome. If anything, I wanted more history, more personal connections and exploration of self/identity.
P.S. I'm usually not so heated in reviews. Usually I am much more thorough on craft and what I enjoyed. And there was so much to enjoy here. but I thought some comments/reviews were genuinely insensitive. I would list them all in quotes here if I thought I could stomach it. show less
Another wild ride from Djèlí Clark. Set in 1922, in Macon, Georgia, the film "The Birth of a Nation" has led to rising racism and the exponential growth of the KKK. We meet three remarkable young black women: crack shot Sadie, bomb cooking Chef (Cordy), and Maryse, who has a magic sword. Their mission is to kill Ku Kluxers, who are actually demons, not mere human Klansmen. Their battles are epic and action filled, especially the action at Stone Mountain. The book mixes genres, using African, African-American, and Caribbean folklore, historical fiction, fantasy, horror and the oppression of blacks, still trying to raise themselves from their past lives as slaves. Personally, I did not care for the Gullah dialect, which I found hard to show more follow, but I understand how others might have liked it plenty and found it provided another element to the story. 3.5 stars rounded up. show less
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Very timely bit of fantasy horror for Black History Month, Halloween and indeed 2020. It's part of a wave of (often fantastic) fiction that's emerged over the last four years trying to make sense of the current racial tensions in America and to place them in an historical context.
There's a concern the country is still not reconciled with the depths of its historic racial tensions (like HBO's recent Watchmen series, the book makes reference to the horrific but largely forgotten Tulsa Massacre); frustration at a false equivalency that at best seeks to reframe historical injustice as a "debate" and at worst is provocation for a race war (I was show more reminded of the sledgehammer epilogue to BlacKkKlansman); the role of artistic talent in stoking racial tensions; and an awareness of the unfairness but necessity of always having to be better (which Black Panther also articulated).
But the main concern of Ring Shout, it struck me, was the cynical exploitation of deep historical divisions by actors with little skin in the actual game. It's a key facet of this particular cultural moment and one that will hopefully bring lasting shame to those doing it.
Through a blend of ahistorical revenge and magical thinking, Djèlí Clark does a brilliant job of articulating all those concerns in an exciting and blisteringly satirical fantasy. show less
Very timely bit of fantasy horror for Black History Month, Halloween and indeed 2020. It's part of a wave of (often fantastic) fiction that's emerged over the last four years trying to make sense of the current racial tensions in America and to place them in an historical context.
There's a concern the country is still not reconciled with the depths of its historic racial tensions (like HBO's recent Watchmen series, the book makes reference to the horrific but largely forgotten Tulsa Massacre); frustration at a false equivalency that at best seeks to reframe historical injustice as a "debate" and at worst is provocation for a race war (I was show more reminded of the sledgehammer epilogue to BlacKkKlansman); the role of artistic talent in stoking racial tensions; and an awareness of the unfairness but necessity of always having to be better (which Black Panther also articulated).
But the main concern of Ring Shout, it struck me, was the cynical exploitation of deep historical divisions by actors with little skin in the actual game. It's a key facet of this particular cultural moment and one that will hopefully bring lasting shame to those doing it.
Through a blend of ahistorical revenge and magical thinking, Djèlí Clark does a brilliant job of articulating all those concerns in an exciting and blisteringly satirical fantasy. show less
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Tananarive Due, in her essay 'Black Horror Rising,' discusses the role of racial trauma in horror fiction, writing that 'horror can help us allegorize racial monsters to help us to confront true-life fears.' ... One Black writer using the horror genre to its full potential is the award-winning P. Djèlí Clark, whose new novella, Ring Shout is a fantastical, brutal and thrilling triumph of the show more imagination ... Clark’s combination of historical and political reimagining is cathartic, exhilarating and fresh, casting a narrative spell as enchanting as HBO’s adaptation of Watchmen. It is the kind of reimagining of history that puts the act of storytelling, and the art of the horror genre, at the forefront of literary and political life. show less
added by Lemeritus
What if White supremacy was not only a monstrous philosophy, but was enabled by actual horrific monsters? Clark's feverishly inventive period adventure imagines this scenario in blunt and grisly detail....Clark’s novel is at once rousing, boisterous, and clever. He channels the kitschy motifs of early-20th-century pulp horror into a narrative that both spoofs and exalts that flamboyant show more tradition. In the process, he cunningly and pithily weaves in African folklore, American history, and sociopolitical tropes that resonate with our present-day racial upheaval. Devotees of Lovecraft Country, Get Out, and other horror adventures with African American themes: Take note....Thrills, chills, macabre humor, and engaging heroines to root for: What more could a reader want? show less
added by Lemeritus
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RUSA CODES Listen List (Listen-Alike – Listen-Alike to “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones – 2021)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Ring shout : Cantique rituel
- Original title
- Ring Shout
- Alternate titles
- Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times
- Original publication date
- 2020-10-13
- People/Characters
- Maryse Boudreaux; Cordelia Lawrence "Chef"; Sadie Watkins; Molly; Butcher Clyde; Auntie Ondine (show all 14); Auntie Margaret; Auntie Jadine; Lester Henry; Nana Jean; Emma Krauss; Michael George; Antoine Bisset; Martin Boudreaux
- Important places
- Macon, Georgia, USA; Georgia, USA
- Dedication
- For Claude McKay: "If we must die let it not be like hogs."
And for Lulu Wilson's Maw: "My maw is in her cabin with a week-old baby and one night twelve Ku Kluxes done come to the place. They come in by ones and she whopped 'em one at a time." - First words
- Dear Readers,
There are some stories you want to write. Ring Shout> felt like I had to.
-Preface
There's a Shout we do 'bout old pharaoh and Moses. The Lord part the Red Sea and all his people run through. Old pharaoh thinking to follow, but when he do them waters fall in on him! So we saw, Pharoah's host got lost, and S... (show all)hout 'bout all the fussing and crying he musta done to see it. -Notation 15
You ever seen a Klan march?
We don't have them as grand in Macon, like you might see in Atlanta. But there's Klans enough in this city of fifty-odd thought to put on a fool march when they get to feeling to.
Thi... (show all)s one on a Tuesday, the Fourth of July, which is today. -Chapter One - Quotations
- L'est temps de poser le monde en équilibre à la pointe d'une épée.
“Why you frettin', Maryse? Always says my Niggers with a big N.”
I glare at her. “And that make a difference how?”
She has the gall to frown like I'm simple. “Why with a big N, it's respectful like.... (show all)
Seeing me at a loss, Chef intervenes. “And how can we tell if you using a big N or a common n?”
Now Sadie takes to staring at both of us, like we don't understand two plus two is four. “Why would I use a small n nigger? That's insulting!”
I can see Chef's stumped now too. They could get all the scientists the world over to try and figure out how Sadie's mind works—wouldn't do no good. Chef soldiers on anyway. “So can white folk ever use a big N Nigger?”
Sadie shakes her head, as if this is all settled scripture written down between Leviticus and Deuteronomy. “Never! White folk always mean the small n! And if they try to say it with the big N, you should put they front teeth in the back of they mouth. Honestly, you two! What kind of Niggers even need to ask me that?”
You see, the Second Klan was birthed on November 25 back in 1915. What we call D-Day, or Devil's Night—when William Joseph Simmons, a regular old witch, and fifteen others met up on Stone Mountain east of Atlanta. Stories s... (show all)ay they read from a conjuring book inked in blood on human skin. Can't vouch for that. But it was them that called up the monsters we call Ku Kluxes. And it all started with this damned movie. The Birth of a Nation comes from a book. Two books really—The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots, by a man named Thomas Dixon. Dixon's father was a South Carolina slaveowner in the Confederacy. And a sorcerer. Way I hear it, a heap of the big ups in the Confederacy was into sorcery. Dark stuff
Across the country, white folk who ain't even heard of the Klan surrendered to the spell of them moving pictures. Got them believing the Klans the true heroes of the South, and colored people the monsters. They say God is goo... (show all)d all the time. Seem he also likes irony.
“Oh see, I disagree,” Chef retorts. “White folk earn something from that hate. Might not be wages. But knowing we on the bottom and they set above us—just as good, maybe better.”
“My people make money and we are ‘greedy capitalists.' We call for an equitable society, and we are ‘dirty Bolsheviks.' Those who wish to hate Jews will always find justification.
Lie, he sneaky. He snatch up Truth's face and run off! Zip! Now Lie go around wearing Truth's face, fooling everybody he meet.” She stops stitching to fix me with stern eyes. “The enemy, they are the Lie. Plain and simple... (show all). The Lie running around pretending to be Truth.” - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I pick up my sword, balancing it over one shoulder as I head back home, listening to Auntie Jadine cackling above, as I whistle a song of hunting Ku Kluxes in the end times.
- Publisher's editor
- Pho, Diana
- Blurbers
- LaValle, Victor; Maberry, Jonathan; Solomon, Rivers; Gailey, Sarah; Morrow, Bethany C.; Newitz, Annalee (show all 7); Onyebuchi, Tochi
- Original language
- English US; Gullah
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3603.L36843
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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