The Healing (original) (raw)
217 reviews774 followers
After reading Gayl Jones's first two novels, Corregidora and Eva's Man, I found myself defaulting to a habit of comparing her work to that of Toni Morrison. There are surely certain stylistic parallels as well as similarly conspicuous themes that the two writers explore brilliantly.
However, it's time for me to put aside the comparison because The Healing is nothing short of extraordinary, and her work in this novel speaks for itself in endlessly inventive and luminous ways. My entire reading experience was punctuated with the question of How?: mainly, how was Jones able to create an entertaining story out of utterly outlandish and disparate narrative threads? The plot set up in the first 40 pages—Harlan Jane Eagleton, a former manager of a D-list rock singer named Joan Savage, has left the music business to travel the world conducting “faith healings”—is merely a frame for a much larger story woven into a picaresque that takes its structural cues from Jazz compositions and black, porch-side storytelling.
The novel is astounding in its scope: Jones riffs on subjects like anthropology, music, philosophy, feminism, black beauty shops, intelligence agencies, racism, sex and sexuality, film, art, gastronomy, scientific theory, literary criticism, and horse racing to create a pseudo brief history or encyclopedia of the Black American experience and all its possibilities.
Jones makes no linguistic concessions or compromises, writing the whole novel in an invented, yet wholly convincing, black dialect. How Jones made this novel work is ultimately not a concern when I consider how rich and deeply felt my joy was in discovering all of its unpredictable delights!
963 reviews1,098 followers
"Norvelle once told me that there were certain African folk tales that never gave you an answer; they only left you with a dilemma. Dilemma tales, he called them. What else had he said about them? They were a way of learning. They were another way of learning. "
On the strength of this book, Mosquito and Corregidora (I am yet to read the rest of her output, though intend to) I happily place Gayl Jones in my personal pantheon. She is a damn genius. Her work is complex, subtle, brutal, funny, devastatingly sad, and smart as hell. Her works are dilemma tales in that they do not move toward trite satisfying conclusions, they do not dictate. They have an amorphous quality, like a cloud you move within. The kind of books you spend a long time looking back on after you have finished. There are no easy answers. No Truth with a capital "T", save for Sojourner. Always exceptions and contradictions. As in life. And as in all great art. And what happens to voice, to the "voice" of a narrator, when that voice has been subjected to racial and gender violence and repression? Does it become performative as a way to dance between the cracks? What would it mean for it to be "authentic"? And when we tell stories of the telling of stories of the telling of stories? When the oral tradition becomes like a russian doll?
Anyway, enough pointless pontificating from me. Suffice it to say, you should be reading her.
""To me the reader is a listener and the listener is as much a part of the story as the teller" - from an interview with the author
Thankfully Virago and others are now keeping her in print, though it seems she has more work to come and has been self publishing (see https://app.thebookpatch.com/BookStor... for example). Somebody needs to get in touch with her and get all her work in print so we can have the joy of reading it.
2020-reading favorites learning-to-listen
722 reviews225 followers
What Jones does here is nothing short of impossible. You gotta read it to see what I mean. Heavy, heavy genius.
27 reviews12 followers
I know a lot of people won't like Miss Jones. Her style, like Proulx, is unique. She writes as her character thinks: stream of consciousness.
And this particular narrator may not be all that interesting to some. She is a black woman faith healer--and not all that fancy of one. That is, she is gifted, but she sees it as less of a gift and more of a professional skill. There aren't a lot of theatrics to her healing, it's more on the level of the daily--you dig?
Maybe this tells you more about me than the book but I feel comforted by this book, I like listening to the narrator speak. I like the rural setting, I am deep into the force of faith healing.
I think this book is quietly powerful and it is one of my all time favorites.
865 reviews50 followers
I can honestly say that I have never read a book written in the way that Gayl Jones wrote The Healing. 🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
In an almost constant stream of consciousness, like a waterfall of thoughts and dialogue, each topic triggering a cascade of related talking points.
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
Harlan chronicles her life and experiences in this manner, allowing us a glimpse at past lovers, her husband, travels and that healing aspect that she is widely known for. What I love is that Jones doesn't allow that to be the focal point or for it to steer the story, Harlan is and does, from start to finish.
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
With a voice that invokes our oral tradition, Jones and Harlan give an intimate look at her life and views: she examines social injustices, relationships, the Black man, the Black woman, traditional beliefs, sexism, whitewashing, racial dynamics, love, and storytelling.
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
I had to examine why I would get annoyed at the almost rambling feel of the dialogue, and then I was like, just as when we are hearing an oral tale, any extra or additional info, that might pull our attention away from the artery of the story, is unwelcome. Armed with that realization, I was then able to allow the story to sweep me along.
852 reviews141 followers
Sorry but the fact that Gayl Jones is not a household name is criminal and this novel cements that completely for me, it cements that she is now in the pantheon of my favorite authors, it cements that she is one of most formalistically and thematically complex writers I have ever encountered and yet she makes it all seem like there is an ease to her craft, breezy, an ease to the curation that I find appalling in its magic, she makes it all seem like literary witchcraft in its construction, whether it be the innovative nonlinear form by which you are constantly disoriented yet grounded, the dialect taking on the tone of an oral storyteller paired with the circularity of the stream of consciousness, the breadth of topics discussed: anthropology, literary history, art criticism, science, colorism, tourism, refugee status, family, class, womanhood, and, of course, blackness, blackness as social construct, blackness as culture, and she does it all and never falters and never has a moment where you think, that wasn't very well done, or, oh that seems a bit sloppy, because it never is, it's never sloppy, no digression is bland, no discussion of a past lover is ridiculous, no discussion of the narrators travels in Africa become fetishistic but instead insightful not as a testament to the multiplicity of Africa's culture, which is discussed, but the interplay between being a black American and meeting Africans who find no real reason for the "African" in "African-American" to exist, and then you get into the whole plot with her role as a D-list rock musician's manager and then an affair and then a black German horse breeder and then working at a beauty parlor and then and then you forget that she's a faith healer because really that's all just kind of a frame narrative, it's really all just symbolic or representational and it all comes full circle while leaving out a detail in those final lines that was gutting in how much I wanted the answer but it feels right not knowing.
Gayl Jones must be read!
1,187 reviews5 followers
Not an easy book to read, but worth the effort. At first the rambling stream-of-consciousness style takes a little getting used to. But soon enough the pace and rhythm of the style feel natural and tend to make the story better. Many scattered gems of wisdom are found in the twists and turns of the narrative. Then there's the twist that the story is told backward in time, so the reader has many unanswered questions that are answered in fits and starts, and only finally illuminated at the very end.
148 reviews26 followers
In reading The Healing and most of the works of Jones, you start to observe what she putting down and it's genius! Witnessing the progression in theme and style in Jones work has been extraordinary.
910 reviews463 followers
Read
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss
I will not be rating this book because I didn't really understand what it was about, even despite reading it in its entirety. The style is stream of consciousness, and these books can be like that - you either 'get it', or you don't. It wasn't an easy read and I wasn't able to take from it what some other readers may be able to.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
arcs-or-review-copies books-of-2019 edelweiss
940 reviews31 followers
I am working my way through Jones' catalog. Currently, only 'Mosquito' is left to be read. 'The Healing' is the strangest experience with her work yet. I did not expect the amount of humor. While this book does feel different, when compared to 'Corregidora' and 'Eva's Man', it is very much familiar in themes and style.
Near the end of the novel, a character states "No one ever tells their whole story." I think this is the first Jones novel where that might not be the truth- or not quite the truth.
221 reviews2 followers
“Norvelle once told me that there were certain African folk tales that never gave you an answer; they only left you with a dilemma. Dilemma tales, he called them.”
"this one ain't just an American book but the heroine travels not just among different classes but among people of different nationalities and political persuasions it suggests more improvisational techniques and has sort of a modified frame and an open-ended resolution that's why she calls it picaresque..." (Page 248)
Author 2 books14 followers
A dense book - I need to reread this one.
16 reviews
A favorite of mine. If you like non traditional, female heroines by an author who wields language with wit and a sharp ear—enjoy!
423 reviews262 followers
Absolutely incredible!!! Jones has written a masterful novel. This is fiction. This is art.
96 reviews2 followers
Wow . Wow. Wow.
This has been a tale. That I honestly need to re-read to do a complete review . This was a difficult read for me and parts of it went straight over my head but when I did finally grasp what was going on I was in awe of Gayl jones . She has this way of presenting past , present and future to you where as your hearing the story of the healing without knowing it .
The novel is a steam of consciousness that is part poetry and part prose . Which adds to the uniqueness of this story and it’s difficulty . I do understand why someone would give this 1-2 stars because at times it seems all
Over the place.
Although midway through I read long with the audio which helped TREMENDOUSLY! I would recommend the audio ALONG with the book because this is a novel
That requires close reading and hearing the different voice inflictions while reading helps you to understand when the story is shifting and this story shifts a lot . It’s back and forth - then to the side then back again . You feel like WTF is going on . I even wish I could read this with an English class to really break down what’s going on because it’s a lot!
Personally I enjoyed this with full acknowledgement that I didn’t grasp all of it . Although the journey has been fun as i learned new ideas , concepts and a way of living that has changed my perception of the world a bit and that to me is always invaluable . I will be re-reading this down the line (not now I already have too many thoughts lol) but again if your someone who doesn’t like to do any mental work while reading this isn’t for you . But if you enjoy Toni Morrison -beloved or Ralph Ellison -invisible man or even Gloria Naylor - baileys cafe . Then you may enjoy this .
422 reviews
The Healing is a mesmerizing, multi-layered book. Gayl Jones eschews Eurocentric storytelling styles, opting for a conversational, nonlinear journey through the protagonist's life. The narrative forms around Harlan's life experiences and the people she has met. Jones gives each of them a distinct personality and voice, and by featuring their voices, she explores the experiences of people of African descent from all over the world. Each person is unique and flawed.
Like Jones' earlier novels, she is particularly interested in black womanhood. One of the main characters, Joan, is a musician whose entire career depends on how she presents herself to the world. Perhaps naturally, Harlan, begins as her makeup artist. Harlan invents and reinvents Joan, both by changing her hair and makeup and her branding, but they never break into the white, male-dominated music industry. Abroad, Harlan notes, they play "American music," but at home in the United States it's considered "_African_-American" music.
This is just one of many memorable plot threads, from Harlan's grandmother's confabulatory stories about her time in a carnival as a "turtle woman" (featured in the first edition cover art), to Harlan's affair with an African-German horse breeder. Jones' writing talent and knack for character voice can make almost any tangent interesting. From the beginning, I was hooked by Harlan's monologue about "tank towns"--towns with so little of interest their only landmark is the water tower. It may sound dull, but in Jones' hands, it's not.
Jones' style is very postmodern, with quite a few "meta" moments. There is a part early on where Harlan launches into an unannounced flashback and, partway through, breaks into the flashback to lecture the reader on how, if they can handle nonlinear narratives in a comic book movie, they should be able to handle them in a book. Harlan also talks about how critically acclaimed novels by black authors tend to be the ones which follow conventional Western storytelling structures. I am not the biggest fan of the meta aspect of postmodernism, and while educational, I found some tangents like these took me out of the narrative. It strains belief that Harlan, who is a beautician by trade, would know all about literary theory. Instead it is pretty clear I am reading the author's own thoughts.
Those small reservations aside, there is a lot to like here, and a lot of food for thought. Gayl Jones is an essential author to anyone interested in black writers because of her skill in exploring black and female identity and experiences. From this book, I get the feeling she has her own "Yoknapatawpha County" of characters--in this one, Harlan references Mosquito and Amanda Wordlaw, both the narrators of other novels of Jones', though the latter novel has yet to be professionally published in English. Penguin Random House will be publishing five of her unpublished works in upcoming years, including her epic Palmares in September. I imagine, once all her works are published, they will create a kind of tapestry. Right now, we have beautiful fragments like this book.
20th-century english-language novel
827 reviews21 followers
Entering The Healing is entering the world of language and insight in ways so intense, insightful, and beautiful that the wonder is that it's not been done before. The language is that of real people telling stories, real people thinking about stories, about implications, making connections...something between oral language and interior monologues.
Starts out with a healing woman on a bus coming to heal folks who need it. The people who meet her are a mix of believers, defenders, the critics, the curious. Same with the crowd. She heals and then goes on her way.
Backwards, as it turns out, bit by bit, to earlier lives, conversations, thoughts, experiences. Africa, horse racing, cosmetology, South Texas, music, literature, philosophy, language, faith.
A pool of thinking, the sound of beauty.
The first half is better than the second, and all of it something that makes me ache to see what Gayl Jones might have produced after.
A strange book by a strange author (Google her). A stream-of-consciousness narrative filled with acute and often witty observations about racism and in particular Black women, those observations seem to be really the main purpose of the story, with a hazy plot. Food for thought. Gayl Jones is considered to be a foundational Black woman writer. So I may try another one of her books.
7 reviews
I need to do a speed re-reading of this very odd and challenging book since I'm writing a paper on it for an essay collection; I don't know how I suckered myself into writing this paper when I really don't have much to say about the book!
76 reviews
I did not care for the writing style if this book and could not read beyond page 30.
29 reviews9 followers
"Still the wonder's in what happened, the wonder's in the healing, ain't in how it's told. It's the healing itself ain't how it's told that draws the folks like bees to wild nectar. Or like flies to honey. But I think bees is fonder of wild nectar than even flies is to honey. Course bees makes they own honey."
People abstractly talk about "decolonizing" without what these processes may look like. The experience of reading The Healing, and the work itself, is a perfect embodiment of resisting Eurocentric, western, white supremacist standards of what literature is.
The Healing is about Harlan Jane Eagleton's transformation from a rock star manager to a faith healer who travels to perform healings, but it is much more than that. Through the individual character of Harlan, Gayl Jones illustrates community connections beautifully, weaving together interactions and instances from past, present & future, while centering Afrocentrism and poetically crafted cultural commentaries on a global Black experience.
Throughout this book, themes of ordinariness & Harlan referring to herself as an "ordinary woman" recur. However, the novel emphasizes that Harlan, and Black women more broadly, are anything BUT ordinary: Harlan Jane Eagleton is able to heal everyone's wounds, and her own. People call Harlan "The Healing Woman Healed Herself First," as she intuitively knows how to heal, and "doesn't like to say what [she] will heal until [she] heals it." Her ability to heal is her agency... a skill discovered from pain.
Gayl Jones creates her own form of storytelling, bringing to mind conversational dialogue between family, neighbors, community members, rather than rigid, formal text in many novels. She relies on African-American oral storytelling traditions, AAVE & folklore. There are no quotation marks or markers of who is speaking, the text all blends together and moves beyond cultural and linguistic "norms," as well as our binary (racist) assumptions of language.
This is not a book for everyone, especially if you have trouble following narratives that are stream of consciousness, but, I loved it & am eager to read more of Gayl Jones' work.
1 review2 followers
Unlike our own stream of consciousness, as we try to assemble memories, reading another's isn't an easy task. With that caveat, I highly recommend "The Healing" to readers who are, say 50+ years of age.
Like Steppenwolf, you can read it and be amazed at 21, but re-reading at say 55, you have accumulated a lifetime of experiences that make the accounts in Steppenwolf so much more layered and contextualized.
I may be granting too much weight to age, how could I not?, but I take "The Healing" as an invitation to the Gayl Jones pantheon of characters, plots, and lyrical writing.
Apologies for the lack of plot details but it is best enjoyed in full measure and not snap-shotted out of context.
251 reviews1 follower
This was my first Gayl Jones - I’d heard of Corregidora first and then Palmares was published recently but this was my first. Harlan doesn’t present as necessarily likeable, she doesn’t always tell it straight and at some point the speech marks drop away and memories are perhaps edited. A lot of sentences repeat or are restructured and it feels like an oral, remembered text. The Healing drifts in time as the narrator focuses on different things with people of questionable morals or ideas in the sections talking about before what followed the Healing (it makes sense of a kind as you read!) and I like the style, I’ve not come across it before. It took a while to get into it (it’s not a fast read) but some of the ideas are worth remembering, even if the mentions feel like a dream.
460 reviews3 followers
With a unique and extraordinary voice, a woman tells the long and complicated story of how she became a faith healer. The character of Harlan Truth Eagleton bursts into vivid life as she shares details of her childhood, her marriage, her education and her wildly varying careers. It's a fascinating read - though there are aspects of Harlan's life that strain credulity, and the telling is so extremely roundabout and disjointed that there are moments when we wonder if the narrator will ever return to the story. But the voice is so convincing, the protagonist's intelligence so sharp, that we are willing to follow her deep into the heart of her improbable journey.