I feel that it would be wise to make a distinction here. The first half of the book gets five stars. The second half, including the American Psycho-esque “Liner Notes,” gets three, tops.I found myself in disbelief as I progressed through the second half of the book. When I started, I was in love. Lethem had created his meaningful, heartfelt work that, I feel, would resonate with almost anyone. In the second half, though, it degraded. And quickly. Rather than focus on the character study as he had done, Lethem decided to go for an event driven plot that frequently shifts perspective. This was a mistake, as the reader spends a significant amount of time acclimating to Dylan and his internal monologue. We learn about all of the other characters through Dylan’s eyes, but later, are expected to act as though that treatment established each player well enough to stand on his/her own.Dylan’s childhood was wonderful to read about. A lone white kid growing up in a black neighborhood, his everyday life should be a nightmare, but isn’t. Rather than succumbing to the endless yoking and petty theft, Dylan keeps his head up. He finds friends and interests, losing himself in the lives of his buddy Mingus and various comic book characters. His methods of coping with his environment are amusing, so much so that I started to forget how hard his life really was. Moving beyond his ingenious methods of protecting his comic investments against theft on the way home, his reactions to interpersonal relationships are staggering. It seems that in the midst of all of this violence and anger, he learned to simply accept things for what they are. When he walks down the street, someone is going to steal his money. Mingus is his friend, but will not protect him from the other kids. He doesn’t even experience any real anger at his mother’s behavior, which he really, really should have. This attitude is what kept me engaged in the plot. Truth be told, each day was strikingly similar to the previous one. The subtle differences, those things that pushed this poor kid just a little further, tested his outlook and proved that he understood the world in a way that others could not.It is that childhood attitude that makes the second half so implausible. Dylan grows up. He becomes a music journalist. He’s a casual drug user who thinks nothing of his infidelity. He’s essentially cut ties with his past, but remains obsessed with it at the same time. Mingus is always on his mind, though, for the most part, the reflections are an intellectual exercise. They have nothing at all to do with Mingus and exist only as a chain to interlock the two halves of the book. Insert the aforementioned changes in point of view and we’ve got ourselves a poorly constructed ending. I cannot express how disappointed I was at this point. I was introduced to the thoughts of all of these peripheral characters (who I only cared about through Dylan’s eyes), and, essentially, a new Dylan. New Dylan sucks. Everything about him is abrasive, from his boring life to his narcissistic obsessions. Everything is about making good with himself, though it’s everyone else he left behind.And I wasn’t going to address it, but there’s an element of fantasy that worms its way through the book. I didn’t care for it. Its initial presence wasn’t too bad (it was a nice complement to Dylan’s helplessness), but as it gathered up the focus for the final act, it just got stupid. I don’t mind a little bit of strange, but I do expect it to be integrated into the story. This was like ketchup on an ice cream sundae.That said, I enjoyed the book as a whole. I look forward to reading the final draft.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. The entire time I was reading I couldn't stop thinking about how much I hate Jonathan Lethem. He definitely doesn't believe in humanity, and I'm not sure if he actually intimately knows any black or hispanic people. A lot of the characters were kind of caricatures of hood legends that we've all seen before on Law and Order or Crooklyn.It's racially messy, and most of the messiness stems from its conventionality. Maybe this was on purpose, but I'm not sure why Lethem thought it was important to present us with yet another white male's construction of blackness. At times I thought that he was just writing this book as some sort of 500 page excuse to experiment with the word nigger. You can tell Lethem's got this weird fetishistic relationship with the word and he tries to project it onto black characters. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it but whatever, that and his general disconnect from people of color made me really dislike the author. He's also really longwinded and not as funny as he thinks he is. I found myself questioning wether or not certain parts (Liner Note and Prisonnaires) were written poorly on purpose.Despite (or maybe because of) all of these problems, I still liked the book. I finished it a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it. At times the prose was gripping and it has some awesome passages. I also think that parts 2 and 3 don't detract from the part 1, if anything they work to show how much things have changed and stayed the same since childhood. The last 2 parts also really made me question the main character's maturity and motives. All of the characters are so sad, live such sad lives, which I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised by since the book is called Fortress of Solitude. I liked how depraved and infuriating it was at times and i enjoyed the elements of magical realism. That said, I don't see myself reading anything else by Letherm in the future. Mixed feelings, man.
What do You think about The Fortress Of Solitude (2005)?
This book is uneven and indeed it almost feels like the second part was written by a different person. The first part that deals with the two main characters early days in Brooklyn is full of charismatic scenes. But the second part feels like an anti climax. In the end it's just too long. Lethem is clearly an author with talent but perhaps in future I shall stick to his shorter novels. Despite the above criticisms this is well worth the journey. Lethem' knowledge of Seventies music is impressive and he has a feel for the milieu of downtown Brooklyn that is hard to fake. Unfortunately there are few decent female characters in this book. It's a shame that the story of Mingus and Dylan kind of obscures them. Definitely one for anyone that digs the music of that era, particularly the soul and funk genres. Though it does wear it's hipster groove on its sleeve a little too much. Play that funky music white boy.
—Caroline
Hi Tom, I'm interested in your opinion and wish you'd elaborate on the reasons. Do you object to the treatment of race? I grew up in a nearby neighbourhood in the 60s and it really did feel this way. Although interracial friendships were common, race was always an issue. Bullying and gratuitous violence were extremely prevalent and had a strong racial component. JL writes from his own perspective, so it is natural that he focuses on black-against-white predation. The novel doesn't question the prevalence of white victimisation of black people, it's just that it isn't thematised. I also think it had a different character.
—Tom Holme
This book was amazing. I'm not even exaggerating, it was probably the best book I've ever read. Jonathan Lethem is really good at getting inside of peoples minds, and looking at their life on a larger scale. I love the character of Dylan Ebdus, an adult who has spent his whole life sad and obsessed with his childhood (really I'm just simplifying because it's a lot more interesting and complicated than that). I love the way Jonathan Lethem moves through time, which i can't explain without spoiling the book. I love how super powers don't ever become central to the book, as if they are little more than a cool toy Dylan played with as a child. Basically, this book is what I've wanted to read my whole life. I was disappointed by the ending though.
—Asher G
