Hardboiled Goodness

I'd heard of Chester Himes's Harlem Cycle before, but if it hadn't been for this new "A-List" collection and Samuel L. Jackson's narration, it might have been a while yet before I'd gotten around to this series. Taking place in Harlem, the story revolves around a naive man called Jackson who, when we first meet him, gets taken in by a team of fraudsters who convince him they can "raise" denominations of 10 dollars into 100 dollar bills. There's plenty of humour there, which combines well with the otherwise hardboiled world of gangsterism, drugs and violence. Not for the faint of heart, but deeply satisfying if you like your mysteries served up on the tough side.

24 people found this helpful

Two mules hitched to the same wagon

"Colored folks and trouble, Jackson thought, like two mules hitched to the same wagon."
- Chester Himes, A Rage in Harlem

Funny as hell. Brilliant. Absurd. Subversive. This shit was published in 1959. Some of the best AAVE I've ever read and the imagery Himes pulls out kills me. This is my first Himes, but definitely not my last. I think I'll read 'The Real Cool Killers' and 'If He Hollers Let Him Go.' I spent a couple days in Harlem earlier this year with my wife. I love recognizing the geography Himes describes. Its been 60 years, but somethings, apparently, in New York, don't change much. Here's a good example of his fluency:

"Looking eastward from the towers of Riverside Church, perched among the university buildings on the high banks of the Hudson River, in a valley far below, waves of gray rooftops distort the perspective like the surface of a sea. Below the surface, in the murky waters of fetid tenements, a city of black people who are convulsed in desperate living, like the voracious churning of millions of hungry cannibal fish. Blind mouths eating their own guts. Stick in a hand and draw back a nub. That is Harlem."

20 people found this helpful

Engrossing and Entertaining!

If you could sum up A Rage in Harlem in three words, what would they be?

This was a great book. The story was attention-grabbing and enjoyable. Samuel L. Jackson was great. He brought life to the characters and that kept me wanting more.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

11 people found this helpful

A Visit to Another Era

An astonishing experience for a suburban white woman, to be transported to Harlem in the 1950s, and Himes (whom I'd heard of, but never read before) made it an unforgettable trip. The story is deliciously convoluted and the characters are perfectly presented, universal figures, yet each utterly one of a kind.

I was a little confused at first, because the lead characters in the series appear more than halfway through the story, and appear as secondary characters. This was Himes's first in the series, so perhaps he didn't realize he would use them again at the time he wrote it.

What set the whole thing sizzling was Samuel L. Jackson's extraordinary, sharp and loving performance, making each character uniquely memorable. I can't say enough about how much his power and enthusiasm got me sucked into the story completely.

30 people found this helpful

Great performance by Samuel L. Jackson.

If you could sum up A Rage in Harlem in three words, what would they be?

The story was fun and fast paced from a different era. Samuel L. Jackson makes the book come to life with great infections.

7 people found this helpful

Excellent Reading!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Rage in Harlem to be better than the print version?

Absolutely.

What does Samuel L. Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Samuel L. Jackson brings the characters alive with the many voices he affects for the different characters. My favorite voice was the character of Goldie. The reading really painted the story in my mind as I listened to it.

Any additional comments?

The story itself is full of crazy action, from start to finish. Some of the action just gets ridiculous in places, although for the time period the story was set in perhaps the action is all appropriate. It is not possible to be more specific without handing out spoilers. Hence only giving the story a 4 stars, since some of the "ridiculous" bordered on "unbeleiveable". Samuel L. Jackson lent an authenticity to the narration, in both voicing and accent, that brought the text and characters to life.

13 people found this helpful

Go the f--k to Audible and get this now!

You don't have to be a connoisseur of noir thrillers to enjoy this fast-paced tale of love and greed in 1950s Harlem. Even though my only exposure to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler is via Humphrey Bogart, I could immediately see the parallels between those stories and this one, albeit “A Rage in Harlem” features an all-black cast of characters. And they are every bit as strange and memorable as the Fat Man or Joel Cairo or Vivien Rutledge. A woman who might be good or might be bad, crooked policemen and a junkie/stoolie who dresses up as a nun are just a few of the unforgettable characters whose crazed and misguided actions contribute to the action.

And just when you think you are reading a really well-done, though lightweight, tale of the dumbest con men ever, something happens that turns the book on its head. The action gets real and the writing gets even better. I was listening to this as an audiobook and found the following passage so compelling I rewound the track multiple times just so I could transcribe it. I can’t set it up completely without giving away one of the biggest plot points, but suffice it to say that at this point in the action, the whistle of a passing elevated train goes off and the sound cuts through to the bone:

Shaking the entire tenement city
Shaking the sleeping Black people in their lice-ridden beds
Shaking the ancient bones and the aching muscles and the TB’d lungs and the uneasy fetuses of unwedded girls
Shaking the plaster from ceilings, mortar from between the bricks of building walls
Shaking the rats between the walls
Shaking the cockroaches crawling over kitchen sinks and leftover food
Shaking the sleeping flies hibernating in lumps like bees behind the casings of the windows
Shaking the fat blood-filled bed bugs crawling over Black skin
Shaking the fleas, making them hop
Shaking the sleeping dogs in their filthy pallets
Shaking the sleeping cats
Shaking the clogged toilets, loosening the filth

This is a very gifted writer who deserves to be better known. There is just enough detail in the descriptions to set the scenes, lots of lines that made me laugh out loud (a taxi driver whose cab has just been commandeered is described as being so alarmed “even the back of his head looked scared”) and plenty of over-the-top, blackly humorous violence to make Quinton Tarantino happy. All of that given a darkly, hysterically fantastic reading by Samuel L. Jackson on the Audible audiobook version adds up to one helluva good listen.

35 people found this helpful

Awed by Samuel Jackson's Talent

What did you love best about A Rage in Harlem?

I loved the way the book made me feel like I was in the story. I felt as if I could interrupt any of the characters to ask them a question. I felt like I was in the car chases as well as needing to duck when Grave Digger starts shooting in the dark. The book has so much energy that I would feel exhausted for Jackson playing all of these emotionally charged characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Rage in Harlem?

The most memorable moment of the story was when Jackson finds his brother's body and can't let on who he is.

What about Samuel L. Jackson’s performance did you like?

I loved the way he could change from one character to another in the many heated conversations. It made you feel like you were actually listening to three, four or five different people and not just the one voice of Samuel Jackson.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me both laugh and cry. Jackson sister as Sister Gabrielle was both funny and sad as the brother cons people for money to support a drug habit. It was emotional when he/she is killed so violently. The book brought the reality of living in a city such as Harlem and how people have to husle to survive.

Any additional comments?

I don't think I could read this book myself and get half as much out of it as I did listening to the dynamic voices of characters that Samuel Jackson brings to life!! BRAVO!!! Hope to find more book by him in this format.

9 people found this helpful

Samuel L. Jackson Steals the Show

That voice, that voice, that voice... Samuel L. Jackson makes A Rage in Harlem come alive with a memorable performance that rivals any he has ever given in a movie. Jackson handles women's voices as credibly as he does men's voices. This is one of the major problems in audio books, but no character suffers an identity crisis with Jackson's narration. He adds color and a rich texture to the many layers of this Chester Himes detective novel. HIs voice switches effortlessly from tension to humor driving the point home on how important it is to have a great narrator for an audio book. A Rage in Harlem and Kate Chopin's The Awakening narrated by Kim Basinger are the two best books I've listened to on Audible because of the narration.

3 people found this helpful

Interesting

I really enjoyed Samuel L. Jackson as narrators. I hope to hear more stories with him. the story was a bit weak though. For a time period story I didn't really feel like I was in the moment. i would reccommend for anyone intersted in a light read or hearinf Samuel. L Jackson.

2 people found this helpful