Palaver by Bryan Washington: book review
Washington has created a real niche for himself in his growing body of work. His novels typically center, at their core, gay, male protagonists who have some kind of connection to Houston. Lately, to Japan as well. With Palaver, there's a much more central focus on familial relationships and patterns than in previous novels. While there are plenty of subplots for both "the mother" and "the son," as they are exclusively referred to in the novel, the central concept of the book is their relationship. Interestingly, though, this unfolds mostly in subtext, in the ways they move around each other. When the mother comes to Tokyo to stay with the sun, the first time they've seen each other in years, it isn't a joyous reunion. It's awkward, and they're constantly stepping on each other's toes. While they have some direct conversations, they speak to one another sparingly. Instead, the son continues to live his life and the mother creates one of her own in Tokyo while reflecting on her past in Jamaica and the many other cities she's lived in.
The novel is a quick read. There is lots of dialogue and relatively sparse exposition with a high economy of language. Instead of chapters, long stretches are divided by scene breaks and these stretches are demarcated by interspersed pictures of Japan. The efficiency helps build out the world Washington is creating, and the sparseness only intensifies the impressive way he's able to sneak in backstory in a fashion akin to harboring vegetables onto a toddler's dinner plate. The reader is able to seamlessly gain knowledge, and small details are seeded in a way that create "aha!" moments 100 pages later that Washington doesn't delay the narrative to linger in. If you blink, you miss much of the magic of the novel. Still, something about the extreme compact efficiency also made me struggle to fully immerse myself in the novel. I could turn the pages so quickly with nothing to make me sink in deep that I didn't quite find the emotional core despite being impressed with the craft maneuvers that were executed. He's pulled off writing a story about a mother-son relationship where they hardly share the page. It's impressive. I just find that some of his other novels that didn't move quite so fast created a stronger sense of depth that allowed me to melt into the world.
Still, Palaver is a more than worthy read. If you're a fan of Bryan Washington's past novels, you won't be disappointed. While exploring enough new territory, my summary review for the Instagram was "a very Bryan Washington-y Bryan Washington novel."
Overall: 4
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