The intuitionist

255 pages

English language

Published Oct. 29, 1999 by Anchor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-385-49299-7
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3 stars (2 reviews)

Who tampered with the elevator?

The mundane job of elevator inspection becomes a mysterious tale of intrigue. Whitehead weaves a beautiful narrative featuring an independent protagonist who elevates herself from the racism she faces in this noir mystery.

2 editions

What a book!

4 stars

Lila Mae is an elevator inspector, and she is one of the first black, the first woman, and also one of the few Intuitionists, because elevator inspection is either done by Empiricism or by Intuitionism. Yet as one recently inspected elevator fails dramatically, Lila Mae is pulled into a political investigation whose fault it was, and if either Blacks, females or intuitionists are to blame. And of course everything in this book is meant allegoric.

It takes place in an unnamed city in the early 20th century, and it meanders between facts (like Elisha Graves Otis appears) and fiction, yet the city is full of skyscrapers and feels like either New York or Gotham City (I know).

The plot is fast and mysterious. The dialogues is funny and biting, and the entire story makes you laugh until it doesn't somehow.

I liked it alot and will surely buy another book …

over my head, great for a class to pick apart, sucks for entertainment

2 stars

So, there were some really sharp lines, interesting intrigue, and then it just turned into a slog. I'm sure this is great if you're a lit professor or something, but I'm not. I just wanted a good book to read, not a homework assignment. My favorite scene was the dime-a-dance place, and it had absolutely zero to do with anything else in the story, but it had the most emotion.

Subjects

  • African Americans -- Fiction
  • African American women -- Fiction
  • Elevators -- Inspection -- Fiction