Orange Laughter

by Leone Ross

Tony Pellar, a man living on the verge of madness in the subway tunnels of New York City, recalls his life during the 1960s Civil Rights movement in North Carolina in an effort to recreate his painful past.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Leone Ross was born in England and brought up in Jamaica and this is her second novel. The into from Ross’s website is a good summation;
“tells the story of Tony Pellar, a man of fading fortunes and beauty, who finds himself in the subway tunnels of New York in 1995. Tony is battling insanity, as he is pursued by the spectre of Agatha, a woman who took care of him during his childhood in North Carolina.
Increasingly violent and confused, Tony writes to his childhood friend, Mikey, begging him to tell him the story of their childhood, details that he has forgotten but must use as the laughter of the woman he calls the Soul Snatcher follows him through the gloom.
The novel returns to the South during the civil rights movement as Tony and Mikey share the secrets of lost innocence, murder and twisted love in a desperate chance to save themselves and create a future.”
The narrative, flits between New York in the 1990s and North Carolina in the 1960s. In places it is very powerful and moving, the first paragraph is an example;

“I stooped over the child and looked at him for a long time but I felt nothing I wondered if he was garbage I hunkered down a foot away and stared at his body at first he looked like a sack then a mattress torn apart I stretched and I could see his arm and the tilt of his pelvis I stared hard WAS it a child you know the darkness plays with all our minds down here I didn't want to touch I tried to decide not to know but I'm not an animal baby so I reached out for the pathetic coat he wore I couldn't see its colour and I wondered where the sound was coming from a raw sorrow song I wondered who was crying over his crumpled face dang I saw the tears falling onto his little arm I watched them fall and I was thinking there are so many leaks down here then I realised the leak was me
it was me”.

Tony lives in the subway system of New York, on the edge of society and battling with mental illness. This Tony is not a sympathetic figure: violent towards women and self-absorbed. As the narrative moves backwards and forwards the reader begins to piece together the story and understand his history. Tony is introduced as a child who does not talk and who is living with Agatha following his mother’s death. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with Mikey, a white boy who is similarly isolated because of his weight. The narrative lays out the complex interrelationships and Ross builds the suspense well towards a powerful scene at the end of the novel. The reader will have seen some of the ending coming but there are some significant twists which are unexpected. Ross explores racism, loss and betrayal and at times there is a Faulkneresque feel to it all, although the descriptive power is sharper with people then place. There is also a good deal about relationships between the genders. Ross is on record as saying that Tony is an amalgam of three of her previous boyfriends; he is a haunting character, although the compassion the reader feels for Tony the child is not transferred to Tony the adult. Agatha, however is different and for me she held the whole together.
It took me a while to get into this, but as the pieces fell into place I became clear that this was a powerful, challenging and not very comfortable to read novel.

[Rider Babbit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cover of book is very misleading, main character is a man first of all. Well written story of South in 60's, like the way it showed the ordinary lives in a time where we so often only get newsreels. Reminiscent of Ellison's Invisible Man, interesting narrative of relationships and history. Wonder how an English author became so interested in US history, I commend her for doing this, many US authors seem afraid of such subjects.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the nicest of main characters, it's hard to feel for him, but definitely an interesting one.
It wasn't an enjoyable read, but it was one that touched on many subjects, and I think did them well.
I'm not sure who I'd recommend this to, but it was different.


Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.

[Stephen Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the easiest book to read but i stuck with it file under hep cat reads man .
I think the writer may have been in an altered state when writing some of this stuff but it is what it is.

[2TReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ross kept me hooked, guessing and wondering where she was taking her characters and readers.

[Theresa Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this out-of-print novel for book club- go me! And I liked it- a good look at what mental illness functions like on a daily basis. And a neat story of the Civil Rights era in the south. But it got a little convoluted and I'm not sure I liked the ending as much as I wanted to. But overall- good!

[nw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book left a real impression on me--rivaled my love for To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Debdanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully done- riveting window into the life of one of New York's mole people and the events that drove him there.