Subterrane

by Valérie Bah

A speculative comedy comprised of a carousel of Black and Queer voices being pushed further underground by urban prosperity.

New Stockholm, a metropolis like any other across North America, is unofficially divided between two worlds. Its upwardly mobile form the centre of its gleaming eye, but their prosperity and affluence are not the focus of Zeynab’s government-funded abstract documentary. Her lens trails to the city’s margins instead, in polluted industrial wastelands such as Cipher Falls, one of New Stockholm’s last affordable neighbourhoods, where creatives and other anti-capitalist voices increasingly find themselves pushed into demeaning, dead-end jobs. In this growing underground network, Zeynab’s lens focuses on the mysterious demise of Doudou Laguerre, whose death may be related to his activism against a construction project.

Subterrane connects us to a constellation of Black and Queer voices, the hair braiders, tattoo artists, holistic healers, weed dealers, and sidewalk horticulturists struggling to make a life in New Stockholm. Together, they illustrate how in cities across the continent, entire communities are being sidelined in the name of prosperity.

Genres: Fiction, Roman, Queer

267 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2024

Reviews

[Michael Belcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5–The impact of Bah’s work will, more than most, depend on the eye of the beholder. Passages that blur the line between inspired clarity and surrealist fuzz could delight and compel, or completely baffle. I lie somewhere in the land between.

This is an elliptical, voice-driven novel, voice being both its strength and weakness. So pitch perfect are its melodies that its draw subsumes most pleasures of plot. The book is a murder-mystery with no intrigue. Character studies with no cohesion. Every time I was sucked into the story of Maya and Zaynab, I was sucked back out, left to ramble among secondary characters—who sometimes feel like implausible caricatures because of their existentially exaggerated responses and how swiftly they enter and exit—when it would have been ideal to have the searing details and offbeat residents of Cipher Falls and New Stockholm filtered solely through them.

Ultimately, for me, “Subterrane” is obtuse in moments when its swirling energies should be concordant, a frustrating gesture for a novel so full of harmonic possibility.

But don’t take my word for it. You’re an urban dweller antagonized by conference fatigue and settler colonialism? This may just be the text for you.

[Enid Wray]

This is rather more like a collection of “short fictions” than a novel per se… and there is something compelling about the flow of it all.

But it’s a case of “I was with it… until I wasn’t”

If they had just kept more tightly focused on the central relationship I probably could have kept going with this one.

But it gets lost in a cast of peripheral characters.

DNF

[Pradhyum R · Rating 3 out of 5]

a profoundly ironic book. it's all a joke. it's targeted at basically performative people: to kind of motivate them to lose the silly trappings that hide what art and living is really for. I'm not really that performative (I don't think...) so it didn't land well with me. nor do I think it would land even among its target audience. it's basically rage-bait.

on the writing style, well, it aligns very well with the goal, I think. as soon as you pick up the book, you're confronted with Zeynab, and you want to put it down. the different voices are written differently, and not all of them are as annoying as Zeynab imo. I think that's a good way to make sure only people performative enough to read such an artsy novel are left reading it to the end. luckily I had to read it for a class so I didn't set it down.

[Isys · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more like a collection of short stories, each one a vignette in the life of a resident of this city. Some are interconnected, some are not. I liked that structure and I felt like it started off strong but midway through it went from being about interesting facets of these characters lives to being about petty squabbles and boring mundanity. I suppose that is life but that doesn't mean it should be this novel. There also wasn't much of a plot, but I'm fine with that. I usually love it when books operate purely based off of vibes but this one didn't really vibe with me. The writing was very witty and entertaining though, hence the three stars.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter postmodernist drivel. I honestly thought there had been a mistake in the ebook when I reached the end because I thought this cannot possibly be all this book is! But it was! Generally, I love strange books, but there should be some kind of theme or purpose to a book and its writing. This is just a random assortment of vignettes of mildly annoying and overly self-involved strangers. I’m sure ChatGPT could produce something of higher quality.

[Raimo Wirkkala · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dazzlingly original piece of work for a first-time novelist. If you need a strong plot to propel you through the narrative, this book ain't for you. It is entirely character-driven and what characters they are! The author's dramatis personae, and their unique voices, alternate chapter by chapter and lead to a provocative conclusion. There is even a cat named Chekhov! I approve.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

captivating, thought provoking, and incredibly easy to get lost in

[Maddie H · Rating 2 out of 5]

At once wants to be grungy and cynical but also profound and elegantly written in a way that doesn’t work

[Sidney BR · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Literally could not get into it. Jumped too much between narrators for me to get any sense of voice or place.

[Abbey LeJeune]

DNF a little over halfway through…I’m sure this is someone’s cup of tea but for me, books are more enjoyable when I can follow the storyline easier

[Jacob Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She realized that she was just like the kind of person she distrusts: those who feel they have to go elsewhere to consume culture. Why can’t she make the thing she seeks?”