What do you think?
Rate this book
Hark
"A master novelist" -- Huffington Post "A writer at the height of his powers" -- Financial Times "Hark mixes several genres with grace, aplomb and undeniable queerness. It's audaciously provocative, sexy and spooky all at once. And very much of the zeitgeist!" -- Craig Laurance Gidney (A Spectral Hue) The night the statue of a Confederate colonel is torn down in the center of a dying, opioid-scarred and racially divided Southern town is the night two wild teenagers meet and start to fall in love. White working class Cleve is broke and drifting into criminality; black, bourgeois Roe is alienated and rebellious. They say opposites attract, and who could be more opposite than Cleve and Roe? When Cleve finds himself, at age 17, home alone for the first time in his life, he summons the courage to invite Roe to stay over. The young men’s relationship looks set to move to another level when they are interrupted by Hark, a mysterious black vagrant who seems to possess supernatural powers, and who takes them on a strange and troubling journey into the past. Hark is a touching, vividly contemporary coming of age story; a compelling, fast-paced and ultimately hopeful tale of gay love across the racial divide; and shows us how necessary it is to confront the evils of our shared history, however painful it may be to do so. John R Gordon is the author of seven other novels, most recently the black gay antebellum epic Drapetomania. Hailed as “an all-out masterpiece” by Patrik-Ian Polk (Noah’s Arc, Blackbird, The Skinny) and “a dazzling work of imagination” by Michael Eric Dyson (Tears We Cannot Sermon to White America). It won him the Ferro-Grumley Award 2019 for Best LGBTQ Fiction.
- GenresLGBT
Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2020
1 person is currently reading
35 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 17, 2020
I’ll have to admit that it took me a few chapters to really get into this book. But once I settled myself in Cleve and Roe’s small, southern US town, I honestly couldn’t put the book down. I was invested in not only their blossoming love story, but also their confrontation with America’s history of racism and violence.
This novel, in my opinion, beautifully navigates the intersections of race, class, and queerness, ultimately offering a story of love, hope, and revolution. There is, in fact, a powerful image early in the book where Roe and Cleve—two gay men; one Black and one white—are standing on the property of an abandoned, decaying plantation, and they, without hesitation or shame or fear, hold each other’s hands and kiss.
Little do they know, this exploration—both of their connection and of the plantation itself—sparks their eventual encounter with the titular character Hark, who, acting simultaneously as a supernatural force and a body of (and from) history, coerces Roe and Cleve to explore the histories they didn’t know they shared.
Ultimately, this novel is a great example for how to uplift—rather than appropriate—the voices and stories of marginalized bodies.
This novel, in my opinion, beautifully navigates the intersections of race, class, and queerness, ultimately offering a story of love, hope, and revolution. There is, in fact, a powerful image early in the book where Roe and Cleve—two gay men; one Black and one white—are standing on the property of an abandoned, decaying plantation, and they, without hesitation or shame or fear, hold each other’s hands and kiss.
Little do they know, this exploration—both of their connection and of the plantation itself—sparks their eventual encounter with the titular character Hark, who, acting simultaneously as a supernatural force and a body of (and from) history, coerces Roe and Cleve to explore the histories they didn’t know they shared.
Ultimately, this novel is a great example for how to uplift—rather than appropriate—the voices and stories of marginalized bodies.
October 18, 2020
I loved this book. I found it incredibly affecting and touching and I really enjoyed seeing Roe and Cleve fall in love. The themes and story of the narrative are incredibly timely, and I felt like I was being given a privileged look into a world I don't know much about. The story starts with the toppling of a slave owner statue and from there takes us effortlessly into a world of racial tension, young love and how we can try to move on from the horror of the past. The book has a sense of hope and melancholy I can remember from so many books from my youth, and does what the best fiction does in placing us in the centre of other people's lives as they battle to make the right choices.
I found the introduction of Hark as a character very moving, and I must admit I cried at the end.
I think this book deserves to be a YA classic - but you certainly don't need to be YA to enjoy it (I'm several stages removed from YA).
I found the introduction of Hark as a character very moving, and I must admit I cried at the end.
I think this book deserves to be a YA classic - but you certainly don't need to be YA to enjoy it (I'm several stages removed from YA).
September 3, 2020
One of the most joyful and culturally relevant books I've read in a long time. This novel is a tour de force and John R. Gordon is a brilliant, brilliant writer.
September 21, 2020
“He was history itself, proof they would never be able to walk hand in hand through the streets of Claypit, or through any other streets, or even unwitnessed in the primal woods, side by side and simply and singularly themselves, their skin colour reduced to mere opticality. Yet did either of them truly want that? To have no history, no past; to deny disquieting connections in order to escape from pain?”
Hark by John R Gordon is a beautiful piece of queer YA literature that tackles the intersections of queerness, race and class in a racially divided rural Southern town. Black bourgeois Roe and white working-class Cleve couldn’t be more different, yet one fateful night they meet and start to fall in love. What starts as a fluffy love story turns into a vivid, beautiful but also hurtful piece of literature about the racial history of their town – and their respective families. All this starts when they meet Hark – a person on a mission to erase the memory of his tragic death.
First and foremost: I loved the story. It had a very ‘classic’ feel to it, while still carrying the lightness of a YA novel. Full of descriptions of the summer heat in this rural town, it is the kind of book that will catapult you into a summer-y mood – no matter the actual season. The characters were vivid, raw and felt rather real to me in their flaws as well as in their skills and characteristics. It was fun to get to know them, see them awkwardly stumble into their first love and find their identities. John R Gordon asks the right questions with this novel: Where are the intersections of queerness, race, class? How do we overcome them when we fall in love? How do we fall in love with each other when we grew up with certain privileges that the other person never had and will never have? How do we live in a present that will always be tainted by a painful past? While helping Hark on his mission, Cleve and Roe have to ask themselves all these questions – and on the way, they find their answers, courage and hope to be themselves.
The ending of this book was satisfying, light and heavy at the same time.
John R Gordon created a little masterpiece that fits into the current situation of the world perfectly – but feels timeless, nonetheless. The importance of highlighting intersectional stories like these has never been greater than it is right now.
I got to read this book before publication for an honest review. I thank John R Gordon and Diriye Osman with all my heart for this beautiful chance.
Hark by John R Gordon is a beautiful piece of queer YA literature that tackles the intersections of queerness, race and class in a racially divided rural Southern town. Black bourgeois Roe and white working-class Cleve couldn’t be more different, yet one fateful night they meet and start to fall in love. What starts as a fluffy love story turns into a vivid, beautiful but also hurtful piece of literature about the racial history of their town – and their respective families. All this starts when they meet Hark – a person on a mission to erase the memory of his tragic death.
First and foremost: I loved the story. It had a very ‘classic’ feel to it, while still carrying the lightness of a YA novel. Full of descriptions of the summer heat in this rural town, it is the kind of book that will catapult you into a summer-y mood – no matter the actual season. The characters were vivid, raw and felt rather real to me in their flaws as well as in their skills and characteristics. It was fun to get to know them, see them awkwardly stumble into their first love and find their identities. John R Gordon asks the right questions with this novel: Where are the intersections of queerness, race, class? How do we overcome them when we fall in love? How do we fall in love with each other when we grew up with certain privileges that the other person never had and will never have? How do we live in a present that will always be tainted by a painful past? While helping Hark on his mission, Cleve and Roe have to ask themselves all these questions – and on the way, they find their answers, courage and hope to be themselves.
The ending of this book was satisfying, light and heavy at the same time.
John R Gordon created a little masterpiece that fits into the current situation of the world perfectly – but feels timeless, nonetheless. The importance of highlighting intersectional stories like these has never been greater than it is right now.
I got to read this book before publication for an honest review. I thank John R Gordon and Diriye Osman with all my heart for this beautiful chance.
October 8, 2020
I loved this book!
A slow burn of a story, like molasses in a winter's night.
Enjoyed watching Cleve and Roe fall in love. My heart went out to Paul and even Ron and to Roe's Great Gran.
A book about love, hate, loss. Of hiding and being seen. Of pain and suffering, and redemption. But most of all it's about how we are all intertwined, past, present and future.
A slow burn of a story, like molasses in a winter's night.
Enjoyed watching Cleve and Roe fall in love. My heart went out to Paul and even Ron and to Roe's Great Gran.
A book about love, hate, loss. Of hiding and being seen. Of pain and suffering, and redemption. But most of all it's about how we are all intertwined, past, present and future.
November 24, 2020
When I picked up Hark, I had a feeling that some things were going to click for me, but I had no idea how much. Reading this book truly made me think deeply on racism in ways I haven’t had to before, and will continue to make me think (and learn) for a long time to come.
That doesn’t even go into the nuances of homophobia in both Cleve and Roe’s cultures, or how Gordon tackles classism. His approach is very honest and open, not missing any beats, leaving the prose feeling raw and unfiltered.
Hark had one of the most profound endings of any book I have read. Not just this year—ever. I am still reeling over how perfect and deeply important the events are, and how much they mean regarding our shared histories.
Not only do I think most of us should read this, I think a lot of us need to read this book.
That doesn’t even go into the nuances of homophobia in both Cleve and Roe’s cultures, or how Gordon tackles classism. His approach is very honest and open, not missing any beats, leaving the prose feeling raw and unfiltered.
Hark had one of the most profound endings of any book I have read. Not just this year—ever. I am still reeling over how perfect and deeply important the events are, and how much they mean regarding our shared histories.
Not only do I think most of us should read this, I think a lot of us need to read this book.
September 10, 2024
A very sharp and perceptive novel dealing with race, sexuality, class and money - and I put class first because to often people believe that while money is important class is not important when separating Americans into different groups. Amazingly there are people out there who believe the USA is classless. As a YA novel I can't fault it - though I think readers of any age can enjoy this novel. I nearly didn't read this novel and for me it is a reminder that my 'radar' for judging new novels on superficial information is deeply unreliable and I am glad I ignored my initial prejudice. This novel deserves all the high praise it has received but I am sorry that it probably won't be read as extensively in the USA as it should.
January 17, 2023
A beautiful story of two young men on a variety of journeys. Self-discovery, understanding of each others racial differences, learning who they are, and who the mystery man that's hanging around is. Wonderfully written, and a charming read to make you wonder and think.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews