My first thoughts of Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed were not good ones. I found this book to be simply just weird. The first chapter of the book was before the cover page. If I was not told where the first chapter was I would have totally missed it. Some people might say that this might be a unique characteristic of the book having themes related to the title, however my first impression of this was I found the author was trying to hard in attempt to be unique.
After reading the first nine chapters I had to say I was kinda lost. I did not understand what was really happening in the book. It was not until around chapter five where I started kinda understanding what Jes Grew was. In the book Ishmael refers to Jes Grew as a type of epidemic which at first I had thought was some sort of sickness. I am still not to sure what Jes Grew exactly is, but my best guess is that it is maybe a type of dance? There are many references to native Americans which also tie into Jes Grew. There seems to be more information that we are not given yet.
As I am an impatient person I can not wait for the book’s plot to move on. At this point I find this book quite dull and confusing. I cant say I am the only one as most of the people in my class also agreed to the points I stated above. There are many subtle things that the author does in his writing which I am looking forward to when I further read the rest of the story. I can’t wait to see where this story takes us.
I hope recent class discussions have made this more clear, but roughly speaking, "Jes Grew" is analogous to jazz and the spread of jazz culture (via "flappers" and all that we associate with "the Jazz age" or "the Roaring 20s") from the clubs and brothels of New Orleans into integrated nightclubs in the north and even majority-white ballrooms. Culture, in many ways, spread like an epidemic.
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