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BOOK REPORT The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley (2005)
The Man in My Basement is an allegorical novel, comparable in its themes and resolution to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Anniston Bennet feels like a possibly deliberate modern evocation of Mr Kurtz, the Belgian colonialist whose soul rots away in the Congo. (And later Vietnam, reimagined as Col Kurtz and played by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now.)
The difference is that where both Mr and Col Kurtz had long since cut loose from reality, fallen to the ravages of nihilistic violence, Bennett is still at a stage where he thinks he might be saved. More fool him.
The plot sees him arrive at the home of Charles Blakey, resident of an all-black middle-class neighbourhood where a white man stands out as sorely as a cat walking upright would. Blakey is in a dire financial situation and this is what leads him to eventually accept the white man’s bizarre offer: Bennett wants to live in Blakey’s basement, in a cage, to atone for what he calls crimes against humanity. He’ll even pay $50,000 for the privilege.
Mosley is best known for his mystery novels, and in its way, The Man in My Basement is one of them. It’s a mystery of the soul or human condition, if that isn’t too pretentious a phrase. The racial element is important but doesn’t monopolise the story. You might expect Bennett’s mission to be based on an atoning for American slavery in the 19th century, but although this is touched on, the story is ultimately much wider in its analysis of sin and redemption, crime and punishment.
Blakey is a flawed but likeable protagonist. Some of the most interesting sections involving him alone (he narrates the novel) reflect on how his father insisted that his lineage wasn’t among the general run of African slaves, but somehow better than that. The poison of racism is shown in that little subplot, how it affects the ways in which people view their own race as opposed to just others.
Very little happens in the novel, but if you like dark and challenging allegorical fiction, you’ll enjoy The Man in My Basement.
The difference is that where both Mr and Col Kurtz had long since cut loose from reality, fallen to the ravages of nihilistic violence, Bennett is still at a stage where he thinks he might be saved. More fool him.
The plot sees him arrive at the home of Charles Blakey, resident of an all-black middle-class neighbourhood where a white man stands out as sorely as a cat walking upright would. Blakey is in a dire financial situation and this is what leads him to eventually accept the white man’s bizarre offer: Bennett wants to live in Blakey’s basement, in a cage, to atone for what he calls crimes against humanity. He’ll even pay $50,000 for the privilege.
Mosley is best known for his mystery novels, and in its way, The Man in My Basement is one of them. It’s a mystery of the soul or human condition, if that isn’t too pretentious a phrase. The racial element is important but doesn’t monopolise the story. You might expect Bennett’s mission to be based on an atoning for American slavery in the 19th century, but although this is touched on, the story is ultimately much wider in its analysis of sin and redemption, crime and punishment.
Blakey is a flawed but likeable protagonist. Some of the most interesting sections involving him alone (he narrates the novel) reflect on how his father insisted that his lineage wasn’t among the general run of African slaves, but somehow better than that. The poison of racism is shown in that little subplot, how it affects the ways in which people view their own race as opposed to just others.
Very little happens in the novel, but if you like dark and challenging allegorical fiction, you’ll enjoy The Man in My Basement.
Published 5th Oct 2022
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5th Oct 2022 3:49pm
Someone recommended The Socrates Fortlow series to me ages ago. May have a scramble around Walter’s pages. Heart of Darkness is a favourite (“we live, as we dream, alone”) so that’s a good start. Most interests arrive from other people, friends & reviews. You do a really good job at sparking such interests.
