“Isaiah was Samuel’s and Samuel was Isaiah’s. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation’s harmony.
With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets masterfully reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.”
In this rather intellectually searching episode, the Spoilers wrestle with Robert Jones’ beautiful and challenging debut novel. We try to figure everything out at first, but ultimately settle upon a rather comfortable acceptance of un-knowing and dwelling in the wonder of ambiguity. Arriving at the conclusion that there has not really ever been a novel like this one (EVER!) doesn’t take us too awful long — and once we do get there — look out. What could have been an hour of complaining becomes a literary love fest. This episode is all epiphanic bliss and profound discovery in real time, folks (perhaps hyperbole, but it felt good).
Mentioned in the Episode
What the spoilers are up to!
- “Throughline” podcast on Octavia Butler
- Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson
- The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron
- The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
- Beloved, Toni Morrison
- There is a Balm in Gilead, Mahalia Jackson
- Black HERstory 101 Podcast
Uganda Ratifies Anti-LGBTQ Laws With Support From American Evangelicals
- Todd — “Throughline” on Marcus Garvry, Octavia Butler, and Bayard Rustin; The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Adriana — Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
- Crystal — The Cutting Season by Attica Locke and Dear Science and Other Stories by Katherine McKittrick
- Anita — Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid; Cloe Zhao’s Nomandland and The Rider