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A review by mariahistryingtoread
The Tragedy of Brady Sims by Ernest J. Gaines
3.0
The Tragedy of Brady Sims is a decent book though somewhat oddly executed. I get the idea of a character study of a controversial figure told from the perspective of everyone except that figure. But, I thought it was pretty limited in scope. You could argue that it's part of the tragedy that no one knows the full story of Brady Sims. And I would honestly agree with you, but the caveat is that even if no one knows the entirety of Brady Sims there is room for a more in-depth examination in spite of the outside point of view.
The characters in the barbershop start off Brady Sims life essentially from the synopsis where it is stated that he was selected to be an enforcer for the Black community to keep everyone's children in line to avoid white retribution. The irony being that he could not save his own child from his fate and chose to kill him rather than leave him open to white subjugation. It reminded me a lot of Beloved by Toni Morrison. Murder can be love if the circumstances are right.
I would have appreciated if more of what led to Brady Sims choices were explored. The story as it is relies a lot on the reader to fill in holes and draw conclusions on their own. I don't need every aspect of his life from birth explained. I just would have liked to dig deeper into what else occurred in his life to lead him down this path. Particularly when it is revealed that he and the sheriff were apparently good friends to the point that the sheriff gives Sims the 2 hours he requests before Sims will turn himself in and is demonstrably upset about needing to arrest him.
It's a decent enough character study I feel hindered by its shorter length. I liked what was there. But, I feel the takeaway from this is in what Gaines chose to allude to or exclude altogether rather than what he officially put on page in-text.
The characters in the barbershop start off Brady Sims life essentially from the synopsis where it is stated that he was selected to be an enforcer for the Black community to keep everyone's children in line to avoid white retribution. The irony being that he could not save his own child from his fate and chose to kill him rather than leave him open to white subjugation. It reminded me a lot of Beloved by Toni Morrison. Murder can be love if the circumstances are right.
I would have appreciated if more of what led to Brady Sims choices were explored. The story as it is relies a lot on the reader to fill in holes and draw conclusions on their own. I don't need every aspect of his life from birth explained. I just would have liked to dig deeper into what else occurred in his life to lead him down this path. Particularly when it is revealed that he and the sheriff were apparently good friends to the point that the sheriff gives Sims the 2 hours he requests before Sims will turn himself in and is demonstrably upset about needing to arrest him.
It's a decent enough character study I feel hindered by its shorter length. I liked what was there. But, I feel the takeaway from this is in what Gaines chose to allude to or exclude altogether rather than what he officially put on page in-text.