The Intuitionist is Colson Whitehead’s debut novel, originally published in 1999 and reissued in this revised translation. Written, therefore, more than 15 years before Underground Railroad And Nickel Boysthe masterpieces that made him one of the few writers to win two Pulitzer Prizes.
In a city never named, but which evokes Manhattan at a time when people were still talking about “colored” people, Lila Mae Watson stands out in the city’s elevator inspection department. His colleagues, exclusively white men, are a vaguely caricatured breed of blue-collar workers, accustomed to bribes, who proudly claim the “macho prestige” associated with what they call the national vertical transportation industry.
Originally from the South, the young black woman left her native town to study and work in the North, despite her father’s warning: “In the North, it’s pretty much like here. White people are all the same. You might find it different, but trust me, it’s the same. »
Everywhere she goes, she is treated to all kinds of grimaces of surprise, even distrust, from people who have never seen elevator inspectors “like her”.
What doesn’t help her case is that she belongs all the more to the school of intuitionists, whose methods are highly contested by empiricist repairers.
When a prestigious building that she inspected the day before crashes just as the mayor was about to climb inside, she comes to believe that a trap has been set for her. Lila Mae Watson then begins to investigate the circumstances of the accident, digging into the foundations of the intuitionists’ doctrine, in search of a vast conspiracy that would explain the sabotage.
The tone of the novel here is rather mocking, of a deadpan genre where one must strive, to grasp the irony, to pierce a façade of seriousness that is far too credible to be clearly defined as satire. . Whitehead devotees will, however, recognize a certain relationship between this title and Harlem Shuffle (published in French last year), the author having therefore tested from his beginnings in writing the effectiveness of humor in highlighting issues such as racism and sexism.
Unquestionably, this work testifies to the great genius of the writer; and this reason alone would be more than enough for us to start reading it. But it is clear that The Intuitionist is far from arousing the range of strong emotions and engagement that titles like Underground Railroad And Nickel Boys. It’s too bad.
The Intuitionist
Albin Michel
384 pages