Like Father, Like Son: “Isaac’s Song” https://ift.tt/mqrL9ue
Daniel Black’s newest novel Isaac’s Song is a companion novel to his 2022 book, Don’t Cry for Me. Let me first strongly suggest that you read his other book prior to starting Isaac’s Song. (Or, at the very least, find my review of Don’t Cry for Me here.) I say this not to create more work, but to note that the comparisons drawn between these two stories of Black men and their journey to self-discovery are so intertwined that both warrant their own time and attention.
While Don’t Cry for Me followed the trajectory of Jacob Swinton as he used his remaining living days to grow as a human, discover his roots as a Black man, and come to terms with the shattered relationship with his son, Isaac’s Song gives us the perspective of Jacob’s son, Isaac – a coming of age novel from Isaac’s point of view. What’s fascinating about writing reviews for these complementary stories is that, in my final paragraph of the Don’t Cry for Me review, I wrote: “Although the epistolary format in which the book unfolds takes away the opportunity to get the perspective of Isaac, or anyone else, really, it does allow Jacob to be more vulnerable and it demonstrates that this man has come a long way from where he started.” And here we are, three years and 296 pages later, getting Isaac’s perspective and learning, at the end of the day, despite all their differences, Jacob and Isaac weren’t all that dissimilar.
Isaac’s Song picks up where Don’t Cry for Me left off. Isaac is hearing of his father’s passing, and thus ensues a series of events that leads to the unraveling of Isaac’s beliefs and skewed perspective of not only his father, but also his mother. After Jacob’s funeral, Isaac begins seeing a therapist. During one of their first encounters, Isaac says, “Nothing is what I thought it was… I get so frustrated as I remember because my memory and my feelings don’t always align.” To which his therapist responds, “Truth is somewhere between what we feel and what really happened. Neither of those is truth alone.” His therapist sets him on a path of writing his life story – freely notating from his earliest memory to current day, and in that sense Isaac begins a journey of self-discovery through words, much like his father did in the form of letters to Isaac. Along this journey, we are taken through time to explore life as a Black man during the Rodney King beating and the LA Riots. We get a birds-eye view of life in the 80s and 90s as a gay Black man, three generations removed from slavery. At the core of the story, Isaac digs deep into his relationship with his father and how, perhaps, it wasn’t always as rigid and difficult as it seemed. Likewise, Isaac discovers he may have unfairly placed his mother on a pedestal, which she didn’t necessarily warrant. Along the way, Isaac eventually realizes his parents were just people trying their best. And as for Isaac, he discovers a side to him that was always there, but never let himself acknowledge. Isaac’s therapist explains, “We don’t create our baggage, Isaac, but we can unpack it. Everyone has agency, whether they use it or not. Nothing has ever happened to you that’s greater than the power within you. Blaming others is merely an excuse to avoid activating your own personal strength.”
While the coming-of-age, identity, and relationships all play a crucial role in making Isaac’s Song the story that it is, perhaps the most crucial part of this book – like Don’t Cry for Me – is the role reading and writing play in its overarching structure. In college, Isaac is introduced to Black writers for the first time – Toni Morrison, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, and Paule Marshall are all influential in helping Isaac relate more closely with his race, culture, and even his father. “I felt ashamed, being so ignorant of my own people’s literary tradition,” Isaac admits. Just like Jacob in Don’t Cry for Me, Isaac is seeing the world through a new lens – that lens being literature, words, and thoughtful ideas. In turn, as a grieving adult, Isaac remembers the words of these writers and uses his ability of creative expression to write and write and write some more, all in an effort to make sense of his upbringing, his relationships, and himself. His dad did the same thing in all the letters he left to Isaac, and as such we are seeing the evolution of two misunderstood men becoming more enlightened by words and writing. “Words let you outlive yourself,” Isaac thinks. “They take your energy, your life force, and speak for you long after you’re gone… Something about language makes a thing real. It makes thoughts tangible. You can lie to your thoughts, and they’ll lie back to you – until you write them down.”
Ultimately, Isaac’s Song can be read as a companion novel, yes, but also a love story – one of love for family, legacy, and literature. It is an assurance that when all else goes wrong in the world, words can right us if we continue to read and write them.
FICTION Isaac’s Song
By Daniel Black
Hanover Square Press
Published January 14, 2025
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