''The Intuitionist'' is a 1999

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

novel by American writer

Colson Whitehead Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of nine novels, including his 1999 in literature, 1999 debut ''The Intuitionist''; ''The Underground Railroad (novel), The Underground Railroad'' (2016) ...

. ''The Intuitionist'' takes place in a city (implicitly,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

) full of skyscrapers and other buildings requiring vertical transportation in the form of

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

s. The time, never identified explicitly, is one when black people are called "colored" and

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

is a current topic. The protagonist is Lila Mae Watson, an elevator inspector of the "Intuitionist" school. The Intuitionists practice an inspecting method by which they ride in an elevator and intuit the state of the elevator and its related systems. The competing school, the "Empiricists", insists upon traditional instrument-based verification of the condition of the elevator. Watson is the second black inspector and the first black female inspector in the city.

Plot summary

The story begins with the catastrophic failure of an elevator which Watson had inspected just days before, leading to suspicion cast upon both herself and the Intuitionist school as a whole. To cope with the inspectorate, the corporate elevator establishment, and other looming elements, she must return to her intellectual roots, the texts (both known and lost) of the founder of the school, to try to reconstruct what is happening around her. In the course of her search, she discovers the central idea of the founder of Intuitionism – that of the "black box", the perfect elevator, which will deliver the people to the city of the future.

Characters

* Lila Mae Watson: Protagonist * James Fulton: Founder of Intuitionism (dead before the story starts) * Raymond Coombs: Spy for a big elevator company (disguised as "Natchez", a poor nephew of Fulton's interested in the black box and in Lila Mae) *

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

Rogers: Fulton's servant and heir * Ben Urich: Reporter who has written a story on the black box for ''Lift'' magazine * Jim Corrigan and John Murphy: Thugs * Frank Chancre: President of the Elevator Guild, Empiricist * Orville Lever: Liberal and Intuitionist candidate for the presidency of the Elevator Guild * Mr. Reed: Lever's secretary and campaign manager * Charles "Chuck" Gould: Mere escalator inspector, on good terms with Lila Mae * Pompey: Black elevator inspector, Empiricist

Critical reception

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, from nine critics: four "rave" and five "positive". A ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' review wrote, "255 pages of the most engaging literary sleuthing you'll read this year," and "What makes the novel so extraordinary is the ways in which Whitehead plays with notions of race."

Walter Kirn Walter Norris Kirn (born August 3, 1962) is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably '' Up in the Air'', which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney. Education Ki ...

, writing in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', called it "The freshest racial allegory since

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. Ellison wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a co ...

's ''

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is Ralph Ellison's first novel, and the only one published during his lifetime. It was first published by the British magazine Horizon in 1947, and addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African American ...

'' and

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

's ''

The Bluest Eye ''The Bluest Eye'' is the first novel written by American author Toni Morrison and published in 1970. It takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison's hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following ...

''." Gary Krist, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', said it was an "ingenious and starkly original first novel." A review in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' compared it to ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. It was his debut novel. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it ...

'', and

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

's '' V.'' and ''

The Crying of Lot 49 ''The Crying of Lot 49'' is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon. It was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. on April27, 1966. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman who begins to embr ...

''.

Honors

* Quality

Paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

Book Club New Voices Award * Finalist,

PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and fu ...

* ''New York Times'' Notable Book

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intuitionist, The 1999 American novels 1999 science fiction novels Novels by Colson Whitehead Novels set in New York City Postmodern novels 1999 speculative fiction novels Works set in elevators 1999 debut novels Anchor Books books