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theknitpick's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Misogyny, and Racism
Minor: Violence
ja3m3's review against another edition
5.0
The Street refers to 116th Street in Harlem, New York and it is as much of a living breathing character as Lutie Johnson the main character. The story is as current today as it was 70+ years ago when it was written. It is a powerful, riveting, and haunting look at poverty and racism on America's streets in the 1950s and should be read now to understand what is happening in our country today. Highly Recommend.
msanticola's review against another edition
4.0
While this novel is considered fiction it tells a very real and haunting tale of working class Black women in the 1940s. The Street is masterful in its imagery, character creation, and symbolism.
meghan111's review against another edition
4.0
"And it wasn't just this city. It was any city where they set up a line and say black folks stay on this side and white folks on this side, so that the black folks were crammed on top of each other - jammed and packed and forced into the smallest possible space until they were completely cut off from light and air.
It was any place where the women had to work to support the families because the men couldn't get jobs and the men got bored and pulled out and the kids were left without proper homes because there was nobody around to put a heart into it. Yes. It was any place where people were so damn poor they didn't have time to do anything but work, and their bodies were the only source of relief from the pressure under which they lived; and where the crowding together made the young girls wise beyond their years.
It all added up to the same thing, she decided - white people. She hated them. She would always hate them. She forced herself to stop that train of though. It led nowhere. It was unpleasant."
It amazes me that there can be such a pervasive opinion in the US that slavery happened in the long-ago past and bears no relation to our current society. Take this book, which takes place in 1944 in Harlem - the great migration post-slavery, from the South to the North, is going on, and black people coming to the North are forced to live in the shittiest neighborhoods and face pervasive everyday racism and have great difficulty finding jobs. Unlike what happens to people from other backgrounds coming to the cities, the institutionalized practice of redlining and segregation based on appearances lasts for generations - you can't assimilate if your skin color means you can't get loans, live in neighborhoods, etc. This is so clearly related to today. Anyway, all this to say that this book is vital and alive and unpleasant to read. It reminded me of the dark moral sense of Patricia Highsmith. Chapters from the point of view of a sexual predator were so creepy.
billienichole's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vivaloops's review against another edition
5.0
Even ~70 years later, this is a startlingly relevant critique of the empty promises of the "American dream" and the racial caste system in our country.
kategci's review against another edition
4.0
This book was originally published in 1946, but has shown up lately on blogs and as a recommendation from people I follow on Twitter and Instagram. Bill Goldstein, who hosts Bills' Books on WNBC'S Weekend Today in New York (every other Sunday) recommended it on February 10th and I had already started reading it. This is the story of Lutie Johnson, who is trying hard to raise her son Bub in post WW II NYC. She has a poor civil service position with few opportunities for advancement which pays barely enough to cover food and rent. She has moved out from her father's apartment to a place on her own on W 116th Street. This is a collection of buildings housing poor, working class families as well as apartments used for prostitution. Lutie is hoping to move to a better neighborhood, but is unwilling to use her remarkable beauty to create a better life for herself and her son. At times, this novel is almost suffocating in its description of Lutie's life, where she feels trapped with no visible way out. At times, Petry seems to get bogged down in descriptions and backstories, but as a whole, this novel tells a very important story.
pamjsa's review against another edition
5.0
The ending of this novel is perhaps the most heartbreaking thing you'll ever read. However, Petry is masterful in her ability to understand the motivations of even the most odious characters. She also does a brilliant job of trapping the reader in the same way she traps Lutie Johnson in her life, through no fault of her own. I've taught this novel several times, and although students are usually unhappy with the ending, they eventually have to admit that there's no other ending that makes any sense. The world that Lutie inhabits--The Street--is cruel and uncaring. There are no happy endings here.
marilyn1904's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tangy_t33's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Excellent. Sad. Fantastic storytelling.