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jollyquaker's review against another edition
5.0
Liquid, powerful prose. An important, prophetic book.
booklover_2406's review against another edition
5.0
Breathtaking. Mr. Baldwin has such a way with words and this book continues to ring true whether it was written in the 60 or in a new century. Some things have changed for the better, but still to many things have either stayed the same, if not gotten worse. This should be required reading for all.
sierraburrell's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Slowly moving through all of James Baldwin’s work. I’m going to sit with this one for a while. There were so many moments where it felt like he was writing about present day struggles.
emilyhays8's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
mvindc's review against another edition
4.0
What a timely read--sadly timely. It's short but dense, like all of Baldwin's prose, and I gave myself the time to reflect while reading it, to really think about what he was saying (and sadly, how little is changed since he wrote these words over 50 years ago). I highly recommend reading this in conjunction with Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me; I'm also really enjoying reading "The Fire This Time" after finishing Baldwin's.
My favorite quote (though so much of it was so relevant it was shocking): "The subtle and deadly change of heart that might occur in you would be involved with the realization that a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless."
My favorite quote (though so much of it was so relevant it was shocking): "The subtle and deadly change of heart that might occur in you would be involved with the realization that a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless."
aidareads's review
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
this is a must-read even for those unfamiliar with nonfiction (such as me) and should be mandatory reading
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery