Reviews

Another Country by James Baldwin

brycemattison's review against another edition

5.0

Loved it and couldn’t get enough, the characters all felt real and relatable. Even though it was already over 400 pages I’d read one thousand more pages of the cast, I felt there was still so much more to be said about all of them.

nikwui's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.5

loganmedrano's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.25

thalassandra's review against another edition

4.0

”Love was a country he knew nothing about.”

I initially meant to give this one a three-star rating, but I had to change it after Ida and Vivaldo’s last scene together. Despite me giving this four stars, my actual experience of reading this novel was filled with mixed feelings.

Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely adored Giovanni’s Room and had high hopes for Another Country as well, so it came as a real disappointment to me when I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. While some scenes were enjoyable and the prose was lovely, I failed to truly care about, and engage with, the characters and what would become of them in the end.

Nevertheless, the works of James Baldwin are truly out of this world, and I look forward to reading his other pieces in the near future.

jenya's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I objectively admired the book, James Baldwin’s written eloquence and very precise observation of human lives but I did not manage to feel them, unfortunately. I didn’t feel anything to characters who seemed to me quite dull. The dynamics between them were complicated, full of nuance, and still, it was not enough for me to enjoy the characters, since after Rufus died. 
It also a shame that two only women in the book were presented as some kind of cruel whore bitches, while men seemed to be the victims of the said women in addition to the entire world. It was a bit disappointing.

moosefeather's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

joshbernaldross's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kirsten0929's review against another edition

4.0

[1962] This book was a glorious exploration of the morphing interrelationships of a group of friends of varying race, gender and sexual orientation. Not a lot of plot, just the evolution of the relationships. This book could not take place anywhere but New York. The characters were well drawn and we spend a lot of time with their emotions and inner turmoil. There was lots of description, which I think he does masterfully (although, there were times that a description of, say, a facial expression would have so many seemingly conflicting adjectives and concepts that I would end up with no idea of what that facial expression might actually look like). At almost 450 pages, I do feel that it could have been edited down without anything being lost. I found it a little melodramatic towards the end, some of the dialogue rang less true to me. Some long monologues that I think would be great performed on stage, actually the whole thing might make a really good ensemble cast theater piece.

maddythacker's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

4.25

mreike02's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0