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francescafg's review against another edition
4.0
a photojournalist book about people who lived in nyc tenements but the narration is honestly a little eye roll worthy at times. good job for jacob riis for being a passionate journalist and writing a book that's a staple but i don't know how much we can really learn from books like this when the author compares his own subjects to himself and judges them just bc he was also an immigrant. however there is a lot of valuable information in here and he highlighted things that really needed reform.
lemonsaurus's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
While covering an incredibly upsetting aspect of American history and being incredibly informative, even leading to policy change at the time, Riis was extremely antisemitic and racist. Some of the things he says about Jewish boarders in the tenements are so horrible I physically recoiled from my device in shock. It was an incredibly important work in history despite his views and were the start to reform that helped the people he was so hateful towards, but its still not pleasant to read between the terribly sad conditions people lived in and Riis' despicable personal views flavoring the already awful topic. For this reason I can't really justify giving this book a star rating. I don't condone his language, I don't condone his beliefs, "he was a man of his time" has NEVER been a valid argument defending views like his.
If you want to know more about the tenements I would argue there are places to do so that don't include Riis' personal prejudices, despite how historically important this book was I would recommend just looking at the images he took and compiled and using the tenement museum as a resource for text.
If you want to know more about the tenements I would argue there are places to do so that don't include Riis' personal prejudices, despite how historically important this book was I would recommend just looking at the images he took and compiled and using the tenement museum as a resource for text.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Child death
earth_to_haley's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
samahsafiullah's review against another edition
3.0
An essential book for those who are interested in housing and urban planning in large metropolitan areas, specifically in New York. This is a first hand account of the slums which various types of immigrants and African Americans lived in during the 1880s, located in Harlem. It reveals the power of flash photography and the miserable and inhumane conditions of Tenements. The narrator is dreadfully racist, yet his stereotypes are so outlandish and brutally honest that you can't help but laugh at his observations! With the right perspective, one can better understand the current divisions of New York City and the movement/ideology of gentrification in certain areas.
tracyk22's review against another edition
4.0
You can read it here:
http://www.authentichistory.com/1898-1913/2-progressivism/2-riis/index.html
http://www.authentichistory.com/1898-1913/2-progressivism/2-riis/index.html
leslie_turner0121's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting take on how the immigrants of NYC lived and how the author wanted the readers to feel sympathy for the less fortunate.
beckydham's review against another edition
4.0
I can't say that I really "enjoyed" a book like this, especially when so much of it feels like it never went away.
kurtwombat's review against another edition
4.0
Not a piece of impressive journalism, but a devastatingly important piece of history. Jacob Riis photography of the slums of New York and subsequent book of same capture lives not much reflected upon. If I was in charge of any educational curriculum anywhere, I would make this required reading. The photography brings home in a way that a thousand dry texts could not how little people with money are concerned with the welfare of those without. There are those championing the cause of reform and they are given credit here—but they are struggling against tall odds and fighting for crumbs off the big table. The brutality and squalor of New York tenement life about the turn of the century is so vividly presented that I often wondered if it were a movie I had seen before but forgotten or if I had traveled in time and walked right into the scene. So much of our vision is directed upward towards achievement that we don’t look down to those being crushed beneath progress. It is important to recognize that those being photographed are not visiting poverty for the photo op but that they wake up to it in the morning, breath it in all day long and sleep with it at night—the grind never leaves their skin. Another book that struck me the same way was Jacob Holdt’s AMERICAN PICTURES where a Dutch photographer traveled below the poverty line in the American 1970’s soaking up the social struggles and despair of daily life. Can’t recommend either of these works enough to reshape your view of the world.
screiley's review against another edition
3.0
I really appreciate this book for its historical context and the photographic evidence (some editions have much better quality photo reproductions than others - be careful of the poor reprints). However, I find it difficult to stay engaged in Riis's narrative style.