Scan barcode
philosophie's review against another edition
4.0
History, I contend, is the present - we, with every breath we take, every move we make, are History - and what goes around, comes around.
Δεν πρόκεται για ένα μυθιστόρημα που αφορά τις δολοφονίες παιδιών στην Atlanta, αλλά μάλλον μια εξέταση των θεμάτων που ήδη αναπτύσσει ο Baldwin σε προηγούμενες συλλογές του. Συγκεκριμένα, είναι ένας στοχασμός πάνω στα εγκλήματα της περιόδου 1979-1981, ένα σχόλιο πάνω στη δίκη και τον ίδιο τον κατηγορούμενο, W. B. Williams, που ξετυλίγεται ελικοειδώς σε μια τύποις καταγγελία των φυλετικών σχέσεων στην Αμερική και το διαχωρισμό των μαύρων σε κοινωνικές βαθμίδες, μεταξύ άλλων, κατά την εποχή του R. Reagan.
[...]the Black demand was not for integration. Integration, as we could all testify, simply by looking at the colors of our skins, had, long ago, been accomplished.[...]The Black demand was for desegregation, which is a legal, public, social matter: a demand that one be treated as a human being and not like a mule, or a dog. It was not even a direct demand for social justice: desegregation was a necessary first step in the Black journey toward that goal. It had absolutely nothing to do with the hope of becoming White. Desegregation demanded, simply, that Black people, and, especially, Black children, be recognized and treated as human beings by all of the institutions of the country in which they were born. Since, I have done the State some service and they know it, desegregation demanded that the State recognize, and act on, this irrefutable and irreducible truth.
Ο Baldwin καταδεικνύει την πιθανότητα αθωότητας του W. B. Williams βασίζοντας αυτή τη σκέψη του στις συσπάσεις της λευκής δικαιοσύνης, των λευκών μέσων ενημέρωσης, της λευκής κοινής γνώμης και στη συστηματική αποφυγή λήψης μέτρων για τη δυσάρεστη κατάσταση της μαύρης κοινότητας. Σύμφωνα με το συγγραφέα ο ρατσισμός δεν αποτελεί εκτροπή ούτε απρόοπτη παρενέργεια του Αμερικανικού Ονείρου, εντούτοις είναι θεμέλιό του. The real meaning and history of Manifest Destiny, for example, γράφει ο Baldwin, is nothing less than calculated and deliberate genocide.
anneshamitha's review against another edition
5.0
"The victim can have no point of view for precisely so long as he thinks of himself as a victim. The testimony of the victim, as victim, corroborates, simply, the reality of the chains that bind him - confirms, and, as it were, consoles the jailer, the keeper of the keys. For precisely as long as the jailer hears your moaning, he knows where you are."
philosophie's review against another edition
4.0
History, I contend, is the present - we, with every breath we take, every move we make, are History - and what goes around, comes around.
Δεν πρόκεται για ένα μυθιστόρημα που αφορά τις δολοφονίες παιδιών στην Atlanta, αλλά μάλλον μια εξέταση των θεμάτων που ήδη αναπτύσσει ο Baldwin σε προηγούμενες συλλογές του. Συγκεκριμένα, είναι ένας στοχασμός πάνω στα εγκλήματα της περιόδου 1979-1981, ένα σχόλιο πάνω στη δίκη και τον ίδιο τον κατηγορούμενο, W. B. Williams, που ξετυλίγεται ελικοειδώς σε μια τύποις καταγγελία των φυλετικών σχέσεων στην Αμερική και το διαχωρισμό των μαύρων σε κοινωνικές βαθμίδες, μεταξύ άλλων, κατά την εποχή του R. Reagan.
[...]the Black demand was not for integration. Integration, as we could all testify, simply by looking at the colors of our skins, had, long ago, been accomplished.[...]The Black demand was for desegregation, which is a legal, public, social matter: a demand that one be treated as a human being and not like a mule, or a dog. It was not even a direct demand for social justice: desegregation was a necessary first step in the Black journey toward that goal. It had absolutely nothing to do with the hope of becoming White. Desegregation demanded, simply, that Black people, and, especially, Black children, be recognized and treated as human beings by all of the institutions of the country in which they were born. Since, I have done the State some service and they know it, desegregation demanded that the State recognize, and act on, this irrefutable and irreducible truth.
Ο Baldwin καταδεικνύει την πιθανότητα αθωότητας του W. B. Williams βασίζοντας αυτή τη σκέψη του στις συσπάσεις της λευκής δικαιοσύνης, των λευκών μέσων ενημέρωσης, της λευκής κοινής γνώμης και στη συστηματική αποφυγή λήψης μέτρων για τη δυσάρεστη κατάσταση της μαύρης κοινότητας. Σύμφωνα με το συγγραφέα ο ρατσισμός δεν αποτελεί εκτροπή ούτε απρόοπτη παρενέργεια του Αμερικανικού Ονείρου, εντούτοις είναι θεμέλιό του. The real meaning and history of Manifest Destiny, for example, γράφει ο Baldwin, is nothing less than calculated and deliberate genocide.
tenten's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.25
i think i expected something else than what i got, so that colored how i felt about it, but overall it was a good book that weaved together a number of topics that are a lot more connected than we tend to realize.
booksnailmail's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Calling all thriller lovers, do I have some great anti-racist reading recommendations for you. I did NOT pick these up knowing that they would fit my October *mood* so well, but my goodness, my heart was pounding through these:
Evidence of Things Not Seen:
Okay if “Spooky Baldwin” was ever a thing, here it is! If you watched Mindhunter season 2 and have not read this, you need it! At 120-ish pages, this long form essay is a searing look into why and how the conviction of a Black man for 2 murders assauged the hunt for the serial murderer of 28 Black children.
With precise writing and searing inquisition, Baldwin breaks down the mindset of America that provoked this. As always, Baldwin writes with clarity and beautiful language - “Wealth is the power to make one’s needs felt and to force a response to those needs.” - on why the Black families of Atlanta’s missing and murdered children never got to control their narrative and demand justice for their kids.
teelight's review against another edition
3.0
The book cover says that this is about the Atlanta child murders in the early 80s. And it sort of is. What it is actually about is the state of race relations in Atlanta, and the southern US, in the early 80s. The murders are just the foundation the discussion is built from.
This is not Baldwin's best work, in my eyes at least. It is still written in his well thought out style, but it feels a bit more unfocused than some of his other work. It didn't have the same impact. If you value his other essays I would say pick this up. If you want an introduction to Baldwin's essays I would say start with No Name in the Streets.
This is not Baldwin's best work, in my eyes at least. It is still written in his well thought out style, but it feels a bit more unfocused than some of his other work. It didn't have the same impact. If you value his other essays I would say pick this up. If you want an introduction to Baldwin's essays I would say start with No Name in the Streets.
mlknits's review against another edition
5.0
Disjointed, but with constant beautiful, insightful, fascinating and sometimes very funny (if morbid) passages. Definitely recommend reading it on a couch next to your partner, endlessly interrupting her to read paragraphs out loud.
More...