Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Un altro mondo by James Baldwin

33 reviews

emlibe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape

mayze's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Another amazing book by James Baldwin. Another Country tells the story of a social circle of NYC bohemians in the 1950s. Rufus a black jazz musician, Vivaldo an Irish-Italian write, Cass a wealthy liberal housewife, Ida a singer and Rufus' younger sister and Eric, an actor who just returned from some time off in France. While reading this book it's easy to understand why it's held in such high regard. The gripping writing and its clever way to interweaving different themes (racism, sexism, homosexuality/bissexuality) was decades ahead of its time and still does it better than the average book who tries to connect themes today. The characters were well written, they all have clear faults (some of them heinous) and even though none of them were overall likeable, I didn't find them particularly unlikeable either. They just felt like three-dimensional characters were the complexity and themes of the plot make some of their actions understandable from their POV. As usual, Baldwin's descriptions of NYC are very effective, you can easily picture Seventh Avenue, the dive bars the characters are fond of, coast towns in Southern France, and even how chaotic and smelly the characters' living quarters are. I highly recommend this, it's very uncomfortable at times but I feel that readers can learn a lot from it and easily put themselves in the characters' shoes even if they don't necessarily agree with their actions.

reubs's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

lfp_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

omarglez's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

4.75

After the first major movement, I found myself with countless questions about where Baldwin would go from this point forward. Thenn, Baldwin begins to unfold and explore race through love of all things, the one subject that has bewildered humans since the start of time. Stripping each character to there bones and inner thoughts, Baldwin writes about the bounds of human connection and the influence self-identity plays in such connections. The intersectionality that shapes, weights, and uplifts us the most often is but invisible; Baldwin however, brings these intersectionalities to the surface and exposes what can happen when we allow ourselves to exist. First read of the year--a stuck writer, one that sellsout, a delirous jazz drummer, a mournful singer, and a lost actor are pulled together after a life shaking event.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, and Classism

alexandrawells's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

James Baldwin writes prose as if it’s poetry pulsing in rushing water. A gorgeous reflection on New York in the 50s. filled with examinations of race, class and queerness in 50s NYC and Paris. I loved this book a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide

molly_kate's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

absolutazevedo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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

“ dreaming the way you dream? You people think you’re free. That means you think you’ve got something other people want - or need.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide

jortsfan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

williamgideon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"Strangers' faces hold no secrets because the imagination does not invest them with any. But the face of a lover is an unknown precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship