Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Another Country by James Baldwin

38 reviews

roni_schreuer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

The city was a main character 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

thecatsgrave's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

everybody get gay right now!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Suicide

astrozombies's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.75

as a first endeavor into baldwin’s work, i fear i may have bit off a bit more than i could chew.
the writing is phenomenal. every sentence evokes powerful emotion, which is probably part of why it took me so long to finish; yet still, i don’t feel like i’m done. i imagine this book is one i’ll have to revisit later to fully grasp the themes baldwin is trying to explore, as well as to understand the motivations of some characters, especially regarding rufus and his treatment of leona.
i think it was very moving to see how rufus was the connecting force between every character—even past chapter one—and how he motivated the actions of characters like vivaldo and ida especially.
it was frustrating, however, to watch as every character chose the worst decision to make at any given opportunity. the almost universal mistreatment of every female character and non-character was also difficult to parse beyond “well, they kinda were universally mistreated at this time” so maybe that was the point.
nevertheless, this book was a monumental emotional effort that i feel glad to have read, and i’m excited to see how baldwin’s other works fare. maybe after a bit of a break, though. lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content

curlyhairbibliophile's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.25

Wonderful, complicated and so SO MESSY! I read this for a book club, and this was such an awesome book to discuss one sangria deep with 10 strangers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt

julela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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: Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

cmcrockford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Going full five here, the last fifty to sixty pages are just extraordinary writing about love and race and sex and fidelity and really salvation. So far this is the best Baldwin novel I've read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

This must have driven people in 1962 into an absolute frenzy.

kirkspockreads's review against another edition

There is nothing wrong with this book. It is just taking me forever to get through and I want to move on but don’t have the brain space for it right now. Great book, powerful writing, not the right time for me to be reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

jlchabotte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

beansrowning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

4.0

It's not really up my alley as a romance-driven novel (and as cis-gendered white male), but as a fan of Baldwin I read it with no prior research. 

Some of the themes were particularly challenging, bordering on the misogynistic. I think some of these more shocking depictions work well because they force the reader to consider the trials and tribulations of Rufus in the context of his life and the realities of a black man living in those times, and I found that my initial opinion had shifted as I read on, a great signal of a thought provoking novel. 

Unfortunately, there is still relevance today concerning white liberalism and LGBTQ acceptance. 

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Content Warnings

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

seasonedreadings's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Biphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault