Reviews

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

chazaiya's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

4.75

riaryan's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

There was only one thing I could possibly do straight after listening to the audio version of this important and thought-provoking book, and that was to listen to it again. There is so much within this that I would've loved to sit down and unpack with James. I felt empathy with his experiences of faith, church and its relationship with race, and how I wish things could've and should've been so different for him. Lots to still learn and understand from this essay, even 60 years on from when it was first written.

With thanks to Penguin Books and LibroFM for this audio book version of a true classic.

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

5.0

I revisited this book in preparation for a book club where we are reading The Fire This Time. It's hard to believe that this was written 58 years ago and how sadly relevant it feels today. Little has changed in this country since 1963, when James Baldwin published this book.
“And all this is happening in the richest and freest country in the world, and in the middle of the 20th century. The subtle and deadly change of heart that might occur and you would be involved with the realization that a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless.”
I like how he opens this with an intimate letter to his nephew urging him to “Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity”.
I basically bookmarked every single passage.

m7mdtonsy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

xosejules36's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

elizartemisbailey's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

ttodd86's review against another edition

5.0

I don't know of any book of this size (barely 100 pages) that gives the reader so much. At least as important now (spring 2020) as it was when it was written more than a generation ago.

tumormozgowicz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

eronnie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective

5.0

lmjones's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

This was a bit of a rollercoaster for me, but by the end I was very touched and inspired by it. I appreciate that Baldwin doesn’t shy away from what he needs to say. He’s direct and exact in his words and yet manages to make them beautiful and elegant. The subject of race is a charged one, but one we all have to seek to understand if we want to create a better world for all. I’d say this book is a must read.