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creationwing's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I appreciated the narrator's ability to convey the sardonic humour in Baldwin's voice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Confinement, Hate crime, Classism, and Racism
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Slavery, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Police brutality, and Alcoholism
savvylit's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
"I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am, also, much more than that. So are we all."
Much of James Baldwin's writing in Notes of a Native Son is deeply profound. He puts into words the unique brand of American hypocrisy and racial disparity. These observations feel especially significant since he published them on the cusp of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Furthermore, many of Baldwin's observations on the persistence of white supremacy still resonate today - nearly 70 years later.
No one writes the way that Baldwin did. This is the second nonfiction work of his that I have read and his voice is just so singular. If you want to know what I mean, here are a few more quotes from Notes of a Native Son for your perusal:
"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster."
"Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the field of battle."
"In America, though, life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe and each generation is promised more than it will get: which creates, in each generation, a furious, bewildered rage, the rage of people who cannot find solid ground beneath their feet."
Much of James Baldwin's writing in Notes of a Native Son is deeply profound. He puts into words the unique brand of American hypocrisy and racial disparity. These observations feel especially significant since he published them on the cusp of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Furthermore, many of Baldwin's observations on the persistence of white supremacy still resonate today - nearly 70 years later.
No one writes the way that Baldwin did. This is the second nonfiction work of his that I have read and his voice is just so singular. If you want to know what I mean, here are a few more quotes from Notes of a Native Son for your perusal:
"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster."
"Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the field of battle."
"In America, though, life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe and each generation is promised more than it will get: which creates, in each generation, a furious, bewildered rage, the rage of people who cannot find solid ground beneath their feet."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Grief, and Colonisation
racheldelaney's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
NYPL #36
I can't believe that up until this point, I've only read Baldwin's fiction. This was hands down such an important collection of thoughts on a contemporary culture which, to be frank, really hasn't fundamentally changed since the 1984 edition.
It's wild to see the basis of performative activism and "wokeness" in 'Everybody's Protest Novel' and 'Trip to Atlanta', microaggressions and multiculturalism in 'Stranger in the Village', and the need for reflective representation in his piece on Carmen Jones. I think the thing that struck me the most was the ways in which imperialism continues to be woven through the American conscious-perhaps more than it was even 60 years ago when most of these essays were written.
I absolutely will be purchasing my own copy when I have room for bookshelves again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, and Slavery
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