Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

4.34 AVERAGE

washed_guapi_readz's profile picture

washed_guapi_readz's review against another edition

5.0
Phenomenal: "Going to Meet the Man," "Sonny's Blues," and "A Previous Condition" are perfect short stories.

musicsaves's review against another edition

4.0
FIRST LINE REVIEW: "Across the street from their house, in an empty lot between two houses, stood the rockpile." The violence of humanity against humanity begins in the first story of this powerful and diverse collection and continues in one form or another to the most heinous and ugly of all violence in the final story, "Going to Meet the Man." Throughout Baldwin's descriptions of the various forms of violence that we inflict on each other is some of the most beautiful and powerful writing that I've read. As timely, in many ways, as ever. A clarion call.
cape_venus's profile picture

cape_venus's review against another edition

3.75
challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
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ghoul_at_home's profile picture

ghoul_at_home's review against another edition

4.5
emotional reflective fast-paced

digs's review against another edition

5.0
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

zeldazonks's review against another edition

4.5
dark emotional hopeful reflective
A collection of eight short stories from James Baldwin. Usually with short story collections there are some that are weaker than others, but each of these is beautifully written and emotionally gut wrenching, none more so than the titular tale at the end, Going to Meet the Man. I got absolutely lost in these stories, particularly the ones in first person narrative (Sonny's Blues - a man reflecting on his relationship with the brother he loses to drug addiction; Previous Condition - a man trying to find his feet in New York while hiding that he is Black from his landlady; This Morning, This Evening, So Soon - an American man living in Paris reflects on his time in both places on the eve of taking his family to live in the US) and each time the story ended I felt a jolt back to reality and was disappointed that it ended. This book would be a great entry point to Baldwin's work. 

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. 

kevinmccarrick's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jonesyposey's review against another edition

Libby loan ran out. So boring.
franklyfrank's profile picture

franklyfrank's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
trinathebard's profile picture

trinathebard's review against another edition

5.0
Heavy but very impactful and important book. I am stunned. James Baldwin’s ability to use a moment, to paint not just a picture of the character’s life but their emotions, motivations, and dreams, while also examining the connections of racism to romance, sexuality, friendship, religion.. Grateful for the transformative honesty in James Baldwin’s writing always.