Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
This book of short stories gave me many emotions. I had to read this for an English class. I really enjoyed this book. There are alot of tough topics in this book but I think Baldwin does a great job if writing about them. There is a really graphic scene of a lyncing in the last story that is hard to read but other than that last story I found this read pretty good. I'll would technically give this book 3.5 stars but since Goodreads won't let me put half stars I decided to round it up to 4 stars.
I'm astonished by the power, and the variety, of these stories. As a collection, it's in the same league as Joyce's Dubliners, or Hemingway's In Our Time. Every story in here is good, and the vast majority are very sharp, cutting gems. I won't single out any one, because they are all good, and for all their variety, in a strange way, they are unified by the sense of anger molding them into terrible beauties.
Even when I'm ready, I'm not ready for James Baldwin.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a soft spot for the art of short story. I feel that it often forces writer’s to deliver the clearest, sharpest reliefs of their thoughts and narrative intent. Here I really felt like Baldwin did as much. These stories arc over multiple snapshots of time, discussing black life through many lenses:
An amazing collection of short stories. Baldwin is just as adept at writing vignettes as he is when creating novels. The characters are solid and the situations all have a reality to them that sucks you in. The strongest stories, I feel, in this book are 'Sonny's Blues' and the titular 'Going to Meet the Man'.
Sonny's Blues knits themes of escaping suffering through drugs and the freedom found in expression. This line in particular hit me, as the POV character remarks on a band playing the blues: "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness."
Going to Meet the Man touches on the idea that white supremacy denigrates and destroys everyone touched by it, including white people themselves. I had read this story in a Civil Rights Literature class in college and had been deeply affected by it; it still holds that sway over me now, nearly 10 years later. The peversion and twisting of the main character's mind as he viciously links sex, violence, and race speak to a bone deep psychological scarring. I think it's a brave stance to take, inhabiting the mind of a violent white supremacist in order to reflect the pain and dehumanization back on the reader. I commend Baldwin's artful depiction of this situation. I never sympathize for this character, but I mourn the death of his humanity.
Fantastic display all around. Cannot recommend Baldwin enough.
Sonny's Blues knits themes of escaping suffering through drugs and the freedom found in expression. This line in particular hit me, as the POV character remarks on a band playing the blues: "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness."
Going to Meet the Man touches on the idea that white supremacy denigrates and destroys everyone touched by it, including white people themselves. I had read this story in a Civil Rights Literature class in college and had been deeply affected by it; it still holds that sway over me now, nearly 10 years later. The peversion and twisting of the main character's mind as he viciously links sex, violence, and race speak to a bone deep psychological scarring. I think it's a brave stance to take, inhabiting the mind of a violent white supremacist in order to reflect the pain and dehumanization back on the reader. I commend Baldwin's artful depiction of this situation. I never sympathize for this character, but I mourn the death of his humanity.
Fantastic display all around. Cannot recommend Baldwin enough.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated