Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - If Beale Street Could Talk

I'm a little embarrassed that this was my first James Baldwin book, but I'm so glad that I read it. What beautiful writing and such a tragic story. I feel like it's rare that a male writer has such incredible insight into a female character, but I thought it was such an amazing story about women. I would love to write an essay about it. And how horrifying that 50 years later, the exact same story could happen today in this racist country built on stolen land.

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tabear's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

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owenwilsonbaby's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"He laughed. "Baby. Baby. Baby. I love you. And I'm going to build us a table and a whole lot of folks going to be eating off it for a long, long time to come.""

My favourite thing about the line I've quoted above is that I've often seen it shared on social media and I've always been intrigued by it, but having just read it in its original context, it suddenly seems so much richer. This sentiment is true of the novel overall. Having only encountered Baldwin's writing in circulated snippets online and Raoul Peck's absorbing documentary I Am Not Your Negro, I was interested but ultimately uncommitted, ignorant of how truly talented and totally absorbing his narrative voice is. As I read this novel, I felt like my entire understanding of his work expanded. This development felt particularly special because I love Barry Jenkins' adaptation of this book so much and yet it now seems like a small fragment of this book's breathtaking story.

This book is so wonderful and so sad. Baldwin is fantastic with character voice. Tish is such a compelling character and her way of understanding and assessing her world was so sharp, at times both beautiful and funny. My copy was dog-eared by the end from the quotes I wanted to remember and include here. The scene near the beginning where Tish and Fonny have their first date in church and realise that "Now, we knew nobody loved us: or, now, we knew who did. Whoever loved us was not here." The way Baldwin writes about love and sex, which makes it sacred and redemptive. The insight into womanhood, gender, violation and agency was incredible. The scene where Joseph and Frank talk about raising kids despite experiencing poverty. The scene where Daniel discloses the things he endured in prison. The searing indictment of America, whiteness, capitalism and the penal system. All of it. I read this in two sittings. I want to re-read it immediately.

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kn0tp0rk's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If Beale Street Could Talk is one that ends on a cliffhanger, and I think that appropriately mirrors reality. Those dealing with falsely accused loved ones in jail/prison don't know if they'll get them out, just like we don't really know what will become of the characters in Beale Street. There's some excessive use of the f-slur in this work, and I have a feeling that advocates of the fictionalized "buck breaking" phenomenon may latch onto things written of here. It's very true that M/M sexual assault happens in jails/prisons. But some of the commentary about Officer Bell such as "I'm going to fuck you, boy" may be read in a sexual manner alongside Tish saying she feels as though he wishes to sexually assault her. That may have been Baldwin's intentions, but let's not go accusing the gays (a violently oppressed minority) of wanting to sexually assault all of society.

🔸Fonny is jailed, and Tish feels as though she can't speak to anyone, that no one can understand her. / Yeah, I think young people who have lovers incarcerated are often called foolish. Maybe they are foolish sometimes, but that can't always be the case. There are prejudices thrown at women who are pregnant or have children and also have significant others incarcerated.

🔸Tish and Fonny become friends after fighting. People don't believe in their friendship. / It's unfortunate that boys and girls can't just be good friends. That everything is seen as sexual. I've experienced this prejudice even around my lesbian, bisexual, pansexual friends. A mistrust from others. We must be trying to have sex!

🔸Fonny describes how his mother's faith in God turned into a fetish with her husband. She would cry out about saving his soul and they'd have sex like it was all just a game. It shows how performative some believers are.

🔸Mrs. Hunt is a colorist. She and her daughters benefit from being light-skinned. She looks down on Fonny for being darker and Tish for being even moreso.

🔸I like that Tish's family is happy about her pregnancy. They were very wholesome and supportive.

🔸Mrs. Hunt says she hopes Fonny's jail time turns him to Jesus. Sharon answers sarcastically that the Lord works in mysterious ways. / Always looking on the bright side is one thing that disgusts me about Christianity in particular. You can't ever have any time that is bad. You always have to think about the good. That is toxic positivity and not healthy. Sometimes life is shit and you don't need to be thankful that you're still breathing. God needing to force you into unspeakable turmoils to convert you should make you question the validity of God's power and existence.

🔸Mrs. Hunt and her daughters inveigh against the news of Tish's pregnancy. Mrs. Hunt hides behind her religion to criticize Tish and the unborn child. Frank slaps Mrs. Hunt. / I don't condone domestic violence, but even Mrs. Hunt's behavior is a form of emotional domestic violence. Using your religion to say that everyone is sinning when they do something you dislike is nasty and exhausting.

🔸Tish is weary of the lawyer's, Hayward, intention, because he is white and asking for more money, but she softens up when she notices how he gently speaks to her and how he has a distaste for racism. / I like that the lawyer was humanized. All too often we are quick to think that lawyers are vain disgusting people.

🔸Man, Sharon's mission in Puerto Rico really failed and I wasn't ready for that emotional impact.

🔸Sharon is shook from her trip. She realizes that POC in North America have it bad no matter where they are. / This has its truths, but let's not hold onto this believing that it's pointless to try to escape any nation's hardships. I have designs to leave the States myself, and I'm often met with this criticism. No, there really are other countries that have it more together. Even Baldwin recognized that life had its improvements when he moved to Paris (obviously not North America, though).

🔸Even though the jail/prison system is rife with sexual assault and violence, Fonny learns to humanize the detainees around him. Some of them are in his same position, after all.

🔸Adrienne, one of Fonny's sisters, doesn't have the best attitude, but she's not a one-dimensional hateful husk. Frank hates her because she looks like her spiteful mother, and she resents this. She's very worried when Frank goes missing. / Adrienne's situation is unfortunate. She can only learn from those around her. She and her sister have been damaged by society and their parents, and I feel bad for them both.

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mikki_9's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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yavin_iv's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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candacem's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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rosalind's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Always nerve-racking to read one of your best friends’ favourite books. Fortunately I came to a similar conclusion! Man, reading this in the shadow of the George Floyd court case is heavy. But an important heaviness, a heaviness we need to feel and respond to, be motivated to do move against. Baldwin writes so lyrically and you feel the fresh heartbreak of every despondency whilst balancing the weary sadness of inevitability. And the space, the space to fill in the gaps, to confront your own feelings, like a Biblical ‘selah’. A classic and rightfully so.

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