Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

12 reviews

ldpaige's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.

For the horrors of the American Negro’s life there has been almost no language.

Beautiful. Stunning. I wish the pacing was the same between the letter and the essay, but you need to sit with both texts to truly hear Baldwin. I loved this read and highlighted so much.

The Black American experience through the eyes of Baldwin is just irreplaceable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Minor: Violence

jaiari12's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Violence, and Racism

thoseoldcrows23's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

It's startling to see how very contemporary this book feels even though it came out over 50 years ago. There were many moments that felt like a sucker punch to the gut. Baldwin is a beautiful writer, and he approaches the issue of race with a level head and a mind towards empathy. I was also surprised by how easy this was to read. The language is very elevated, but it at no point felt inaccessible to me. I'm definitely interested in reading some of his fiction now, and I would recommend everyone (but especially every American) read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Violence

There's not a lot of detailed description of horrible things in here, but this book is about race in the time of the civil rights movement, so expect all the usual suspects of that era to be addressed.

leannanecdote's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Racism, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide and War

erinwolf1997's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Racism

Moderate: Violence and Antisemitism

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: War, Alcoholism, and Genocide

terrastrial's review

challenging hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Worth a second read, especially after learning more historical and religious context. A short read, but packed full of so many amazingly crafted thoughts and passages that I highlighted half the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence

keeganrb's review

challenging reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence

ash445's review

informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Excellent writing. I will definitely be rereading a print edition of this (I listened to the audiobook). It also discusses other perspectives of Black liberation and how Baldwin disagrees with them, so it provides a helping hand in developing an understanding of different frameworks of Black liberation. Something that stood out to me throughout the entire thing was the amount sympathy (and at times) pity Baldwin has for others. His letter for his nephew brought tears to my eyes. It showed an immense amount of love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Violence

lucinotlucy's review

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, and War