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janiswong's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Blistering, searing, and with great poise, Baldwin writes with intimate honesty using the sharp tip of his pen. His words still ring true today.
laceyadorkable's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition
5.0
Baldwin had such tremendous literary talent and his writing is some of the most powerful and immersive I've experienced. His commentary is so piercing and scathing (justifiably so) yet outlines so much of the continued injustice that America was built upon. I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read this until now, but it encapsulates so much of American history in such a digestible form; I'd really encourage it as a starting point into his work (whether you're American or otherwise).
The dichotomy between religion and religious institutions must have been especially hard to grapple with at a time in which the church was plagued with so much corruption, hypocrisy, and racism (not that much has improved, sadly). It leads to the core of the book as Baldwin contests several viewpoints of the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. Their opposing perspectives on the future of America are interesting and outline several broader economic, social, and political issues pertinent to Black liberation.
Both sections of the book are incredible, but I appreciated his letter to his nephew in particular. Set on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Baldwin remarks that “the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon. We cannot be free until they are free” . There is no better way to describe it.
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have. ”
The dichotomy between religion and religious institutions must have been especially hard to grapple with at a time in which the church was plagued with so much corruption, hypocrisy, and racism (not that much has improved, sadly). It leads to the core of the book as Baldwin contests several viewpoints of the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. Their opposing perspectives on the future of America are interesting and outline several broader economic, social, and political issues pertinent to Black liberation.
Both sections of the book are incredible, but I appreciated his letter to his nephew in particular. Set on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Baldwin remarks that “the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon. We cannot be free until they are free” . There is no better way to describe it.
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have. ”
ajluedke91's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
A must read for all Americans!