Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Another Country

Took me an entire fall to read this (not intentionally, just got really busy with school and life and lost myself a bit within all of that). James Baldwin's writing is truly a blueprint— one that many nowadays try to recreate, but no one can quite capture. The authenticity, the raw naturalness of it all, and the use of songs and lyrics to enhance an experience. Another Country's beauty lies in the pure excess that makes up a lot of the book. The characters navigating new lives and settings. The exploration of bisexuality and the world. the violence that comes in heterosexual or interracial relationships. It's a beautiful book that left me thinking about so much. there are some lines that I think will never not stick with me having read them. Above all, Baldwin's talent lies in capturing the feelings of what it means to live, and what it means to feel like you haven't quite lived enough.

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piperclover's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

I have no idea how to rate this because I read it for class, not pleasure. I never would've picked it up for pleasure but there's a lot worth analyzing for essays

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amkclaes's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this is maybe the best book ever written, it is so beautiful and gut wrenching and tender and horrifying, and each character feels so completely real, as if baldwin could know others better than they know themselves, each small tic and feeling going completely within the character's universe, it was just haunting, in the best way

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signeskov's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

‘“Pray? Who, pray? I bet you, if I ever get anywhere near that white devil you call God, I’ll tear my son and my father out of his white hide! Don’t you ever say the word Pray to me again, woman, not if you want to live.”’

This novel is not for the easy-hearted, its main themes being racism and human estrangement. Sex, misogyny, toxic masculinity, and violence is the interwoven fabric of the story, and the characters are one big, unlikeable mass of suffering. Often, these elements of the book disgusted me or provoked some pretty heavy reactions in me. Despite Baldwin’s identity as a black gay man, one must announce that the book is still a product of its time - though this of course also adds to the historical depiction of racism and patriarchy, which definitely interested me. Finally, this is a novel that doesn’t say a whole lot as you’re sitting with it, but only truly revealed itself to me as I finished it and had left it to brew for some days.

What brings this novel up from a pretty standard 4 rating to a 4.25 is Baldwin’s writing. It is simply put immaculate, constantly blending love and hate into shattering contrasts of existential crisis, human loneliness, and, of course, racism. It is forceful, violent, and at once beautiful - and is sure to stay with its reader for a while as a literary shot of refreshment to the brain.

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loy127's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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