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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
This book is meant to be a response to Richard Wright's Native Son...and it does such a good job of fulfilling that promise. Lutie Johnson is a sympathetic character and Ann Petry writes her and the other characters so well.
The book is LOADED with social commentary about race and poverty, and the men in the novel are the right amount of disturbing to make a commentary on sexism and misogyny too. Lutie is just trying to live with dignity, no matter what she has to do, and won't give that up. The ending is really sad and hard-hitting...I just finished it, and I'm still crying. Poor Bub :(
The book is LOADED with social commentary about race and poverty, and the men in the novel are the right amount of disturbing to make a commentary on sexism and misogyny too. Lutie is just trying to live with dignity, no matter what she has to do, and won't give that up. The ending is really sad and hard-hitting...I just finished it, and I'm still crying. Poor Bub :(
malcom x and jamaica kinkaid had a love child and it is this book
Slated for republication by Virago Modern Classics, this was originally published in 1946 and was the first novel by a black woman to sell more than a million copies in America. Like much of what I’ve read from Virago recently, there is a fantastic sense of contemporaneity to it; the story of Lutie Johnson, who tries to keep herself and her son safe and their integrity intact, but who must contend with sexism, racism, and the devastating grind of poverty, is told with a fury so passionate and fresh that I wouldn’t have been surprised to find the ink still wet on the page. Petry’s work is clearly a frontrunner for a literary tradition that went on to encompass Gayl Jones, Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, and Tayari Jones. Frequently skirting melodrama but always redeemed by Petry’s absolutely clear, burning vision, it’s a gripping page-turner as well as a portrait of a woman trying to maintain sanity within a system that has been specifically designed to destroy her.
A necessary read. The perspective, the vision, the emotive pack, the conclusion. Absolute classic that provides key insight into US culture in a way unique and ahead of it's time. while written in the 1940's it is incredibly relevant. If I have one book to recommend over this past year, it is this one.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had never heard of this book before my Black Women Writers class in college, which speaks volumes about what we consider to be the "Classics" in literature. So I argue that this is a classic in its exploration of a family - Lutie Johnson and her son Bub - struggling to achieve the American Dream of life, liberty and happiness.
Know that I abhor books that attempt to shame and guilt the reader in its discussions of race, class, and other topics of discomfort, and this book does NOT do that. It's a lens into our world through someone else's perspective, with all its beauty and failures. It's a great read, and best done with plenty of discussion.
Know that I abhor books that attempt to shame and guilt the reader in its discussions of race, class, and other topics of discomfort, and this book does NOT do that. It's a lens into our world through someone else's perspective, with all its beauty and failures. It's a great read, and best done with plenty of discussion.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read this one for a class and definitely enjoyed it. I had to write a book report on it and got an A. I listened to the audiobook for this one and omg I finished it so fast because it was so sad and thrilling.
It's about the lives and experiences in the postwar ghetto of Harlem, New York. The novel focuses on a black, working-class woman named Lutie Johnson who attempts to pursue the American Dream in order to escape the social injustices as a newly single black mother in this period. The Street does a realistic job at showing what life was like in Harlem during the 1940s by portraying the different characters lives through multiple narratives as they try to adapt or preserve their position in society.
It's about the lives and experiences in the postwar ghetto of Harlem, New York. The novel focuses on a black, working-class woman named Lutie Johnson who attempts to pursue the American Dream in order to escape the social injustices as a newly single black mother in this period. The Street does a realistic job at showing what life was like in Harlem during the 1940s by portraying the different characters lives through multiple narratives as they try to adapt or preserve their position in society.