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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
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.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Whew. This was brilliant. I’d never read it again though. My heart can’t take it.
This is a gorgeously written and infuriating account of how poverty and racism grind down a handful of characters in 1940s Harlem. Reading it during the drama of 2020 sustained me, as I thought about all that people have endured throughout history, but it doesn't exactly end on a "they can't crush our spirits" note. Spirits most definitely get crushed.
At one point, Lutie Johnson, the beautiful young protagonist who is trying to save her son from the trouble and indignities that await him on the street, traces the cause of all that's befallen her back to a white society that won't pay Black men enough to support their families. (After she took a nannying and housekeeping job, her bored, unemployed husband cheated on her.) I struggled a bit with the gender essentialism of that theory, but, you know, 1940s. Meanwhile, Lutie finds herself a pawn in the schemes of both white and Black men, and Petry paints a perfect, devastating portrait of misogynoir in lush, layered prose.
At one point, Lutie Johnson, the beautiful young protagonist who is trying to save her son from the trouble and indignities that await him on the street, traces the cause of all that's befallen her back to a white society that won't pay Black men enough to support their families. (After she took a nannying and housekeeping job, her bored, unemployed husband cheated on her.) I struggled a bit with the gender essentialism of that theory, but, you know, 1940s. Meanwhile, Lutie finds herself a pawn in the schemes of both white and Black men, and Petry paints a perfect, devastating portrait of misogynoir in lush, layered prose.
read this in my 10th grade english class. it was my first time understanding how the systems work against the oppressed.
Terrible and terribly sad, but a must-read. When they talk about how readers have more empathy for their fellow humans, it's because of books like this.
And astonishing work exploring racism classism and sexism. It should be mandatory reading.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated