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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is an experience. So expertly written, I can’t wait to read every other book she has made. Before I found this book I had been looking for a book that would really suck me into the story, something that I wouldn’t be able to put down, and this absolutely did that for me. It felt like you were there with your heroine, and you only wanted to see her succeed. It is not an easy read, but worth it. I still think about this book and I finished it weeks ago! The authors capacity for empathy allows her to create a world full of three dimensional characters that you sympathize to, but also hate. I wish the ending was different, (that’s why I brought it to a 4.75) but that wasn’t the point of the book. It was meant to rip your heart out. It feels fast paced because it’s character driven, but plot wise not a whole lot happens. But that doesn’t mean you’re bored for even a second. I would definitely recommend, I think more people need to know about this book!!!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you are looking for a story about overcoming adversity a la "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", this is not it. Told primarily from the perspective of Lutie Johnson, a single mother trying to improve her circumstances in 1940s Harlem, "The Street" explores how the ceaseless structural barriers presented to low-income Black Americans shape their decisions, relationships, and imaginations. Ann Petry is undoubtedly one of the great New England writers and her sharp, insightful, and masterfully descriptive prose are central to this book's stellar execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Tayari Jones perfectly captures The Street’s plot in the introduction, stating that it “moves like a house on fire”. For several chapters it feels like there is no movement, and it’s hard to find the plot (so much so that I gave up on reading during my first attempt). Then it became hard to put down.
It’s about the crippling effects of capitalism, systemic racism, toxic masculinity, sexism, poverty - and especially about the Black women at the intersections of these ills. Its about fighting to break out and breaking points. A story of survival.
It’s a classic worth reading.
It’s about the crippling effects of capitalism, systemic racism, toxic masculinity, sexism, poverty - and especially about the Black women at the intersections of these ills. Its about fighting to break out and breaking points. A story of survival.
It’s a classic worth reading.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This is one of the best books I've ever read.
Tayari Jones' introduction was phenomenal and helped me orient myself and my mind properly before beginning the story. The themes, characters, plot, imagery—everything about this novel was 10/10. The ending was absolutely brutal, as was the majority of the book. The harsh messages about the realities of the American Dream, racism, sexism, poverty, and motherhood all blended together seamlessly. My heart breaks for Lutie and Bub and everyone their characters represent.
It's unfortunate that The Street has fallen outside of the classic literary canon in recent decades. It should be brought back into the American High School English curriculum 100%.
Tayari Jones' introduction was phenomenal and helped me orient myself and my mind properly before beginning the story. The themes, characters, plot, imagery—everything about this novel was 10/10. The ending was absolutely brutal, as was the majority of the book. The harsh messages about the realities of the American Dream, racism, sexism, poverty, and motherhood all blended together seamlessly. My heart breaks for Lutie and Bub and everyone their characters represent.
It's unfortunate that The Street has fallen outside of the classic literary canon in recent decades. It should be brought back into the American High School English curriculum 100%.
Startlingly modern, expertly crafted, and beautifully written. My heart breaks for Lutie and Bub, of course, but it is a testament to Petry that she gives an astute psychological backing to nearly all the characters, even the awful ones (I say nearly because Junto remains the sole opaque one, perhaps because of his role in the narrative). The reflections on the crushing stresses of poverty, the relentless and inescapable violence of racism and sexism…the way the book intertwines these issues (spoken about so powerfully and so explicitely) with the specific psychology of the characters makes it feel so real.
This is definitely a book to read in the right headspace—it is a page turner, especially after a few chapters, but it is an honest and harsh portrayal of a difficult world, a tragic story. The kind of book that you want to have an entire class about, and a book that should absolutely be considered part of the American canon.
This is definitely a book to read in the right headspace—it is a page turner, especially after a few chapters, but it is an honest and harsh portrayal of a difficult world, a tragic story. The kind of book that you want to have an entire class about, and a book that should absolutely be considered part of the American canon.
Upon reading this novel from 1946 I am stunned, both by the sheer raw power of the text and by the fact that I'd never even heard of it before seeing a friend's rave review earlier this year. The title clearly had an impact at the time, reportedly making Ann Petry the first black woman author to sell over a million copies, but for some reason it seems to have fallen out of our broader cultural awareness in the decades since. And that's a shame, because this is a story that demands and deserves to be held up with works like The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God as another classic of African American literature. (A few frank scenes of domestic service put the white-saviorism of The Help to shame, too.)
Petry's grasp on her characters is achingly poignant, particularly in the ways they understand themselves to be trapped by the forces of poverty and racism. There's a real timelessness here, with such insights into hierarchies of race, color, class, and gender that the book practically could have been written today. And although fierce single mother Lutie is undoubtedly the core protagonist, the narrative builds up an entire community ecosystem for her with other viewpoint figures who are no less well-drawn. As a result, the titular Harlem setting breathes off the page with absolute realism.
Some of the plot threads feel truncated by the abrupt ending, but that's a stylistic choice I can respect for how it underscores the thematic message of the piece. Life on 'the street' as Petry depicts is messy, angry, and above all inexorable. If she leaves us with unresolved tension and no tidy answers, that says something about it too.
[Content warning for stalking, sexual assault, and slurs.]
--Subscribe at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke to support these reviews and weigh in on what I read next!--
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Petry's grasp on her characters is achingly poignant, particularly in the ways they understand themselves to be trapped by the forces of poverty and racism. There's a real timelessness here, with such insights into hierarchies of race, color, class, and gender that the book practically could have been written today. And although fierce single mother Lutie is undoubtedly the core protagonist, the narrative builds up an entire community ecosystem for her with other viewpoint figures who are no less well-drawn. As a result, the titular Harlem setting breathes off the page with absolute realism.
Some of the plot threads feel truncated by the abrupt ending, but that's a stylistic choice I can respect for how it underscores the thematic message of the piece. Life on 'the street' as Petry depicts is messy, angry, and above all inexorable. If she leaves us with unresolved tension and no tidy answers, that says something about it too.
[Content warning for stalking, sexual assault, and slurs.]
--Subscribe at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke to support these reviews and weigh in on what I read next!--
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Too much for me right now. Will pick back up later.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
This was a fascinating read, especially from a literary historical perspective, considering its status as the first novel written by a black woman to sell over a million copies. With that in mind, it's strange knowing this came out in 1946, and so many white Americans at the time must have engaged with its extremely bleak intersectional portrayal of black urban life, yet they proceeded to continue being the racists white Americans have been and, seemingly, always will be.
This was a fascinating read, especially from a literary historical perspective, considering its status as the first novel written by a black woman to sell over a million copies. With that in mind, it's strange knowing this came out in 1946, and so many white Americans at the time must have engaged with its extremely bleak intersectional portrayal of black urban life, yet they proceeded to continue being the racists white Americans have been and, seemingly, always will be.
Like all the masters of noir, Petry looks into the abyss without falling in. This is a story that is dark, but not depressing. It is disturbing, yet intriguing. Tayari Jones
Teyari's introduction set the stage for Ann Petry's novel. It is an incredibly dark story. This story changed my thoughts about what life in Harlem was like... I had fairy tale beliefs that sadly show my ignorance and my white fragility. Ann Petry invites me in to real life in Harlem. Real life is gritty, it is not fair, and it does not always have a "nice" ending. This story is Lutie Johnson's though... and Ann tells her story masterfully.
Streets like the one she lived on were no accident. They were the North’s lynch mobs, she thought bitterly; the method the big cities used to keep Negroes in their place. And she began thinking of Pop unable to get a job; of Jim slowly disintegrating because he, too, couldn’t get a job, and of the subsequent wreck of their marriage; of Bub left to his own devices after school. From the time she was born, she had been hemmed into an ever-narrowing space, until now she was very nearly walled in and the wall had been built up...
Yes, there is lots of despair but through it all Lutie does not give up. Her struggle is this story. I had originally rated this book 3-stars, because the ending was so "not white" but I have not been able to stop thinking about Lutie and through her the struggles that are real daily life for much of the Black community. I highly recommend this book!
Teyari's introduction set the stage for Ann Petry's novel. It is an incredibly dark story. This story changed my thoughts about what life in Harlem was like... I had fairy tale beliefs that sadly show my ignorance and my white fragility. Ann Petry invites me in to real life in Harlem. Real life is gritty, it is not fair, and it does not always have a "nice" ending. This story is Lutie Johnson's though... and Ann tells her story masterfully.
Streets like the one she lived on were no accident. They were the North’s lynch mobs, she thought bitterly; the method the big cities used to keep Negroes in their place. And she began thinking of Pop unable to get a job; of Jim slowly disintegrating because he, too, couldn’t get a job, and of the subsequent wreck of their marriage; of Bub left to his own devices after school. From the time she was born, she had been hemmed into an ever-narrowing space, until now she was very nearly walled in and the wall had been built up...
Yes, there is lots of despair but through it all Lutie does not give up. Her struggle is this story. I had originally rated this book 3-stars, because the ending was so "not white" but I have not been able to stop thinking about Lutie and through her the struggles that are real daily life for much of the Black community. I highly recommend this book!