You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
2018 Read Harder Challenge #14 - A book of social science and #24 - An assigned book you never finished
I did the audiobook, definitely want to reread this in text
A super dense and academically inclined read, but ultimately, this book is a very important one in American and African American history. It provides a snapshot into the lives of black people, particularly those in the south, at the turn of the 20th century. (I live only a few miles from Dougherty county/Albany, Georgia, so his prose on it was interesting.) Despite its relatively short length, this was a long read. I found some of it fascinating while other parts put me to sleep. I did learn a few things, which is always a good thing.
Honestly, it should be required reading.
Also, there's really nothing I can say on this title that hasn't already been said before.
Add it to your list.
Also, there's really nothing I can say on this title that hasn't already been said before.
Add it to your list.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I read the Penguin Vitae edition, which includes later essays by Du Bois that address some of the meaningful concerns with his work.
Du Bois' work in "Souls" is certainly groundbreaking and provocative, powerful in the ways rarely heard outside black America's transcendent clergy. The writing is poetic and evocative, and the volume vacillates between high-handed, turn-of-the-century sociology and more intimate moments of personal story telling. Taken as an aesthetic it is wonderful to read and hold and carry.
The thought itself is holds steadfastly to baseline liberalism, with a heavy dose of early 20th century class determinism. As he would later determine, the normative focus should be on raising the living standards of all people of colour, but in "Souls" he routinely comes back to the notion of the Talented Tenth and the creation of something akin to a black vanguard.
His discussions of the Freedmen's Bureau, and its promise and failures is intriguing and a lesson for policymakers who want to do big things. Meanwhile, the heroic status of the historically black college (not so historic in his time, but I digress) is quite meaningful and inspirational if one has a calling to be an educator.
Du Bois' work in "Souls" is certainly groundbreaking and provocative, powerful in the ways rarely heard outside black America's transcendent clergy. The writing is poetic and evocative, and the volume vacillates between high-handed, turn-of-the-century sociology and more intimate moments of personal story telling. Taken as an aesthetic it is wonderful to read and hold and carry.
The thought itself is holds steadfastly to baseline liberalism, with a heavy dose of early 20th century class determinism. As he would later determine, the normative focus should be on raising the living standards of all people of colour, but in "Souls" he routinely comes back to the notion of the Talented Tenth and the creation of something akin to a black vanguard.
His discussions of the Freedmen's Bureau, and its promise and failures is intriguing and a lesson for policymakers who want to do big things. Meanwhile, the heroic status of the historically black college (not so historic in his time, but I digress) is quite meaningful and inspirational if one has a calling to be an educator.
Du Bois sings with a powerful, eloquent, and lyrical voice that immediately pulls one into the tragedies and hopes of, well, the souls of black folk (that still ring very true today).
There are a few passages that really resonated with me. Note that my version of the book also includes two essays: 'The Talented Tenth' (1903) and 'The Souls of White Folk' (1920).
From 'The Souls of Black Folk':
(speaking of Alexander Crummell's little-known legacy) 'And herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor,- all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked,- who is good? not that men are ignorant,- what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.'
From 'The Talented Tenth':
'It is the trained, living human soul, cultivated and strengthened by long study and thought, that breathes the real breath of life into boys and girls and makes them human, whether they be black or white, Greek, Russian or American.'
'Education must not simply teach work- it must teach Life...The Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men.'
From 'The Souls of White Folk':
(of WWI) 'Among some of us, I doubt not, this sudden descent of Europe into hell brought unbounded surprise; to others, over wide area, it brought the Schaden Freude of the bitterly hurt; but most of us, I judge, looked on silently and sorrowfully, in sober thought, seeing sadly the prophecy of our own souls.'
There are a few passages that really resonated with me. Note that my version of the book also includes two essays: 'The Talented Tenth' (1903) and 'The Souls of White Folk' (1920).
From 'The Souls of Black Folk':
(speaking of Alexander Crummell's little-known legacy) 'And herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor,- all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked,- who is good? not that men are ignorant,- what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.'
From 'The Talented Tenth':
'It is the trained, living human soul, cultivated and strengthened by long study and thought, that breathes the real breath of life into boys and girls and makes them human, whether they be black or white, Greek, Russian or American.'
'Education must not simply teach work- it must teach Life...The Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men.'
From 'The Souls of White Folk':
(of WWI) 'Among some of us, I doubt not, this sudden descent of Europe into hell brought unbounded surprise; to others, over wide area, it brought the Schaden Freude of the bitterly hurt; but most of us, I judge, looked on silently and sorrowfully, in sober thought, seeing sadly the prophecy of our own souls.'
Critical text in critical race theory. A well deserved classic which explodes tired categories of psychoanalytic theory, political economic, memoir, and narrative. Required reading for all white Americans.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
An engaging, insightful look into the sociology of a period in history I don’t know much about. I went into this only really having heard of Du Bois in reference to his theory of double consciousness, but this book is so much more than that. Interspersed with the lyrics of Sorrow Songs and including a short story, this does not read like a dry sociological text.
There’s a lot in here that still speaks very strongly to race in the US today. It’s jarring to see things drastically different from modern life paired with other things that are basically the same. Some of Du Bois’s ideas felt a little more conservative than I’m comfortable with, but this is 120 years old, and most of the things that rubbed me the wrong way are still topics of debate even now in social justice movements.
Overall, I highly recommend this even for people who aren’t especially interested in sociology or history.
There’s a lot in here that still speaks very strongly to race in the US today. It’s jarring to see things drastically different from modern life paired with other things that are basically the same. Some of Du Bois’s ideas felt a little more conservative than I’m comfortable with, but this is 120 years old, and most of the things that rubbed me the wrong way are still topics of debate even now in social justice movements.
Overall, I highly recommend this even for people who aren’t especially interested in sociology or history.
It’s good.
I didn’t give it full marks just because it has a little of everything. Unfortunately, when you have everything, there are some parts that are less engaging to me than others.
A little history.
A little social observations.
A little social commentary.
A little anecdotes.
A little poetic story telling.
A little Allegory.
It’s certainly open my mind to the past, the present and the future.
Ps.
I just thought about how interesting the levels of passions running through the different parts.
The historical “section” is oddly dispassionate. He often gives objective, rational arguments for some of the racism and discrimination. Then discusses the plight of the freedman and the where the prejudice may have originated from.
Sometimes it’s strange, He’ll offer some rationalizations like “of course the black man is lazy, we gave him freedom but taught him the meaningless of his actions”.
And initially you go “Du Bois is so right”
But then you think, “wait a minute, you mean ‘all black men’, Du Bois?”
You go further down a couple of chapter and you can really feel Du Bois passion in the anecdotes and stories he tells.
This book has a wide range.
I didn’t give it full marks just because it has a little of everything. Unfortunately, when you have everything, there are some parts that are less engaging to me than others.
A little history.
A little social observations.
A little social commentary.
A little anecdotes.
A little poetic story telling.
A little Allegory.
It’s certainly open my mind to the past, the present and the future.
Ps.
I just thought about how interesting the levels of passions running through the different parts.
The historical “section” is oddly dispassionate. He often gives objective, rational arguments for some of the racism and discrimination. Then discusses the plight of the freedman and the where the prejudice may have originated from.
Sometimes it’s strange, He’ll offer some rationalizations like “of course the black man is lazy, we gave him freedom but taught him the meaningless of his actions”.
And initially you go “Du Bois is so right”
But then you think, “wait a minute, you mean ‘all black men’, Du Bois?”
You go further down a couple of chapter and you can really feel Du Bois passion in the anecdotes and stories he tells.
This book has a wide range.