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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read Harlem Rhapsody and I had my first encounter with Jessie. My interest was peaked, and I wanted to read one of her books. The book was pretty good.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Exceptional and unforgettable novel. Loved the ending immensely. Overly erudite which makes it slow to read and sometimes comprehend but overall a great reading experience.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plum Bun is fascinating to me because it isn't just a novel about passing, it's partly a novel about what happens when you *aren't* passing and people find out about your 'secret'.
Angela's path is that she decides she might as well move and pass as white, only to repeatedly discover what she has lost in the bargain. This is the part that interests me. What do we lose when we are willing to give up parts of ourselves? What will we become if we cannot find our way?
Angela's path is that she decides she might as well move and pass as white, only to repeatedly discover what she has lost in the bargain. This is the part that interests me. What do we lose when we are willing to give up parts of ourselves? What will we become if we cannot find our way?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism
Moderate: Racism
"It’s wrong for men to have both money and power; they’re bound to make some woman suffer."
Jessie Redmon Fauset was mentored by W.E.B. DuBois, and in her turn mentored so many other young writers during the height of the Harlem Renaissance that she earned the nickname "The Midwife" (she was the first person ever to publish Langston Hughes and might have even taught a young James Baldwin in high school).
This fascinating person, who was also literary editor of NAACP magazine The Crisis, wrote a novel about race, color, class, and gender in America and subtitled it "A Novel without a Moral." I mostly believe her on that. I think she was reaching towards a literature that could be political without being hardened into dogma, entrenched in condemnation of everyone who isn't good enough. So though we're allowed to hate the rich white racist dude-bro frat boy, Angela's own cruelties in attempting to pass as white are dealt with in a more nuanced, careful way.
Angela, the main character, is an artist, who wants to pass as white because she's bored with racism and wants to pursue beauty and pleasure. In most situations, though, she's forced at some point to make race the big question of her life. I wonder if this isn't indicative of some of Fauset's own desires and experiences, pushing her to create a novel that's deeply about race without being reducible to 'a novel about race.'
Jessie Redmon Fauset was mentored by W.E.B. DuBois, and in her turn mentored so many other young writers during the height of the Harlem Renaissance that she earned the nickname "The Midwife" (she was the first person ever to publish Langston Hughes and might have even taught a young James Baldwin in high school).
This fascinating person, who was also literary editor of NAACP magazine The Crisis, wrote a novel about race, color, class, and gender in America and subtitled it "A Novel without a Moral." I mostly believe her on that. I think she was reaching towards a literature that could be political without being hardened into dogma, entrenched in condemnation of everyone who isn't good enough. So though we're allowed to hate the rich white racist dude-bro frat boy, Angela's own cruelties in attempting to pass as white are dealt with in a more nuanced, careful way.
Angela, the main character, is an artist, who wants to pass as white because she's bored with racism and wants to pursue beauty and pleasure. In most situations, though, she's forced at some point to make race the big question of her life. I wonder if this isn't indicative of some of Fauset's own desires and experiences, pushing her to create a novel that's deeply about race without being reducible to 'a novel about race.'
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
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
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was frustrating, heartbreaking, triumphant, and dazzling at different points.
I'll leave a more thought-out review after my ENG460G class meeting on Tuesday, which I think will help organize my feelings. But what an unknown gem of the Harlem Renaissance this novel is.
I'll leave a more thought-out review after my ENG460G class meeting on Tuesday, which I think will help organize my feelings. But what an unknown gem of the Harlem Renaissance this novel is.