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berniemck's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book although I liked The Street by the same author (Ann Petry) better. Race relations are explored.
teresac's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
angieoverbooked's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bhanson24's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't actually find this book enjoyable or hard to put down until halfway through but I'm glad I finished it. The writing style grew on me (though there were still several length side plots and flashbacks I personally found unnecessary) the plot finally came to fruition. It didn't necessarily end in a redeeming way, but how the author handled race relations was very timely and relevant for today. I wouldn't be surprised if this book grows in popularity as it speaks to current issues and I saw a new edition is supposed to be coming out this summer.
50 Books, 50 States -- Connecticut
50 Books, 50 States -- Connecticut
reggiereads's review against another edition
5.0
What can't Ann Petry do? Although this question seems to have some level of difficulty—since you more than likely never had the chance to know Ann Petry personally—it's simply an illusion. The answer is simple: Ann Petry cannot write a bad novel.
A lot of people (although not nearly enough) are familiar with The Street and would use that as a part of their reasoning for that answer, but The Narrows is another reason that should be leveraged.
An ambitious & complex novel narrated by someone omniscient with guest appearances from several residents of the fictional town of Monmouth, Connecticut. You may even refer to them as guest interruptions, considering the sharp changes in perspective that occur without a moment's notice.
That's because in The Narrows or Darktown or Niggertown or Little Harlem, etc. they've learned the importance of controlling the narrative. The residents of that town know that if you don't tell your story, and you live in the United States, then the whites will.
And who wins when that happens?
Why have the owner of the Monmouth Chronicle, Peter Bullock (although it is really run by the rich ass Treadways), tell the story of The Narrows when you have a Ivy League educated, and re-educated, historian, Link Williams, serving drinks over at The Last Chance, under the supervision of Bill Hod & the mentorship of Weak Knees, readily available to tell it? He'll tell you that & the history of the U.S itself!
Link is chosen because residents like Abbie Crunch, Frances K. Jackson or Malcolm Powther would probably say things similar to Bullock.
Mamie & J.C. would probably hold it down though.
Ann Petry flawlessly delivers us a world of deceit, betrayal, corruption, payola, lust, scandal, racism, classism, love, humor, passion & MORE. This novel's warning should say: YOU ARE NOW WATCHING A MASTER AT WORK.
Sadly the literary world decided this novel had to take a backseat to the Invisible Man's & Go Tell It On The Mountain's of the time. Another warning: ONLY ONE OF YOU CAN SHINE PER YEAR.
Let's circle back now that you are fully aware of the illusion.
What is it, again, that Ann Petry can't do?
------------------------------------------------
This is my first entry into my 2021 edition of the #2BooksUnder50Reviews Challenge. My hope if that a masterpiece like this will take it's rightful place in history and no longer be as underread as it is. Crazy to think that a novel as good this, which was first published in 1953, has under 50 Goodreads reviews.
A lot of people (although not nearly enough) are familiar with The Street and would use that as a part of their reasoning for that answer, but The Narrows is another reason that should be leveraged.
An ambitious & complex novel narrated by someone omniscient with guest appearances from several residents of the fictional town of Monmouth, Connecticut. You may even refer to them as guest interruptions, considering the sharp changes in perspective that occur without a moment's notice.
That's because in The Narrows or Darktown or Niggertown or Little Harlem, etc. they've learned the importance of controlling the narrative. The residents of that town know that if you don't tell your story, and you live in the United States, then the whites will.
And who wins when that happens?
Why have the owner of the Monmouth Chronicle, Peter Bullock (although it is really run by the rich ass Treadways), tell the story of The Narrows when you have a Ivy League educated, and re-educated, historian, Link Williams, serving drinks over at The Last Chance, under the supervision of Bill Hod & the mentorship of Weak Knees, readily available to tell it? He'll tell you that & the history of the U.S itself!
Link is chosen because residents like Abbie Crunch, Frances K. Jackson or Malcolm Powther would probably say things similar to Bullock.
Mamie & J.C. would probably hold it down though.
Ann Petry flawlessly delivers us a world of deceit, betrayal, corruption, payola, lust, scandal, racism, classism, love, humor, passion & MORE. This novel's warning should say: YOU ARE NOW WATCHING A MASTER AT WORK.
Sadly the literary world decided this novel had to take a backseat to the Invisible Man's & Go Tell It On The Mountain's of the time. Another warning: ONLY ONE OF YOU CAN SHINE PER YEAR.
Let's circle back now that you are fully aware of the illusion.
What is it, again, that Ann Petry can't do?
------------------------------------------------
This is my first entry into my 2021 edition of the #2BooksUnder50Reviews Challenge. My hope if that a masterpiece like this will take it's rightful place in history and no longer be as underread as it is. Crazy to think that a novel as good this, which was first published in 1953, has under 50 Goodreads reviews.
speculativebecky's review against another edition
5.0
The Narrows reminds me of George Eliot’s Middlemarch, kicked up to 100 miles per hour. It’s the story of a place, Monmouth, Connecticut, aka The Narrows, and of about a dozen characters hurtling towards one another and their inevitable collisions. Petry has a unique and powerful writing style, her characters’ inner monologues spill out onto the page, running back over themselves again and again, the way the mind does as it splices together memory and the current moment. An incisive look at race in 1950’s America, I won’t soon forget this sharply drawn cast of characters, or the way this small-town epic story made me feel. Petry is an extraordinary writer, and this book is a masterpiece.
danabrown's review against another edition
4.0
So so so much to think about here. I had to wade through some patches but that doesn’t mean every single word isn’t important and well thought out. There is a dynamic story at the center and the book is really about how every single character is impacted by their race, the race of those around them, and the racist culture of Americans. Beautifully done and an eye opener. An important book.
mercourier's review against another edition
4.0
Her characters are striking and memorable and her writing fresh on the page as if written yesterday. These are issues that are haunting our society and seem to have made their way to the forefront of national conversation. Ann Petry was of and ahead of her time.
idleutopia_reads's review against another edition
5.0
“The way she explained it made him feel as though he were carrying The Race around with him all the time. It kept him confused, a little frightened, too. At that moment The Race sat astride his shoulders, a weight so great his back bent under it.”
I have seen the Narrows in history books, I have seen them spoken of in Stamped, Ghosts in the Schoolyard, 1919 and have seen the street talked about in the news, history books and known of the Narrows people think exist in Chicago. In 428 pages, Ann Petry potently displays social commentary against class and race set against the backdrop of the Narrows, a street in Monmouth, Connecticut where a cast of characters takes the stage to display the life of Link Williams and the events that lead to a tragedy in which “it were like a snowball and everybody gave it the last push.” The culmination of events that leads to the final climax in The Narrows give us “one-quarter of the explanation. The other three-quarters reaches back to that Dutch man of warre that landed in Jamestown in 1619.”
This was truly brilliant, there were so many details accompanying the settings, the houses, the characters but none of them were wasted. Petry pulled from each detail to tighten and make you confront what she’s trying to say here. It’s all connected and the story of the people that we have on display here matters, it all matters especially when we’re talking about class and race. The themes of race and class are inextricably bound, when you speak of one you speak of the other. When we try to act like it doesn’t then we run the risk of hurting people, because it is a privilege to run through life unafraid of consequences and assuming that race and class don’t matter.
The main story follows Link Williams and his love affair with Camilla Treadway Sheffield. She’s married, a millionaire, but she disguises all of this from Link when they first meet and as they carry on their love affair. This love affair will pull at the fabric of the Narrows and change the lives of its residents, “well, of course...if you’re a multon millionaire and white you don’t give a damn what the black peasants think.”
I can’t even begin to untangle everything that Petry does in this book. I had read the Street and it was brilliant but I feel with the Narrows she masterfully expands on the foundation she had built in her previous work. Through fiction she amplifies and brings characters to represent the injustices done against Black people, even in their own community, where acceptance in white spaces is conditional, and when the question of the Race has many sides, many ways of being taught and this can lead to confusion for a child. As if all of this wasn’t enough she also talks about women, about misogyny in Black communities, and the role of white women in a racist society. I strongly urge you to read it
I have seen the Narrows in history books, I have seen them spoken of in Stamped, Ghosts in the Schoolyard, 1919 and have seen the street talked about in the news, history books and known of the Narrows people think exist in Chicago. In 428 pages, Ann Petry potently displays social commentary against class and race set against the backdrop of the Narrows, a street in Monmouth, Connecticut where a cast of characters takes the stage to display the life of Link Williams and the events that lead to a tragedy in which “it were like a snowball and everybody gave it the last push.” The culmination of events that leads to the final climax in The Narrows give us “one-quarter of the explanation. The other three-quarters reaches back to that Dutch man of warre that landed in Jamestown in 1619.”
This was truly brilliant, there were so many details accompanying the settings, the houses, the characters but none of them were wasted. Petry pulled from each detail to tighten and make you confront what she’s trying to say here. It’s all connected and the story of the people that we have on display here matters, it all matters especially when we’re talking about class and race. The themes of race and class are inextricably bound, when you speak of one you speak of the other. When we try to act like it doesn’t then we run the risk of hurting people, because it is a privilege to run through life unafraid of consequences and assuming that race and class don’t matter.
The main story follows Link Williams and his love affair with Camilla Treadway Sheffield. She’s married, a millionaire, but she disguises all of this from Link when they first meet and as they carry on their love affair. This love affair will pull at the fabric of the Narrows and change the lives of its residents, “well, of course...if you’re a multon millionaire and white you don’t give a damn what the black peasants think.”
I can’t even begin to untangle everything that Petry does in this book. I had read the Street and it was brilliant but I feel with the Narrows she masterfully expands on the foundation she had built in her previous work. Through fiction she amplifies and brings characters to represent the injustices done against Black people, even in their own community, where acceptance in white spaces is conditional, and when the question of the Race has many sides, many ways of being taught and this can lead to confusion for a child. As if all of this wasn’t enough she also talks about women, about misogyny in Black communities, and the role of white women in a racist society. I strongly urge you to read it
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