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A review by bioniclib
Another Country by James Baldwin
2.0
I read fiction for escape. This book is fiction. This book is a horror story. This book is based on facts. The life of an African American in Harlem in the 50s is like nothing I’ve ever known. It’s like nothing, in fact, that I’ll ever know. So the deplorable racism that defines their lives is leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve read about a half dozen books on the subject that are non-fiction and they equally soured my mouth. But because I knew them to be non-fiction, I liked them better. They weren’t any easier to read but the fact that it was true and not just based on truth seemed to work better for me.
One other trouble I had with the book was that it reminded me of Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I was unsurprised to learn that they were both published in 1960. They were both peopled with miserable characters that saw the world as awful and justified their awful behavior because of that. Like I said, fiction is my escape and if the world into which I flee is miserable, I’m miserable.
I wanted to like this book and I did find nuggets of mastery but all-in-all I skimmed over the last bit of the book. Baldwin is a fantastic writer but not all writers are going to always write stuff I like. I’ll move onto Go Tell It on the Mountain and hope for better.
One other trouble I had with the book was that it reminded me of Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I was unsurprised to learn that they were both published in 1960. They were both peopled with miserable characters that saw the world as awful and justified their awful behavior because of that. Like I said, fiction is my escape and if the world into which I flee is miserable, I’m miserable.
I wanted to like this book and I did find nuggets of mastery but all-in-all I skimmed over the last bit of the book. Baldwin is a fantastic writer but not all writers are going to always write stuff I like. I’ll move onto Go Tell It on the Mountain and hope for better.