eheslosz's profile picture

eheslosz 's review for:

Native Son by Richard Wright
4.0

4.5/5

My emotional response surely grants this five stars; Wright's ability to elicit empathy and make Bigger such a tangible and real character is incredible. However I have two specific issues with this novel, both of which I think are not new ideas in the book's critical response. First – the treatment of women (especially black women) and erasure of their violence. Second – the preachy liberal white lawyer taking up way too narrative space and moral credit towards the end of the book. I will say no more so as to avoid spoilers but nonetheless I cannot recommend this highly enough.

This edition was also pretty good because there was some interesting extra material and paratext about what had to be cut out initially, although the introduction was a bit repetitive of the content of Wright's article which was included in the end.