A review by kirsten0929
Another Country by James Baldwin

4.0

[1962] This book was a glorious exploration of the morphing interrelationships of a group of friends of varying race, gender and sexual orientation. Not a lot of plot, just the evolution of the relationships. This book could not take place anywhere but New York. The characters were well drawn and we spend a lot of time with their emotions and inner turmoil. There was lots of description, which I think he does masterfully (although, there were times that a description of, say, a facial expression would have so many seemingly conflicting adjectives and concepts that I would end up with no idea of what that facial expression might actually look like). At almost 450 pages, I do feel that it could have been edited down without anything being lost. I found it a little melodramatic towards the end, some of the dialogue rang less true to me. Some long monologues that I think would be great performed on stage, actually the whole thing might make a really good ensemble cast theater piece.