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gaiusgallus 's review for:
Going to Meet the Man
by James Baldwin
An amazing collection of short stories. Baldwin is just as adept at writing vignettes as he is when creating novels. The characters are solid and the situations all have a reality to them that sucks you in. The strongest stories, I feel, in this book are 'Sonny's Blues' and the titular 'Going to Meet the Man'.
Sonny's Blues knits themes of escaping suffering through drugs and the freedom found in expression. This line in particular hit me, as the POV character remarks on a band playing the blues: "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness."
Going to Meet the Man touches on the idea that white supremacy denigrates and destroys everyone touched by it, including white people themselves. I had read this story in a Civil Rights Literature class in college and had been deeply affected by it; it still holds that sway over me now, nearly 10 years later. The peversion and twisting of the main character's mind as he viciously links sex, violence, and race speak to a bone deep psychological scarring. I think it's a brave stance to take, inhabiting the mind of a violent white supremacist in order to reflect the pain and dehumanization back on the reader. I commend Baldwin's artful depiction of this situation. I never sympathize for this character, but I mourn the death of his humanity.
Fantastic display all around. Cannot recommend Baldwin enough.
Sonny's Blues knits themes of escaping suffering through drugs and the freedom found in expression. This line in particular hit me, as the POV character remarks on a band playing the blues: "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness."
Going to Meet the Man touches on the idea that white supremacy denigrates and destroys everyone touched by it, including white people themselves. I had read this story in a Civil Rights Literature class in college and had been deeply affected by it; it still holds that sway over me now, nearly 10 years later. The peversion and twisting of the main character's mind as he viciously links sex, violence, and race speak to a bone deep psychological scarring. I think it's a brave stance to take, inhabiting the mind of a violent white supremacist in order to reflect the pain and dehumanization back on the reader. I commend Baldwin's artful depiction of this situation. I never sympathize for this character, but I mourn the death of his humanity.
Fantastic display all around. Cannot recommend Baldwin enough.