A review by marvelissa1
Another Country by James Baldwin

5.0

My heart hurts after "Another Country", but James Baldwin is 100% one of the best writers who has ever put pen to page. I don't know the last time I read any book with such fantastic dialogue. This book will stay with me for a long time. James Baldwin understood so much about race, relationships, communities, sexuality, class, marriage, addiction, mental health, and what goes on in our private minds that doesn't get spoken out loud but drives how we interact with the world around us and each other. Not a light read, but easily in the top 3 best books I've ever read and I'm certain I will return to it. The lasting effects of the horrors of America's racial history and how that infiltrates our intimate relationships with others and ourselves (whether we are Black or white - if you want to take a deep dive into this subject, I found "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" by Dr. Joy DeGruy eye-opening). "Another Country" is powerful, meaningful, often jarring, challenges the reader to look at themselves and their biases - because there isn't a single one Baldwin shies away from. It's a vitally important work of literature and just so beautifully, achingly written.