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nigel_hakeem 's review for:
Notes of a Native Son
by James Baldwin
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
What a fantastic read! I don't know why it took this long for me to pick up Baldwin.
These essays should be read by everyone. His descriptions of what it means to exist as a Black person in the world ring frustratingly true and still feel contemporary. He speaks like the smartest friend you have trying to explain something fundamental, not only himself but to everyone. Each essay is a glimpse into how the white world sees Black people and Baldwin holds no punches.
His essay 'Journey to Atlanta' so pointedly and uncompromisingly breaks down the idea of progressive electoral politics and shows what it really means to the people outside the political establishment. Every liberal with a do-gooder attitude needs to read this and then ask themselves if their actions are for themselves or for others.
The title essay is heartbreaking and cathartic for those with difficult relationships with their fathers. Absolutely beautiful storytelling. Please read this if you read nothing else.
'Equal in Paris' is a sojourn through the French legal bureaucracy and what it means to be out of place and out of one's depth. Even in another country, in another language, there is still a human way to understand how others see you, and it's scary.
The final essay 'Stranger in the Village' shows how whiteness in America came to be and its historical relationship with Europe. The idea of one being both Black and human seems such a difficult concept for white people, and Baldwin traces back how that societal thinking came into being.
I'm in love with his beautiful prose style. I'm in love with Baldwin. I'm in love with this book.
These essays should be read by everyone. His descriptions of what it means to exist as a Black person in the world ring frustratingly true and still feel contemporary. He speaks like the smartest friend you have trying to explain something fundamental, not only himself but to everyone. Each essay is a glimpse into how the white world sees Black people and Baldwin holds no punches.
His essay 'Journey to Atlanta' so pointedly and uncompromisingly breaks down the idea of progressive electoral politics and shows what it really means to the people outside the political establishment. Every liberal with a do-gooder attitude needs to read this and then ask themselves if their actions are for themselves or for others.
The title essay is heartbreaking and cathartic for those with difficult relationships with their fathers. Absolutely beautiful storytelling. Please read this if you read nothing else.
'Equal in Paris' is a sojourn through the French legal bureaucracy and what it means to be out of place and out of one's depth. Even in another country, in another language, there is still a human way to understand how others see you, and it's scary.
The final essay 'Stranger in the Village' shows how whiteness in America came to be and its historical relationship with Europe. The idea of one being both Black and human seems such a difficult concept for white people, and Baldwin traces back how that societal thinking came into being.
I'm in love with his beautiful prose style. I'm in love with Baldwin. I'm in love with this book.