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A review by pangnaolin
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This book is obviously really heavy, but incredibly well-written-- a letter from a father to his son about the dangers of growing up in amerika as a Black man and how he must learn to navigate it. Toni Morrison is right in her little blurb on the back where she says that Between the World and Me "is required reading." Not that it should be-- it is.
Personally, I didn't learn too much new information wise as someone who's thoroughly researched the history of Black people in amerika and read countless memoirs, essays, stories, and even just looked at the news. That said, if you've only ever known surface level political discussion, you're going to learn a lot from this book, and even if you're like me and might know all the basic informational stuff, I wouldn't set this one aside.
Coates' accounts are intensely personal and offer another perspective as any person's story always will, and the format of a letter to his son adds another layer of intimacy and frustration that hits in an entirely new way. If you at all feel jaded to the state of the world and amerika especially, this will slap you right back into the violently emotional reality we need to inhabit to remain empathetic & focused on change.
Really, regardless of your education level on anything political, this is a fantastic read. Alongside the content of the book, Coates' writing is gorgeous and concise, and I enjoyed this read so, so much (though maybe enjoyed isn't quite the right word).
Note: This is only lower than a 5 star rating because it wasn't as emotionally impactful to me personally as the other books I've read and rated 4.75 and 5 stars, and isn't meant to be an indication of the quality of this book.
Personally, I didn't learn too much new information wise as someone who's thoroughly researched the history of Black people in amerika and read countless memoirs, essays, stories, and even just looked at the news. That said, if you've only ever known surface level political discussion, you're going to learn a lot from this book, and even if you're like me and might know all the basic informational stuff, I wouldn't set this one aside.
Coates' accounts are intensely personal and offer another perspective as any person's story always will, and the format of a letter to his son adds another layer of intimacy and frustration that hits in an entirely new way. If you at all feel jaded to the state of the world and amerika especially, this will slap you right back into the violently emotional reality we need to inhabit to remain empathetic & focused on change.
Really, regardless of your education level on anything political, this is a fantastic read. Alongside the content of the book, Coates' writing is gorgeous and concise, and I enjoyed this read so, so much (though maybe enjoyed isn't quite the right word).
Note: This is only lower than a 5 star rating because it wasn't as emotionally impactful to me personally as the other books I've read and rated 4.75 and 5 stars, and isn't meant to be an indication of the quality of this book.