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A review by sweetearlgrey
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
This is a fantastic debut novel, showing that Baldwin had incredible prowess from the very beginning. It is riddled with themes of generational trauma, religious guilt, violence (both personal and structural), and, most of all, the effects of structural racism. The Fire Next Time is a great companion to this novel, as it explores the same themes but with more personal input and insights from Baldwin.
The story is told in a non-linear style, with frequent use of flashbacks/time jumps. Though this may put some people off, I personally found that it made the novel more stylistically unique and avoided monotony. It also helped the ending pack even more of a punch. As always with Baldwin's works, the characters were incredibly authentic. In general, he seems to have a very clear and fair view of humans, and a strong understanding of how people become who they become, both as a result of their environment and of themselves. The writing style is wonderful; it is layered with symbolism and beauty yet remains warm and comprehensible — brilliant novel!
The story is told in a non-linear style, with frequent use of flashbacks/time jumps. Though this may put some people off, I personally found that it made the novel more stylistically unique and avoided monotony. It also helped the ending pack even more of a punch. As always with Baldwin's works, the characters were incredibly authentic. In general, he seems to have a very clear and fair view of humans, and a strong understanding of how people become who they become, both as a result of their environment and of themselves. The writing style is wonderful; it is layered with symbolism and beauty yet remains warm and comprehensible — brilliant novel!