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A review by mariakureads
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
What a book! This book was fraught with so much emotion that it felt real to the touch. I could never have anticipated the realness that was in such a book.
"If Beale Street Could Talk" is my first James Baldwin book; I was unaware of everything he captured. This could have easily been a book about today's current climate and not something that he had written back in 1974 - 1974?!?
There is so much to say about this book, but I keep thinking about the families and how the MC's criminal charge and arrest affect the involved families on the outside who are wanting to do everything in their power to set him free. These are the people who get lost in such a nature, and Baldwin depicts that anger, worry, and sadness are authentic terms ad dialogue that is hard to ignore.
The book's dialogue is upfront and very in your face in its presentation and from character to character, as some are soft-spoken and others harsh as the city that this book is about. Here is an intimate look of a love that sustains through the most strenuous of times, and to read it is incredible, and no wonder I was intimidated to read this before.
This won't be my last James Baldwin just the first.
"If Beale Street Could Talk" is my first James Baldwin book; I was unaware of everything he captured. This could have easily been a book about today's current climate and not something that he had written back in 1974 - 1974?!?
There is so much to say about this book, but I keep thinking about the families and how the MC's criminal charge and arrest affect the involved families on the outside who are wanting to do everything in their power to set him free. These are the people who get lost in such a nature, and Baldwin depicts that anger, worry, and sadness are authentic terms ad dialogue that is hard to ignore.
The book's dialogue is upfront and very in your face in its presentation and from character to character, as some are soft-spoken and others harsh as the city that this book is about. Here is an intimate look of a love that sustains through the most strenuous of times, and to read it is incredible, and no wonder I was intimidated to read this before.
This won't be my last James Baldwin just the first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, and Racism