Reviews

Flying Home and Other Stories by Ralph Ellison, John F. Callahan

remigves's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

rottenjester's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

literaryinfatuation's review

3.0

I loved the writing, its lyricism and smoothness; I loved the topics, drawing from Ellison’s personal experience riding the freight trains and working odd jobs to save for tuition. Having just read Angela Y. Davis’ “Women Race & Class”, I felt that Ellison was able to portray in fiction the struggles that Davis recorded. I found the first story, “A Party Down at the Square” shocking, painful, raw. I found myself reading it again and again before I could move on to the next.

BUT, I am not a big fan of how John Callahan put it all together. See, some stories have common characters. Now, they are not related to each other and were published in magazines years apart. But Callahan put them all together, one after the other, as well as all stories about riding freight trains. That messes up with my brain that tries to join the dots when there’s nothing there. Was he trying something, some effect that goes over my head?

nicolemillo's review

2.0

I particularly appreciated the introduction which explains a lot about Ellison's perspective, the first story which tells of a lynching from a white man's perspective–impassive but for his telltale physical response to the cruelty–and last story about a black pilot who has crashed and requires medical assistance. The rest was fine too, but didn't speak to me so much.