angelasunshine's review against another edition
2.0
This was a difficult book to get through. Coates’ writing is very dense and, in my opinion, not very reader friendly. This is not a critique on the subject matter, only the language used to convey his feelings.
doctabird's review against another edition
3.0
This one's a little hard for me to rate. Nonfictions are generally harder for me to get through, and poetic prose isn't easy for me either. This was a combination of both. While the content resonated with me, and made this book worthwhile, the style wasn't my personal preference.
ayeesharbrts's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
buffee's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Should have read this a lot sooner.
gjermis's review against another edition
5.0
Denne bør du lese. Viktige perspektiver som alle bør bli bevisst på.
jbmorgan86's review against another edition
5.0
Between the World and Me is one of those books that is essential to read in this time and place. Following the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland and Samuel DuBose and after the Charleston shooting, Ta-Nehisi Coates is a voice calling in the wilderness.
I am not the target audience of this book. I am a white (or Coates would say I believe myself to be white) middle-class American male. This book is brutally honest and makes no apologies to white people. Perhaps that is why I found the book so enlightening. Coates opens a window into another world that I cannot see from my perspective.
The book is written in a form of a letter from Coates to his 15 year old son. Essentially, Coates tells his life story but also teaches his son what it means to be a black male in America. The book is a very short read (3-4 hours). It flows so easily. It is poetic. Coates uses key words to heighten this poetic feeling. Rather than referring to the soul, the life, the self, Coates repeatedly refers to "the Body." This rhetorical technique is intentionally referring to how whites used African slaves for their bodies, not for their personhood. He often refers to "plunder," what can be taken from the young black male. He refers to areas outside of his neighborhood as another "galaxy." He calls Howard University "The Mecca." He repeatedly speaks of "The Dream." He sees MLK's dream of a post-racial society as a lie.
This book is brutally honest. Coates speaks of his frustration with peace-only activists like MLK. He speaks of disconnect with the city of New York after 9/11. He unleashes his anger at white supremacy. One of the most brutal passages is this:
"There is not them without you, and without the right to break you they must necessarily fall from the mountain, lose their divinity, and tumble out of the Dream. And then they would have to determine how to build their suburbs on something other than human bones, how to angle their jails toward something other than a human stockyard, how to erect a democracy independent of cannibalism. But because they believe themselves to be white, they would rather countenance a man choked to death on film under their laws. And they would rather subscribe to the myth of Trayvon Martin, slight teenager, hands full of candy and soft drinks, transforming into a murderous juggernaut. And they would rather see Prince Jones followed by a bad cop through three jurisdictions and shot down for acting like a human. And they would rather reach out, in all their sanity, and push my four-year-old son as though he were merely an obstacle in the path of their too-important day."
This is not a self-help book. It does not offer a bright and happy ending. Coates does not present a problem and then a solution. Rather, he just offers a view into a life. I'm not quite sure what to do with everything that I've read . . . and maybe that's a good thing.
I am not the target audience of this book. I am a white (or Coates would say I believe myself to be white) middle-class American male. This book is brutally honest and makes no apologies to white people. Perhaps that is why I found the book so enlightening. Coates opens a window into another world that I cannot see from my perspective.
The book is written in a form of a letter from Coates to his 15 year old son. Essentially, Coates tells his life story but also teaches his son what it means to be a black male in America. The book is a very short read (3-4 hours). It flows so easily. It is poetic. Coates uses key words to heighten this poetic feeling. Rather than referring to the soul, the life, the self, Coates repeatedly refers to "the Body." This rhetorical technique is intentionally referring to how whites used African slaves for their bodies, not for their personhood. He often refers to "plunder," what can be taken from the young black male. He refers to areas outside of his neighborhood as another "galaxy." He calls Howard University "The Mecca." He repeatedly speaks of "The Dream." He sees MLK's dream of a post-racial society as a lie.
This book is brutally honest. Coates speaks of his frustration with peace-only activists like MLK. He speaks of disconnect with the city of New York after 9/11. He unleashes his anger at white supremacy. One of the most brutal passages is this:
"There is not them without you, and without the right to break you they must necessarily fall from the mountain, lose their divinity, and tumble out of the Dream. And then they would have to determine how to build their suburbs on something other than human bones, how to angle their jails toward something other than a human stockyard, how to erect a democracy independent of cannibalism. But because they believe themselves to be white, they would rather countenance a man choked to death on film under their laws. And they would rather subscribe to the myth of Trayvon Martin, slight teenager, hands full of candy and soft drinks, transforming into a murderous juggernaut. And they would rather see Prince Jones followed by a bad cop through three jurisdictions and shot down for acting like a human. And they would rather reach out, in all their sanity, and push my four-year-old son as though he were merely an obstacle in the path of their too-important day."
This is not a self-help book. It does not offer a bright and happy ending. Coates does not present a problem and then a solution. Rather, he just offers a view into a life. I'm not quite sure what to do with everything that I've read . . . and maybe that's a good thing.
lauradunn84's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.5
An interesting and insightful listen
svetlanasterlin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
And what did it mean that number 2 pencils, conjugations without context, Pythagorean theorems, handshakes, and head nods were the difference between life and death, were the curtains drawing down between the world and me?
auds_wright's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
ladysadiereads's review against another edition
5.0
I am not sure that I am remotely eloquent enough to express how much this book moved, challenged and expanded my world view. It will be a book that I will often reflect on in the future and know that it has had a lasting effect on me.