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naiilahreads's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve always been aware of this book and it’s legacy but never took the opportunity to read it. Then I read Jesmyn Ward’s, The Fire This Time and knew I could put off this read no longer. James Baldwin’s words ring as true today as when he wrote them to mark the centennial of the emancipation proclamation. This is both tragic and affirming for Black Americans.
lnetzel's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very short read but it is very dense. Much of it I struggled to understand but that may be the point, we can't really understand another's struggles. What I did comprehend is that for as advanced as we think we are in dealing with racism, we're kidding ourselves. We may be less evolved than those of James Baldwin's time.
hadidee's review against another edition
5.0
Clear sighted, honest (oftentimes brutality so), it’s also beautifully written. Some of the language has dated, the thinking and analysis are still relevant today.
oliviakt07's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of essays and letters under 200 pages (and 3 hours as an audio book), "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin overflows with thoughts and quotations that could lead to decades of discussion and reflection. My first experience with Baldwin, it is one I do not regret establishing a familiarity with his work.
From the dreams he has for his nephew, to his revelations and questions since joining, leaving, and exploring his neighborhood in Harlem and beyond, the dot of a book (in terms of page count) shakes with ferocity of a tidal wave only to iron out the shoreline.
His vulnerability, and continuous growth as a self, is relatable whenever one takes a look at themselves in and outside of the mirror. When one is true to oneself. Baldwin's zealousness for love over the mold of hate and the past soothes his changing from the influential boy he was to the progressive man he became.
To narrow down the passages that struck me most:
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."
“In short, we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation- if we really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women. To create one nation has proved to be a hideously difficult task.”
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns, and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death – ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life.”
“In any event, the sloppy and fatuous nature of American good will can never be relied upon to deal with hard problems. These have been dealt with, when they have been dealt with at all, out of necessity—and in political terms, anyway, necessity means concessions made in order to stay on top.”
“It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be.”
“To accept one's past—one's history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.”
“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
“And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become.”
“To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread.”
These reactions and thoughts of mine might be subjective and based on one reading of the book and of Baldwin, and might be absolutely far from the truth, but if that is the case I would love to read more and discuss more with experts and treasured readers of Baldwin. If interested, I would love to discuss them with you.
From the dreams he has for his nephew, to his revelations and questions since joining, leaving, and exploring his neighborhood in Harlem and beyond, the dot of a book (in terms of page count) shakes with ferocity of a tidal wave only to iron out the shoreline.
His vulnerability, and continuous growth as a self, is relatable whenever one takes a look at themselves in and outside of the mirror. When one is true to oneself. Baldwin's zealousness for love over the mold of hate and the past soothes his changing from the influential boy he was to the progressive man he became.
To narrow down the passages that struck me most:
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."
“In short, we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation- if we really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women. To create one nation has proved to be a hideously difficult task.”
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns, and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death – ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life.”
“In any event, the sloppy and fatuous nature of American good will can never be relied upon to deal with hard problems. These have been dealt with, when they have been dealt with at all, out of necessity—and in political terms, anyway, necessity means concessions made in order to stay on top.”
“It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be.”
“To accept one's past—one's history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.”
“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
“And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become.”
“To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread.”
These reactions and thoughts of mine might be subjective and based on one reading of the book and of Baldwin, and might be absolutely far from the truth, but if that is the case I would love to read more and discuss more with experts and treasured readers of Baldwin. If interested, I would love to discuss them with you.
msjared's review against another edition
5.0
I just really love the way he writes and the language he uses. It's all so beautiful and emotional and heartbreaking and thought provoking. He's just so, so good. This was a really quick read and well worth it.
crypticbookslut's review against another edition
informative
reflective
4.75
Loved it, quick read but gave me a lot to think about.
stephhamp's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
As with Giovanni's Room, I was entrapped from the start. His letter to his nephew was one of the most powerful and loving pieces of literature I have ever read. I finished the bulk of the book after the 2024 election and it was eerily relevant. It gave me hope and guidance for my next steps in my advocacy. I cannot wait to continue studying his work.