candiecane333's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
The questions were apt & the answers were insightful & thought provoking
aarikdanielsen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
jmira's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
joaniemaloney's review against another edition
5.0
'They don't know how they got into it or, worse, won't recognize how. I don't know. They don't know how they got into the chaos of their cities, for example. But they did it. Now how and why did they do it? They did it because they wanted their children to be safe, to be raised safely. So they set up their communities so that they wouldn't have to go to school with black children, whom they fear, and that dictates the structure of their cities, the chaos of their cities and the danger in which they live.
[...] That's what happened, I don't care who says what. I watched it happen, I know because I watched it happen. And all this, because they want to be white. And why do they want to be white? Because it's the only way to justify the slaughter if the Indians and enslaving the blacks - they're trapped. And nothing, nothing will spring the trap, nothong. Now they're really trapped because the world is present. And the world is not white and America is not the symbol of civilization. Neither is England. Neither is France. Something else is happening which will engulf them by and by. [...] It's the only hope the world has, that the notion of the supremacy of Western hegemony and civilization be contained.' ('The Last Interview,' by Quincy Troupe / St. Paul de Vence, France. November 1987)
Could've quoted all the interviews, really. Just one answer, one tiny part of all the observations he had in these conversations that were too brief.
[...] That's what happened, I don't care who says what. I watched it happen, I know because I watched it happen. And all this, because they want to be white. And why do they want to be white? Because it's the only way to justify the slaughter if the Indians and enslaving the blacks - they're trapped. And nothing, nothing will spring the trap, nothong. Now they're really trapped because the world is present. And the world is not white and America is not the symbol of civilization. Neither is England. Neither is France. Something else is happening which will engulf them by and by. [...] It's the only hope the world has, that the notion of the supremacy of Western hegemony and civilization be contained.' ('The Last Interview,' by Quincy Troupe / St. Paul de Vence, France. November 1987)
Could've quoted all the interviews, really. Just one answer, one tiny part of all the observations he had in these conversations that were too brief.
madamegeneva's review against another edition
4.0
I mean, what can I say? It’s James Baldwin. It’s important, insightful, and gut-wrenching.
michplunkett's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
I can't generally say enough about Baldwin's work. At his best, he is scathing, compassionate, and very much an island to himself. His non-fiction work has always worked as a catalyst for me to interpret and go out into the world, not as I'd like to be but as I am.
My favorite excerpt from one of the interviews:
"Now, in order to survive this, you have to really dig down into yourself and re-create yourself, really, according to no image which yet exists in America. You have to impose, in fact--this may sound very strange--you have to decide who you are, and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you."
My favorite excerpt from one of the interviews:
"Now, in order to survive this, you have to really dig down into yourself and re-create yourself, really, according to no image which yet exists in America. You have to impose, in fact--this may sound very strange--you have to decide who you are, and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you."
catladyreba's review against another edition
5.0
The more Baldwin I read, the more I want to read. However, it also makes me depressed. All the issues Baldwin talked about 30, 40, 50 years ago, they're still happening today, and not much has changed.
raulbime's review against another edition
4.0
"The human fact is this: that one cannot escape anything one has done. One has got to pay for it. You either pay for it willingly or unwillingly."
James Baldwin was one of the greatest intellectuals of the twentieth century. His sharp and clear words that probed and laid out injustices still ring true to this day. In these four interviews, the last one done as he was ailing and dying, Baldwin discusses a range of topics among them racism, his relationships with his predecessors Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, his life and struggles, sexuality, then-contemporary African American writers like Toni Morrison, and his friendship with Miles Davis. One comes from these conversations with better understanding, affirmation and clarity. To the end, Baldwin still remained as brilliant as ever.
With certain writers one really feels that there is no way one can do justice to their words other than urging others to read for themselves and experience for themselves firsthand the wisdom and insight given, and Baldwin is certainly one of those writers. Baldwin is a writer whose words are often deemed prophetic, not only because the racist society he consistently called out still persists today, but because he clearly, eloquently, unflinchingly, and lovingly was able to look at and speak truth.
James Baldwin was one of the greatest intellectuals of the twentieth century. His sharp and clear words that probed and laid out injustices still ring true to this day. In these four interviews, the last one done as he was ailing and dying, Baldwin discusses a range of topics among them racism, his relationships with his predecessors Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, his life and struggles, sexuality, then-contemporary African American writers like Toni Morrison, and his friendship with Miles Davis. One comes from these conversations with better understanding, affirmation and clarity. To the end, Baldwin still remained as brilliant as ever.
With certain writers one really feels that there is no way one can do justice to their words other than urging others to read for themselves and experience for themselves firsthand the wisdom and insight given, and Baldwin is certainly one of those writers. Baldwin is a writer whose words are often deemed prophetic, not only because the racist society he consistently called out still persists today, but because he clearly, eloquently, unflinchingly, and lovingly was able to look at and speak truth.
sheraldsanchez's review against another edition
4.0
There's something uniquely special about gaining access to a beloved author's thoughts formulated and articulated in real-time during a conversation, even more when that author is someone as fervent and forthright as James Baldwin. The conversations presented here were selected with care—interviewers were close friends to Baldwin, fellow writers or artists, and humans who share similar struggles of being Black in America, and being Black and gay in the world.
I'm sure I'll enjoy this entire collection of last interviews from Penguin Random House.
I'm sure I'll enjoy this entire collection of last interviews from Penguin Random House.
noahrenzreads's review against another edition
5.0
Strong 4.5; I will probably never find words to describe what reading the thoughts of Baldwin does to me