Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

12 reviews

snailslowreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Book 1 for 2024 (reviewed for HBR):

Go Tell It on the Mountain's emphasis on Christianity and how characters interact with it may seem alienating for a reader who isn’t interested in the topic, but by grounding the book in fundamental human emotions, it's made far more accessible. Baldwin is particularly interested in the deep anxieties and pressures of conforming with those who truly believe in God, and not knowing if you want to conform. The question of how someone knows they are “saved” is one way that the book expands into themes of self-hatred, understanding yourself, and insecurity in one’s past and future. The book is told by multiple members of a family: a boy, his aunt, his stepfather, and his mother, who all ruminate on their own callings—religious or not—and how they have strayed, or the costs of following them. Baldwin captures his characters’ intense and contradictory feelings in a way that’s insightful and beautifully written without being pretentious. By inviting some of the other characters to tell their stories and secrets, Baldwin is able to more subtly explore how their trauma ripples through generations.

If anything, I wish that the novel was a bit longer so that everyone’s perspectives could be tied together. I do understand that Baldwin was mostly trying to show snapshots of people’s lives and how those experiences have affected them as people in a succinct way—almost half of the book is composed of memories recalled in a single prayer session—and I think he was largely successful. Nevertheless, no matter how much I did like the open ending, it still felt like there was more to tell, and a larger audience waiting and listening.

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lolabee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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genstrong's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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fatkingslug's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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meganfletcher's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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steveatwaywords's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It is not enough to say that this book is worthy of its status as a classic, not just of black literature, but of literature. A structure of overlapping stories in time and relationships unpacks a cacophony of messages, none cleanly suited to be called "justice" or "faith" or "love." Just when you believe the story will turn to a conventional concept of goodness or sin, the character turns about; when you believe a matter settled, it rises again years later. It's how lives work; life-affirming without any of the naïve optimism or simple closures. 

More, though, I am compelled by the beauty of Baldwin's prose. His internal dialogues pulse with blood and belief, with characters who often think or act from a rich river of motivations. No shallow staples of literature here. Read passages aloud to feel this fully. I know I did.

Too, there is a great deal in the story which is sublimated, left unspoken and seemingly untested. For every character who takes their turn at a "prayer," three others reveal their equal tenacity, equal clamor, for story. For every action we believe we understand, three less-articulated causes presume themselves. And later influence. The social circumstances of race are only one background which unsettles itself into these lives. 

This is not a fast read. Baldwin's prose compels us to labor a bit, to digest carefully. Had I not, I might have wondered why any of these characters really matter. It is, perhaps, because no character here exists as a prop or a literary guise. We experience an intimacy of happenings from which we cannot turn away.

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catwhisperer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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remib's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective

4.5


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anniefwrites's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This was my first James Baldwin, and WOW. Moving plot, language that sucks you right in, vivid interior worlds of all the characters. What a magnificent writer. I especially loved the parts where I got to live inside the mind of such a tender, confused, emotional boy. The way the story concluded wasn’t what I expected, and it’s going to be a while until I can unravel my complex feelings about it. But all in all, Baldwin has such a strong yet delicate voice, and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work. 

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