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Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

13 reviews

cape_venus's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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mayawinshell's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.5

these are all stories about suffering in some regard, but beware, the final story in the collection (i read them in order) sickened me so much that i had trouble recollecting the other stories i’d just read. so before all else, huge TW for the eponymous tale Going to Meet the Man (CW: horrific, graphic lynch mob scene and copious use of slurs). to be clear, the story is not bad or poorly written—in fact it’s written with the immersive level of detail i’ve come to expect from any baldwin i read—so for that reason, only go into it if you’re ready for all that. it is terrifying and disturbing

below, i have placed the short stories in this collection in order from i think most re-readable to least (my “favorites” first? i suppose?)

Sonny’s Blues (fantastic narrative structure for a short story (starting in the present, then jumping to a reflective past, which we stay in through the end of the tale, leaving us wondering what will happen now). the characters and their familial dynamics felt so real in such little time/so few pages, and i was left feeling very, very moved by the final scene in the jazz bar and the final lines of the sorry. such vivid, mesmerizing, loving descriptions of jazz and the people that play it)
The Outing (an exciting expansion on characters i became so familiar with through first reading Go Tell It On the Mountain. sweet, sad, and altogether interesting. i like that baldwin kind of cracks the delicate egg of john’s possiblr queerness, which can be read just barely between the lines in GTIOTM, but is given clearer focus here)
Come Out the Wilderness (i have seen people critique baldwin writing women but i quite like the way he writes them. i do! idk if there’s a way to capture the entirety of womanhood correctly, but i think he takes women seriously, which is crucial. i think this story is so, so sad: a crumbling/crumbled relationship, internalized racism and low self esteem, feelings of being just totally lost. it’s sensitive, honest, very good)
Previous Condition (i’m just now starting Another Country and the two works remind me of one another—a Black man protagonist suffering, going positively mad from the exhausting and never ending trials of american anti-Black racism, surrounded by white friends and lovers who will never, never understand what it is to be Black in america. this short reads pretty modern, and it’s bleak, and again, it’s amazing how much he can bring a character to life in so few pages)
This Morning, This Evening, So Soon (this one’s got some actual joy in it between the mixed, mostly negative feelings, and an ever-rare loving relationship in these pages about so much pain and oftentimes, emotional abuse. its most unique thematic exploration regards the different experiences for Black people in America vs in France, and for Black Americans vs Black Arab Africans in France)
The Rockpile (i liked this one but coming right out of reading Go Tell It On the Mountain—and this is the very first short story in the collection—it wasn’t a super fresh update to the characters, and didn’t captivate me the most. still a well written story with gorgeous prose of course)
The Man Child (this one had a really interesting southern gothic quality to it, ultimately ending in a scene of true horror, but it struck a pretty different tone than all the rest of the stories. much more mysterious motivations for its antagonist. he’s another na who’s been pushed to the edge of his sanity, though, that’s for sure)
Going to Meet the Man (just so NOT re-readable. as i said at the top: really horrible content. it’s a very thorough journey into the dark, entrapped, panicking mind of a racist, violent bigot. the flashback to childhood is a haunting scene. it’s a tonal shock and a major perspective shift).

as always: james baldwin is spectacular. the blues and jazz are common threads throughout that weave in seamlessly. i’d recommend this to anyone looking for gorgeous prose and dark meditations on selfhood and american racism… he’s always brilliant

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seasonedreadings's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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bibliorama's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

James Baldwin is a great writer and he makes it easy to fall into the narrative of each short story. You know it's interesting when it has me googling articles for the summaries and meanings to each story like I'm back in school. I can tell this one will get better upon rereads.

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ellareads2's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This collection was absolutely beautiful! It was the first time I've completed a work by Baldwin and I am excited to finish the rest of his fiction works this summer. Here is my ranking of the short stories because I do not feel that my overall star rating does justice to what I really thought of each story:

1. The Outing
2. Previous Condition
3. The Rockpile
4. The Man Child
5. This Morning, This Evening, So Soon
6. Sonny's Blues
7. Come Out the Wilderness
8. Going to Meet the Man (MAJOR TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING FOR LYNCHING)

What I like most about "The Outing" is how close to home it feels. Baldwin perfectly captures what it's like to grow up in the Church around very religious people and feel all that shame, guilt, and trauma even as a child. Along with these religious power dynamics, he also explores how this intersects with gender and age within the congregation. I love the descriptions of male intimacy-whether platonic or romantic it could be read-between the two boys Johnnie and David. These boys, as well as their friend Roy, do not buy the narrative of salvation that others around them do. But Johnnie, being the preacher's son and living and breathing this religion, still desires the great love and intimacy all the worshippers around him display during the service on the boat. It is a beautiful scene that Johne observes, but he is not truly apart of. I felt that as a queer person with religious trauma, the seamless parallels Baldwin makes are very powerful.

*full review will be on blog*

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asililydying's review against another edition

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4.25

Sonny's Blues and Previous Condition are my favorites, Going To Meet The Man itself as a story may be the most disgusting thing I have ever read ~ not unintentionally of course.

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micha_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

The first couple of stories were pretty slow and I had trouble connecting with the religious themes. The other stories were quite different, with complex and conflicted characters. Really happy to have gotten such a wide sampling of Baldwin's work as I had only read two of his novels before.

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seawarrior's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This short story collection presents moments of revelation for a variety of characters caught up in complex relationships and questioning their identity within them. I appreciated the diversity of people, places and times Baldwin wrote from the perspective of to make up the collection. He was adept at finding resounding voices for each of these characters, from playful young Black boys to a violently racist white sheriff. I felt like I understood the meaning and themes of some of these stories more than others, but it was easy to feel drawn into them all. The final and title story of Going to Meet the Man was one of the most disturbing works of literature I've ever encountered, and the most difficult to keep reading. Racism was described throughout many of these works, but Going to Meet the Man details how it has been passed on through generations of white families through violence to sedate depraved insecurity. I would be wary of reading this particular story if descriptions of violent racism and lynchings are triggering to you. My primary issue reading this collection was the length of the paragraphs. Often times I got lost in a passage and had to re-read it repeatedly to make sense of it, thought I doubt this is a problem for everyone. Overall, I enjoyed being introduced to Baldwin's style and skill through these stories, and look forward to reading his longer novels.

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halceeeeeeeee's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.0

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noblememoruled's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

5.0

amazing. favourite: going to meet the man.

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