Reviews with content warning for Racism - Go Tell It on the Mountain

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

51 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

I think that a lot of this book went straight over my head. I did appreciate the idea of a reckoning coming for some of the characters. And I liked Florence. And writing was, of course, beautiful.

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meganfletcher's review

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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

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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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