A review by mayawinshell
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

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?)
  1. 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)  
  2. 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)
  3. 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)
  4. 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)
  5. 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)
  6. 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)
  7. 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)
  8. 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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