A review by pangnaolin
Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

It's hard to rate this book, because it was such an incredibly grueling and tiring read, but the thoughts Fanon brought to the table were obviously incredibly important. It's interesting to think about how these ideas have been disseminated into other theories, frameworks, etc before I've ever read them as their own concept, but it was definitely worth reading on its own, too.

I have to say, though, that although I can absolutely see how this was incredibly important for its time, it feels like it's filled with information most people educated on topics of race, gender, colonialism, and intersectionality have already come to understand, and I feel like there were some moments of homophobia and misogyny that kind of shocked me back into life, too.

I'm not sure. It definitely has some really solid ideas that were explored in an interesting way, and the structure and anecdotes were easy to follow, but I also feel like it's just a bit outdated in some ways. It's obviously a good and important read, especially if you're looking to understand history, but if you're looking to understand the role of race in relationships in today's society, I feel like there's probably a better book for you out there.