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A review by micaelamariem
Black Boy by Richard Wright
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I have to be honest.
The only reason this is 3 stars and not 4 stars is because animals were hurt in the making of this book and I cannot abide by that.
However, the book was beautifully written, illustrating the racial injustices Wright experienced and fought against (or his friends did, considering this may not be fully autobiographical).
The first part was very compelling, reminiscent of many coming of age tales. The second part wasn’t as interesting because it focused more on politics and Wright’s fall into communism, which had the potential to be interesting, but somewhere fell flat.
Still, if this is a true memoir, it’s really hard to judge and rate it (especially a classic one!) because it’s someone’s life. You can’t say anything about the plot because it actually happened.
I can say the writing and commentary was beautiful and evocative, the themes were strong, and you can tell he had things to say.
But also please don’t hurt animals :(
The only reason this is 3 stars and not 4 stars is because animals were hurt in the making of this book and I cannot abide by that.
However, the book was beautifully written, illustrating the racial injustices Wright experienced and fought against (or his friends did, considering this may not be fully autobiographical).
The first part was very compelling, reminiscent of many coming of age tales. The second part wasn’t as interesting because it focused more on politics and Wright’s fall into communism, which had the potential to be interesting, but somewhere fell flat.
Still, if this is a true memoir, it’s really hard to judge and rate it (especially a classic one!) because it’s someone’s life. You can’t say anything about the plot because it actually happened.
I can say the writing and commentary was beautiful and evocative, the themes were strong, and you can tell he had things to say.
But also please don’t hurt animals :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism