I’ve tried to start Baldwin a couple times and haven’t been hooked. Can you make a recommendation on what might be a good place to start if I’d like to make a third go of it.
I’ve tried to start Baldwin a couple times and haven’t been hooked. Can you make a recommendation on what might be a good place to start if I’d like to make a third go of it.
It depends on what era you want to dip into. "Notes from a Native Son" is a kind of analysis of being black in America (and the world) from a very personal perspective. The middle section is the most pertinent to this country. The essays are somewhat literary, erudite, written for intelligentsia audiences. I remember looking a lot of stuff up the first time I read them. "The Fire Next Time" has his most famous and pointed writing on race and Civil Rights and is probably the most read of his non-fiction works. For his fiction, "Giovanni's Room" is one of my all-time favorite novels, just heartbreaking stuff.
John, thanks for this. Always, not just this one.
I’ve tried to start Baldwin a couple times and haven’t been hooked. Can you make a recommendation on what might be a good place to start if I’d like to make a third go of it.
I suspect this maybe a silly question.
-Matt
It depends on what era you want to dip into. "Notes from a Native Son" is a kind of analysis of being black in America (and the world) from a very personal perspective. The middle section is the most pertinent to this country. The essays are somewhat literary, erudite, written for intelligentsia audiences. I remember looking a lot of stuff up the first time I read them. "The Fire Next Time" has his most famous and pointed writing on race and Civil Rights and is probably the most read of his non-fiction works. For his fiction, "Giovanni's Room" is one of my all-time favorite novels, just heartbreaking stuff.
I read Giovanni’s Room for the first time this year. Just terrific.