"People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead."
Baldwin is an incredible writer. He just has a way with words that are imperceptibly profound and flow beautifully. This is a deeply religious novel and while I tend to me ambivalent towards such subject matter, I found myself challenged and also captivated by the influence Christianity has on the lives of these characters and the complex way religion drives the story about the Grimes family as each member struggles with their faith in seeking salvation.
An engrossing bildungsroman as well as an expansive African American family saga with shifting narrative perspectives, the story alternates between different places in time -- from the deep south during slavery all the way to Harlem in the 1930's. Although the heated racial tensions between blacks and whites is present in the novel, Baldwin is rather subtle in his approach; that is to say, he refrains from taking sides and placing the blame solely on the white man. He paints both a beautiful and ugly picture of the social and political struggles of race, class, sexuality and violence during a particular time in American history.
An engrossing bildungsroman as well as an expansive African American family saga with shifting narrative perspectives, the story alternates between different places in time -- from the deep south during slavery all the way to Harlem in the 1930's. Although the heated racial tensions between blacks and whites is present in the novel, Baldwin is rather subtle in his approach; that is to say, he refrains from taking sides and placing the blame solely on the white man. He paints both a beautiful and ugly picture of the social and political struggles of race, class, sexuality and violence during a particular time in American history.
Read from May 07 to 10, 2011
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