false 349929 13 The heroine of <I>Passing</I> takes an elevator from the infernal August Chicago streets to the breezy rooftop of the heavenly Drayton Hotel, "wafted upward on a magic carpet to another world, pleasant, quiet, and strangely remote from the sizzling one that she had left below." Irene is black, but like her author, the Danish-African American Nella Larsen (a star of the 1920s to mid-1930s Harlem Renaissance and the first black woman to win a Guggenheim creative-writing award), she can "pass" in white society. Yet one woman in the tea room, "fair and golden, like a sunlit day," keeps staring at her, and eventually introduces herself as Irene's childhood friend Clare, who left their hometown 12 years before when her father died. Clare's father had been born "on the left hand"--he was the product of a legal marriage between a white man and a black woman and therefore cut off from his inheritance. So she was raised penniless by white racist relatives, and now she passes as white. Even Clare's violent white husband is in the dark about her past, though he teases her about her tan and affectionately calls her "Nig." He laughingly explains: "When we were first married, she was white as--as--well as white as a lily. But I declare she's getting darker and darker." As Larsen makes clear, <I>Passing</I> can also mean dying, and Clare is in peril of losing her identity and her life.<p> The tale is simple on the surface--a few adventures in Chicago and New York's high life, with lots of real people and race-mixing events described (explicated by Thadious M. Davis's helpful introduction and footnotes). But underneath, it seethes with rage, guilt, sex, and complex deceptions. Irene fears losing her black husband to Clare, who seems increasingly predatory. Or is this all in Irene's mind? And is everyone wearing a mask? Larsen's book is a scary hall of mirrors, a murder mystery that can't resolve itself. It sticks with you. <I>--Tim Appelo</I> 2369306 1969 Passing (Penguin Classics) total:1205|5:277|4:471|3:378|2:67|1:12| 1205 4549 1616 121 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 5 2 false Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 21:39:56 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 18:38:51 -0800 2009
This book makes you think: about race, race relations, and one's own anxieties about "the other". It makes you question your own sense of self, what it means to be, to identify with something, anything...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 2 false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 23 10:33:25 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 23 10:35:16 -0700 2007 How many of us "pass" and live a different life than who we really are? What do ...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 1 false Sat Mar 07 00:47:05 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 01:01:44 -0800 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 5 1 false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 09 08:52:01 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 11:06:11 -0800 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 5 1 false Wed Oct 03 13:19:50 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 15 13:21:59 -0800 2008 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 1 false Fri Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 14:37:54 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 14:37:54 -0800 2008 Passing packs a punch that’s even felt in today’s society. The story centers around the mixed blessing of being a “black” who is able to “pass” as white. Two women, old acquaintances, rekindle their friendship...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 0 false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jul 01 03:46:50 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 04:01:16 -0700 2009
"I think it beautifully illustrates the idea that identity is not and can never be one thing for individuals in a group, despite the fact that they may place themselves underneath one part...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 2 0 false Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 14:51:52 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 08:42:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 0 false Sun Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 16:11:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 16:24:06 -0700 2009
In Passing, two women meet on the rooftop of a hotel in 1920s Chicago, recognize each other, and begin a conversation. Both are black women "passing" as whit...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 1 false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 08 07:08:40 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 09:20:31 -0800 2009 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 0 false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 14:20:44 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 14:32:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 0 false Mon Apr 13 08:43:15 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 08:49:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 0 false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 18:27:52 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 17:05:50 -0800 2009 more...]]> 961234 037550446X 9780375504464 3 2 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179835868m/961234.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/961234.Passing 2 0 false Thu Dec 11 12:15:59 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 12:30:39 -0800 2008
This book was first published in 1929 (I think) and that says a lot about how the characters act and ...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 0 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Jan 04 19:08:06 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 19:08:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 4 0 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 13:30:47 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 14:34:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 0 false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 19:51:33 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 09:55:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 3 0 false Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 30 23:44:46 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 30 23:49:25 -0800 2009 more...]]> 994065 0375758135 9780375758133 21 5 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180061258m/994065.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/994065.Passing 2 0 false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 18:16:13 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 15:25:42 -0700 2009 Passing was, perhaps, not its strength, however, I have to admit that ...more...]]> 349929 0142437271 9780142437278 1071 99 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255912889m/349929.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349929.Passing 5 0 false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 04 14:07:24 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 14:12:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3243535