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The Sport of the Gods
In this extraordinary novel, Paul Laurence Dunbar tells the story of a displaced Southern family's struggle to survive and prosper in early Harlem. "The Sport of the Gods" was one of the first novels to depict the harsh realities of ghetto life and the revolutionary truths it uncovered still resonate today.
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
December 1st 1999
by Signet Classics
(first published 1902)
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I need to say that I read the latter portion of this book from the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Reader. I really enjoyed this story even though it was quite melancholy.
The story of a falsely accused butler, Berry Hamilton, stealing money from his Southern employer, Maurice Oakley. Of course Hamilton was sent to jail without much of a thought and his family had to leave town. The family which consisted of Fannie(wife), Kit(daughter), and Joe(son) all made their way north to New York. When they arrived t...more
The story of a falsely accused butler, Berry Hamilton, stealing money from his Southern employer, Maurice Oakley. Of course Hamilton was sent to jail without much of a thought and his family had to leave town. The family which consisted of Fannie(wife), Kit(daughter), and Joe(son) all made their way north to New York. When they arrived t...more
A Melancholy Tale
This book made me sad. Not in a way which I can describe. The overall tone of this novel was meant to cause grief-- for discrimination is a horrible, horrible sin. I am not saying that we should pity Barry Hamilton, I do not believe that he would want that. I am saying that we should stand up for others in remembrance of this character. He was taken advantage of by his closest friends and all that he held dear was destroyed. I would compare the story of Barry Hamilton to that o...more
This book made me sad. Not in a way which I can describe. The overall tone of this novel was meant to cause grief-- for discrimination is a horrible, horrible sin. I am not saying that we should pity Barry Hamilton, I do not believe that he would want that. I am saying that we should stand up for others in remembrance of this character. He was taken advantage of by his closest friends and all that he held dear was destroyed. I would compare the story of Barry Hamilton to that o...more
The Sport of the Gods is a lesser novel than Invisible Man or Native Son, not because the writing is necessarily poorer, but because this is really a rural to urban narrative along the lines of a Yekl or a Sister Carrie. What happens to the family is expressed through an environment of racism, yes, but the economic forces of poverty ultimately shape their fates.
Wow...where do I start? I don't know what else to say beside the fact that this book was depressing. Watching the Hamilton family unravel at the hands of somone else's character flaw is disconcerting. The ideologies of the southern white "gentleman" are disgusting, but something that was a reality back then. I understand now why it took me so long to read such a small book. I knew that there was no happy ending. Only sorrow and grief to which I was in no rush to arrive.
A very compelling novel about how the South vs. North situation in America during the turn of the century can affect and corrupt a black family who became a victim of other people's misgivings.
Dunbar's prose is poetic in the richness of its meaning, and his narrative style is worth reverence, study, and a good slap in the face once in a while. I will enjoy discussing this book some more in class on Tuesday.
Something I didn't expect from this author, a good story with modern clues. This story could be placed at almost any timeline.
Read my review here: http://jazzuloo.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
Read this in an American lit class in college and loved it.
I cannot count the number of times I've read this novel, the first being my summer between high school and college. I'm partial to African-American literature with a focus on The Great Migration and/or works during the Harlem Renaissance. As a mostly life-long Southerner, I'm intrigued by the action of families seeking refuge in the North -- only to find refuge may not exist. This story is in the same family of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and one of my favorite short stories, "Cordelia the Cru...more
1902. Great book. Very plot-driven and gut-wrenching. A black family with a simple life in the South is shattered when the father is framed for a crime. Not even really framed, just blamed and convicted on absolutely no evidence. His family finds themselves unable to get work and move to New York City where they fare no better. The odds were stacked against them at every turn. A well-written book about the ugly truths of racism at the turn of the century.
I liked this a lot better than any other literature that falls under the category of "naturalism." It was actually affecting. Characters in Dreiser or Crane always seem dumb and whiny to me, and it's a lot easier for me to empathize with African Americans at the turn of the century, who, as Dunbar illustrates, could be physically free or spiritually free but not both. Plus, Dunbar wrote this in a month. Pretty impressive.
A fairly depressing novel about a Southern, black family that moves to New York City in the early 1900s. I read it quickly, however, and found the story engaging.
This book is a very good book for all African American to read. I mean, it is so good and it has you on the edge of you set throughout the entire book.
I really didn't like this book. I kept reading it only to find out what happened to Barry Hamilton.
I really didn't get how the title related to the story.
Read this in English 43 taught by Professor Bill Cook.
1st migration protest novel of the Harlem Renaissance
Worth reading, but really quite depressing.
May 19, 2013
Meredith
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Kari Dunmars
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Arlene Walker
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2013
Blair Danielslll
marked it as to-read
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Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life, one poem in the collection Ode to Ethiopia. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Paul Laurence Dunbar on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who...more
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Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who...more
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“What Joe Hamilton lacked more than anything else in the world was some one to kick him. Many a man who might have lived decently and become a fairly respectable citizen has gone to the dogs for the want of some one to administer a good resounding kick at the right time. It is corrective and clarifying.”
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