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6th out of 39 books
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Another Country
Set in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France, among other locales, Another Country is a novel of passions--sexual, racial, political, artistic--that is stunning for its emotional intensity and haunting sensuality, depicting men and women, blacks and whites, stripped of their masks of gender and race by love and hatred at the most elemental and sublime. In a small set of fr...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
December 1st 1992
by Vintage
(first published 1962)
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A relentless, searching, profound novel. Much is dated, but that's okay for readers such as I, with anthropological tendencies, i.e., old Times Square hustler argot, 50s slang -- but AC also fills in the gaps, it shows how thing were done then, the whites who went to (gasp!), private negro jazz improvs, 50s publishing circles, etc.
The structure as mentioned, is innovative: the loss of a person seen through a cast of characters who run the gamut; literarary, successful, unsuccessful,...more
The structure as mentioned, is innovative: the loss of a person seen through a cast of characters who run the gamut; literarary, successful, unsuccessful,...more
I don't even know where to begin with Another Country.....
This book showed me myself in ways I had never imagined a book could....I mean talk about intense, raw, truth, hurt, love, booze, swinging, and every other action that connects all human beings...
I am 21 years old, and to think that December 10th if this year will mark the 50th Anniversary of this book is mind-blowing to me.
I first have to start with Rufus Scott....I have never had a character in fictio...more
This book showed me myself in ways I had never imagined a book could....I mean talk about intense, raw, truth, hurt, love, booze, swinging, and every other action that connects all human beings...
I am 21 years old, and to think that December 10th if this year will mark the 50th Anniversary of this book is mind-blowing to me.
I first have to start with Rufus Scott....I have never had a character in fictio...more
This book embarrasses any number of writers who think themselves serious in matters of love, sex, poverty, art, or race--I'm not going to name names, but both sides of the Atlantic have in recent years given us writers who think that the upper-middle class satisfy all confrontations on these matters, whether as artist of subject matter. Baldwin possesses a degree of integrity that would be laughable were it not so grounded both in subject matter as well as quality of writing. In another's hand, ...more
Wow! This book reads like he did take ten years to write it. It is intense. Almost every time I finished one of the numbered sections I felt as if I had finished an entire book and I had that delightful feeling of 'But wait, there's more!' Personally I think _Another Country_ deserves a Nobel Prize in Literate. The intensity pretty much never lets up. It is definitely not a fluffy book there are no breaks. The characters always go "there". Baldwin is amazingly insightful about in...more
On the short list of best books I've ever read. I gulped it down in 3 days staying with my great-aunt in France, and the emotional intensity literally would not let me put it down. I found it difficult to analyze it on a thematic level, because the immediacy of the prose grips you with the sharp phenomenology of reality. The book feels more "true" to me than almost any I have read, not necessarily because of what happens, but because of how truthfully and clearly the experience of life...more
Another Country is a sometimes poignant, sometimes bleak exploration of love, friendship, sexuality and race. Set mainly in New York's Greenwich Village and Harlem, in the early 1960's Another Country follows the fortunes and destruction's of the friends of black Jazz musician Rufus Scott. The novel opens with the return of Rufus after several weeks absence, he is in a bad way, and we see through his flashbacks his relationship with a southern white woman and get a sense of what brings him...more
This is the best American novel I've read in years. Race, class, gender, and sexual orientation are examined through the prism of sexual politics among a group of writer/musician friends in Greenwich Village circa 1956 (I guessed the date based on an allusion to Doris Day's "Love Me Or Leave Me"). Everyone should read this book. As always happens in differing approaches to race/class relations, everyone is right in what they say, even when they contradict each other. There are no r...more
Here are thoughts I wrote down when I first read this:
"About 100 pages left on the James Baldwin.. all this reading about love and sex has got me in a damn weird mood. I'm thinking, first of all, that I have never connected with anyone in the way that he's describing..in the sense of feeling somebody's moods as they speak, or noting when atmosphere changes with a group of people. Or maybe I do, but the terms are so thoroughly modern that it's just incomparable."
...more
"About 100 pages left on the James Baldwin.. all this reading about love and sex has got me in a damn weird mood. I'm thinking, first of all, that I have never connected with anyone in the way that he's describing..in the sense of feeling somebody's moods as they speak, or noting when atmosphere changes with a group of people. Or maybe I do, but the terms are so thoroughly modern that it's just incomparable."
...more
I admire the ambition and courage of this book, published in 1962, although its flaws are large. Baldwin explores racial relations (black-white), bisexuality, infidelity, and the nature of love in this novel that takes place primarily in New York City in the early 1960s. Some passages are phenomenal--the homily by a preacher at one character's funeral; the climactic scene between one of the black protagonists and her white lover right near the end. However, the novel is stuffed with long, irrele...more
Funny this book - a battered 5 shillings Corgi edition (1964)- sat on my shelf without being read for 20 years until someone mentioned it in the pub recently as one of his favourite books so I dug it out. It was fantastic, a bit dated but with such power it had me gripped to the end.
Why does that happen? Books you know must be good need the nudge of some comment before you get round to reading them? Anyway if anyone need a nudge on this one they have it here.
Why does that happen? Books you know must be good need the nudge of some comment before you get round to reading them? Anyway if anyone need a nudge on this one they have it here.
So far-unbearably beautiful. and that stayed with me. I loved this book. It really had wonderful pieces of describing New York, people's emotions, people's inner terrors...really great book and sad. The "soundbite" about it is that it is about passions-that is for sure. There are lots of sex scenes in this book and the racial and sexual tensions really astonished me when I reminded myself that it was published in the early 1960s.
I also liked that it is set in Harlem, the upp...more
I also liked that it is set in Harlem, the upp...more
I had to read this book for a Contemporary American Literature class and was pleasantly surprised to find myself breezing throughn the 400-plus pages in this edition. This book follows a group of young New York residents through less than a year in their lives, a group made up of men and women, white and black, gay/ straight/bi, novelists and musicians and actors (oh my), and the tapestry woven is ragged at the egdes and wonderful. By inviting us into their thoughts and the struggle of daily liv...more
Of the four Baldwin novels I've read, this is so far my least favorite. I admit that the character's brutal flaws may have something to do with this, they were largely unlikeable. As does how disturbing I found Baldwin's bold and honest take of racial tension mixed up with gender and sexual tension was bold, honest, and disturbing. But also nagging at me is the feeling that his writing felt more difficult, like he wanted to make such a strong statement and these is so much to say and he wanted t...more
I love Baldwin's writing style, but this novel has been in my bathroom (read: "library") for months, and I'm only making progress a few pages at a time. An original paperback copy sat in my office for years before that. I was curious about a novel featuring mostly white characters--and it's very well-written, but I have had some trouble engaging over the long term.
ADDENDUM: I'm a softie. I'll just get that out. So I'm giving this book five stars although I suspect it...more
ADDENDUM: I'm a softie. I'll just get that out. So I'm giving this book five stars although I suspect it...more
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Wow. Just... wow. Kind of weird—my reaction is not declare Another Country a new favorite, I just didn't love it in that way. And yet, and yet, it penetrated deeply, perhaps more deeply than some books I do consider my favorite...
Perhaps this has to do with how perplexing Baldwin is as an author—it takes a while, almost too much effort to get into the story, and then suddenly, unexpectedly you're in an ever-tightening vice, not sure how the hell Baldwin got you there before you ev...more
Perhaps this has to do with how perplexing Baldwin is as an author—it takes a while, almost too much effort to get into the story, and then suddenly, unexpectedly you're in an ever-tightening vice, not sure how the hell Baldwin got you there before you ev...more
Again, Baldwin has written a brilliant, impassioned, philosophical and brutal novel of life stripped down to its harsh realities: race, gender, lust, sex, love. To begin with, Baldwin breaks all the rules by introducing the reader to Rufus, makes the reader care about him, and then kills Rufus off. The next 280 pages describe the aftermath of this loss in Rufus' circle of friends; but he's not the
center of the world, far from it, and other shattering and life-affirming events happen to th...more
center of the world, far from it, and other shattering and life-affirming events happen to th...more
this is not colson whitehead bathing himself in his own pretense, nor is it richard wright dealing only in concrete and dense surface tensions- this is james baldwin. one of the greatest philosopher-writers of all time. however, this novel was disappointing as a whole. what began as a seed of gritty, dark humanity and violence burgeoned and blossomed into aggravating mediocrity. i love so much of his other work, that this was a complete let down in its monotonous tone and pace. not on the top of...more
i hesitate to give this book 4 stars instead of 5. it certainly is a 5 star for content and social commentary, but there were times when the writing felt a little heavy or slow. and i hesitate to write that, because this is james baldwin, and he is a master. i assume that there were times when i was feeling distracted, or not really in the mood to read something so heavy, not really the fault of the writing but the reader. still it was tough for me, at times, to continue reading, so 4 stars....more
Most of my friends who also love Baldwin think this book is not structurally sound. Fine. But it has the most interesting women characters he ever wrote, and there are true, beautiful moments of dialogue that take care of its craft flaws. It depends on what kind of reader you are.
This book is so raw and passionate it makes you feel things you are scared to know exist inside of you. It gives such an amazing depiction of life, of love, and of society. It truly opens your eyes to the gross imperfections of all of the above, making them that much more alluring.
Profound and gripping. Truly, this now bears the mark of one of my favorites, as it left me thinking about my own life experiences after every sitting. In this book, Baldwin speaks so clearly and truthfully of the human experience. He addresses love, race, and the passion and pain of attempting to avoid and fulfill your life's calling in such a way that it resonates 50 years after it was written. I've heard some say that this book has a more disjointed quality than his other work, and I agree. H...more
According to this writer, "[James:] Baldwin considered race America’s poison pill. And he deftly portrayed Americans of all colors struggling to concoct their own individual antidotes—solutions that are temporary at best and always crazy-making because, at root, the problem is structural not individual." Uh, yep.
His books fuck me up pretty badly. Another Country had me reeling for weeks. I'm probably repeating years-old book reviews in saying so (and I'm sure the impact...more
His books fuck me up pretty badly. Another Country had me reeling for weeks. I'm probably repeating years-old book reviews in saying so (and I'm sure the impact...more
If read as a chronicle of the times, "Another Country" is a fascinating look at the conflicts of all eras: gay/straight, male/female, black/white. Maybe a bit short on plot, (but that's never been key to Baldwin), the book covers a wide spectrum of angst that readers in any time period can relate to. Some of the dialog dates the work, yet it remains as a strong and powerful comment on all the baggage that comes along with being human. Although it was quite "shocking" at the t...more
While many people use the word "dated" to describe Another Country, I feel that is not the correct way to describe this book. Another Country is a book about a very specific time in American culture, and while of course many references will be lost on contemporary readers, the issues at heart are timeless. Even more so, by making the temporal setting such an integral aspect of the book, it shows that even though this book is set almost 60 years ago, we are still dealing with the same i...more
Though first published in 1962 and considered a classic, Another Country is a page-turner. It’s set mostly in beat Greenwich Village, when “cat,” “pad,” “dig,” and “baby” were part of the parlance, and the bench sitters in Washington Square Park read Kierkegaard. Rents were cheap, struggling novelists and poets abounded (success was considered a betrayal), and people smoked and drank all the time. This novel must have been a groundbreaking work in its day and probably shocked a lot of people ...more
This book was pretty depressing. Race relations, Sexual repression, gender issues, pretty much all of these things lead to sadness. Oh and don't forget heartbreak, unhealthy relationships, alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.
Really well written, beautiful passages. It had the ability to pull me in, it just was not a ray of light and happiness (I guess most writing isn't is it?.)
What did I pull away from the book? Life sucks, everyone is oppressed, depressed. Life will ev...more
Really well written, beautiful passages. It had the ability to pull me in, it just was not a ray of light and happiness (I guess most writing isn't is it?.)
What did I pull away from the book? Life sucks, everyone is oppressed, depressed. Life will ev...more
New York in the early 70s. Jazz. Drugs. Interracial sex. Gay sex. Falling from grace. Outstanding prose. It's sexy and probably one of the best books I have ever read.
With decades of dedicated effort in developing my craft, along with 99 percent more talent than the gods and genes and circumstances saw fit to bestow, perhaps I could theoretically write something like The Corrections or A Gate at the Stairs. But I am completely certain that even altering all those variables, I could never produce something as bracingly alive as this. I have no idea (and won't until immediately after hitting "save" on this review) what others think of this; whethe...more
"There was a high, driving wind which brightened the eyes and the faces of the people and forced their lips slightly apart, so that they all seemed to be carrying, to some immense encounter, the bright, fragile bubble of a lifetime of expectation."
This book took me totally by surprise - I'd never really heard of James Baldwin, but I trust Karen's recommendations. He really understands why people do the things they do, including all these complexities around race and privile...more
This book took me totally by surprise - I'd never really heard of James Baldwin, but I trust Karen's recommendations. He really understands why people do the things they do, including all these complexities around race and privile...more
While this novel does not entirely succeed in all that it attempts to cover, it is a remarkable achievement nonetheless. Its themes of love, guilt, racism, redemption, and despair are interestingly, and sometimes innovatively, portrayed. One of the novel's weaknesses is its characters' excessive self-talk, sometimes in such theoretical terms that it seems to be absurb that this could reflect the daily thoughts of any person. But the sense of isolation and fear that modern society can create a...more
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James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Baldwin became a preacher at the small Fireside Pentecostal Church in Harlem. In the...more
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James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Baldwin became a preacher at the small Fireside Pentecostal Church in Harlem. In the...more
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“People don't have any mercy. They tear you limb from limb, in the name of love. Then, when you're dead, when they've killed you by what they made you go through, they say you didn't have any character. They weep big, bitter tears - not for you. For themselves, because they've lost their toy.”
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