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If Beale Street Could Talk
7 hours and 7 minutes
In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.
In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.
7 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
James Baldwin
390 books17k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Works of American writer James Arthur Baldwin, outspoken critic of racism, include Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), a novel, and Notes of a Native Son (1955), a collection of essays.
James Arthur Baldwin authored plays and poems in society.
He came as the eldest of nine children; his stepfather served as a minister. At 14 years of age in 1938, Baldwin preached at the small fireside Pentecostal church in Harlem. From religion in the early 1940s, he transferred his faith to literature with the still evident impassioned cadences of black churches. From 1948, Baldwin made his home primarily in the south of France but often returned to the United States of America to lecture or to teach.
In his Giovanni's Room, a white American expatriate must come to terms with his homosexuality. In 1957, he began spending half of each year in city of New York.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and 1960s.
He first partially autobiographically accounted his youth. His influential Nobody Knows My Name and The Fire Next Time informed a large white audience. Another Country talks about gay sexual tensions among intellectuals of New York. Segments of the black nationalist community savaged his gay themes. Eldridge Cleaver of the Black Panthers stated the Baldwin displayed an "agonizing, total hatred of blacks." People produced Blues for Mister Charlie , play of Baldwin, in 1964. Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, defended Baldwin.
Going to Meet the Man and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone provided powerful descriptions. He as an openly gay man increasingly in condemned discrimination against lesbian persons.
From stomach cancer, Baldwin died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. People buried his body at the Ferncliff cemetery in Hartsdale near city of New York.
Works of American writer James Arthur Baldwin, outspoken critic of racism, include Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), a novel, and Notes of a Native Son (1955), a collection of essays.
James Arthur Baldwin authored plays and poems in society.
He came as the eldest of nine children; his stepfather served as a minister. At 14 years of age in 1938, Baldwin preached at the small fireside Pentecostal church in Harlem. From religion in the early 1940s, he transferred his faith to literature with the still evident impassioned cadences of black churches. From 1948, Baldwin made his home primarily in the south of France but often returned to the United States of America to lecture or to teach.
In his Giovanni's Room, a white American expatriate must come to terms with his homosexuality. In 1957, he began spending half of each year in city of New York.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and 1960s.
He first partially autobiographically accounted his youth. His influential Nobody Knows My Name and The Fire Next Time informed a large white audience. Another Country talks about gay sexual tensions among intellectuals of New York. Segments of the black nationalist community savaged his gay themes. Eldridge Cleaver of the Black Panthers stated the Baldwin displayed an "agonizing, total hatred of blacks." People produced Blues for Mister Charlie , play of Baldwin, in 1964. Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, defended Baldwin.
Going to Meet the Man and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone provided powerful descriptions. He as an openly gay man increasingly in condemned discrimination against lesbian persons.
From stomach cancer, Baldwin died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. People buried his body at the Ferncliff cemetery in Hartsdale near city of New York.
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August 16, 2019
”I thought of Fonny’s touch, of Fonny, in my arms, his breath, his touch, his odor, his weight, that terrible and beautiful presence riding into me and his breath being snarled, as if by a golden thread, deeper and deeper in his throat as he rode--as he rode deeper and deeper not so much into me as into a kingdom which lay just behind his eyes. He worked on wood that way. He worked on stone that way. If I had never seen him work, I might never have known he loved me.
It’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you.”
Stephen James and Kiki Layne star in the 2018 film that was released on December 25th.
Fonny and Tish have known each other nearly their entire lives. Sometimes relationships like this evolve into being friends or at least acquaintances for life. Sometimes they become lovers, and when lightning strikes the same place twice, they become lovers and best friends.
Lightning struck twice.
This is a tale of two families. Tish’s family is not only supportive of the relationship but go so far as to consider Fonny part of their family. As Tish and Fonny are caught up in the whirlwind of 1970s racist New York, the support of Tish’s family is the only thing standing between Fonny spending a good part of his life in jail and Tish having to work the streets to make enough money to afford a lawyer for his defense.
Fonny’s family is a different story. His mother has never thought highly of him or his prospects. She is a religious nut who, in her fervor for her God, has lifted herself up above the rest of humanity. From this perch, she can cast judgments down on those around her, especially those not heeding the call of the church. She would be a better Christian if she were casting bread instead of casting aspersions. Fonny’s two older sisters, taking their cues from their mother, are dismissive of their little brother as well and find it embarrassing, rather than tragic, that he has been arrested. They are sure he is guilty because they have found him guilty his whole life.
Fonny’s father is an interesting character. He is a man who loves his family, but he knows that Fonny needs his love more than the rest. Tish’s father, Joseph, is always bucking Frank up, giving him hope.
”’Look. I know what you’re saying. You’re saying they got us by the balls. Okay. But that’s our flesh and blood, baby: our flesh and blood. I don’t know how we going to do it. I just know we have to do it. I know you ain’t scared for you., and God knows I ain’t scared for me. That boy is got to come out of there. That’s all. And we got to get him out. That’s all. And the first thing we got to do, man, is just not to lose our nerve. We can’t let those cunt-faced, white-assed motherfuckers get away with this shit any longer.’ He subsides, he sips his beer. ‘They been killing our children long enough.’”
James Baldwin was proclaiming that #blacklivesmatter from the beginning of his existence as a writer.
Being a young, virile, prideful, black man in the 1970s was a dangerous thing to be. Fonny, by breathing the same air and walking the same streets as the predominantly white police force, has committed a crime. Yes, he has committed a crime by existing. When he comes to the attention of one particular cop, it is only a matter of time before he is put in the frame for something. This cop has an interest in Fonny that is akin to sexual desire. He pursues him like a spurned lover pursues the person of their affection. He is the head of the hammer of white fear.
”He walked the way John Wayne walks, striding out to clean up the universe, and he believed all that shit: a wicked, stupid, infantile motherfucker. Like his heroes, he was kind of a pinheaded, heavy gutted, big assed, and his eyes were as blank as George Washington’s eyes. But I was beginning to learn something about the blankness of eyes. What I was learning was beginning to frighten me to death. If you look steadily into that unblinking blue, into that pinpoint at the center of the eye, you discover a bottomless cruelty, a viciousness cold and icy. In that eye, you do not exist: if you are lucky”
The problem is that Fonny is at the pinpoint of that blue eye.
This is a book about injustice, about family sticking together, about community, and it is about love, real love, soul trembling love. It is the type of love that, when your lover walks in the room, you feel your insides turn to Champagne with frenzied bubbles and a cork in your throat trembling to hold it all in.
One thing I’ve learned about life is those that have the least to give, give the most.
Two Bards hanging out together. The conversation they would have had over a bottle of wine.
James Baldwin moved to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France in 1970. This book was published in 1974. Even though he was an American in exile, America came to him. Miles Davis, Josephine Baker, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles, and many more made pilgrimages to see him. He spent most of his days writing and responding to correspondence from all over the world. He changed lives with his gift of hope and his honesty about what was really happening to Black America. Every time I read one of his books, I am struck by the power of his prose and the passion of his anger. He was determined to drag America, kicking and screaming, under a soul revealing, bright light so the demons of inequality, racism, and hatred have a chance to be exorcised.
f you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
It’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you.”
Stephen James and Kiki Layne star in the 2018 film that was released on December 25th.
Fonny and Tish have known each other nearly their entire lives. Sometimes relationships like this evolve into being friends or at least acquaintances for life. Sometimes they become lovers, and when lightning strikes the same place twice, they become lovers and best friends.
Lightning struck twice.
This is a tale of two families. Tish’s family is not only supportive of the relationship but go so far as to consider Fonny part of their family. As Tish and Fonny are caught up in the whirlwind of 1970s racist New York, the support of Tish’s family is the only thing standing between Fonny spending a good part of his life in jail and Tish having to work the streets to make enough money to afford a lawyer for his defense.
Fonny’s family is a different story. His mother has never thought highly of him or his prospects. She is a religious nut who, in her fervor for her God, has lifted herself up above the rest of humanity. From this perch, she can cast judgments down on those around her, especially those not heeding the call of the church. She would be a better Christian if she were casting bread instead of casting aspersions. Fonny’s two older sisters, taking their cues from their mother, are dismissive of their little brother as well and find it embarrassing, rather than tragic, that he has been arrested. They are sure he is guilty because they have found him guilty his whole life.
Fonny’s father is an interesting character. He is a man who loves his family, but he knows that Fonny needs his love more than the rest. Tish’s father, Joseph, is always bucking Frank up, giving him hope.
”’Look. I know what you’re saying. You’re saying they got us by the balls. Okay. But that’s our flesh and blood, baby: our flesh and blood. I don’t know how we going to do it. I just know we have to do it. I know you ain’t scared for you., and God knows I ain’t scared for me. That boy is got to come out of there. That’s all. And we got to get him out. That’s all. And the first thing we got to do, man, is just not to lose our nerve. We can’t let those cunt-faced, white-assed motherfuckers get away with this shit any longer.’ He subsides, he sips his beer. ‘They been killing our children long enough.’”
James Baldwin was proclaiming that #blacklivesmatter from the beginning of his existence as a writer.
Being a young, virile, prideful, black man in the 1970s was a dangerous thing to be. Fonny, by breathing the same air and walking the same streets as the predominantly white police force, has committed a crime. Yes, he has committed a crime by existing. When he comes to the attention of one particular cop, it is only a matter of time before he is put in the frame for something. This cop has an interest in Fonny that is akin to sexual desire. He pursues him like a spurned lover pursues the person of their affection. He is the head of the hammer of white fear.
”He walked the way John Wayne walks, striding out to clean up the universe, and he believed all that shit: a wicked, stupid, infantile motherfucker. Like his heroes, he was kind of a pinheaded, heavy gutted, big assed, and his eyes were as blank as George Washington’s eyes. But I was beginning to learn something about the blankness of eyes. What I was learning was beginning to frighten me to death. If you look steadily into that unblinking blue, into that pinpoint at the center of the eye, you discover a bottomless cruelty, a viciousness cold and icy. In that eye, you do not exist: if you are lucky”
The problem is that Fonny is at the pinpoint of that blue eye.
This is a book about injustice, about family sticking together, about community, and it is about love, real love, soul trembling love. It is the type of love that, when your lover walks in the room, you feel your insides turn to Champagne with frenzied bubbles and a cork in your throat trembling to hold it all in.
One thing I’ve learned about life is those that have the least to give, give the most.
Two Bards hanging out together. The conversation they would have had over a bottle of wine.
James Baldwin moved to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France in 1970. This book was published in 1974. Even though he was an American in exile, America came to him. Miles Davis, Josephine Baker, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles, and many more made pilgrimages to see him. He spent most of his days writing and responding to correspondence from all over the world. He changed lives with his gift of hope and his honesty about what was really happening to Black America. Every time I read one of his books, I am struck by the power of his prose and the passion of his anger. He was determined to drag America, kicking and screaming, under a soul revealing, bright light so the demons of inequality, racism, and hatred have a chance to be exorcised.
f you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
March 9, 2019
4.5 stars
"It’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you."
You might call this a love story, and you would be right. But this is a love story à la James Baldwin. And if you have read James Baldwin, then you will understand that this is a love story full of passion, yes, but also charged with torment, beauty, and truth. It is real love with no embellishment. It is wholly and incredibly believable. And it's also more than just a love story.
Fonny Hunt and Tish Rivers, a young black couple living in Harlem during the early 1970s, grew up together and were friends first. Then they became lovers and pledged to marry one another. Their love is pure. I, for one, was quite moved. "I guess it can’t be too often that two people can laugh and make love, too, make love because they are laughing, laugh because they’re making love. The love and the laughter come from the same place: but not many people go there."
When Fonny is falsely accused of rape by a hate-mongering white cop and thrown into jail, we quickly come to see the picture Baldwin was painting for us – that of a racist New York City where the color of your skin could be crime enough to convict an innocent man of wrongdoing. Through his characters, we feel the author’s rage at the considerable injustices of this system, of this time in America – and rightly so. Fonny is one of the more ‘fortunate’ ones though. He has a support system in Tish and her family. Not every young black man had such sustenance. There’s a tragic story of another man, Fonny’s childhood friend Daniel, which illustrates another all-too real glimpse at the cruel offense of bigotry and the lasting effects of a brutal incarceration within the American prison system.
Tish’s parents, Sharon and Joseph, and sister, Ernestine, rally along with Tish to fight for Fonny’s freedom. Actually, what is quite gripping in this novel, too, is the family dynamics of both Tish’s and Fonny’s families. Fonny’s mother is a self-righteous ‘Christian’ that lords her beliefs over others and looks with contempt on anyone that does not follow suit. "It was like there was nothing, nothing, nothing you could ever hope to say to her unless you wanted to pass through the hands of the living God: and He would check it out with her before He answered you." Her daughters are much the same, while husband Frank, Fonny’s father, is adrift and angry and sometimes violent. However, unlike the rest of the Hunts, Frank loves his son unconditionally. The others exact a selfish price.
This novel has a feeling of urgency, despair and hope. It is written with the passion and rage from what I imagine to be the depths of Baldwin’s soul. He is unflinching in his intent to shed light on the mean injustices and rank corruption of an America that was yet to uphold the hard-fought rights of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s often quite harsh. Unnecessarily so? I really don’t think so. He understood and he was outraged. "… New York must be the ugliest and the dirtiest city in the world. It must have the ugliest buildings and the nastiest people. It’s got to have the worst cops. If any place is worse, it’s got to be so close to hell that you can smell the people frying. And, come to think of it, that’s exactly the smell of New York in the summertime."
Last summer I read Baldwin’s novel, Giovanni’s Room. It was my first encounter with his writing, and he immediately soared to my favorite author list based on that one book alone. The stunning prose left no doubt in my mind that I would read and love everything he had to offer. This book is much different from that one. The writing is unadorned, less lyrical. Yet, it is powerful and immediate and remarkable in its own way. It works, and I was once again impressed.
"Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind."
"It’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you."
You might call this a love story, and you would be right. But this is a love story à la James Baldwin. And if you have read James Baldwin, then you will understand that this is a love story full of passion, yes, but also charged with torment, beauty, and truth. It is real love with no embellishment. It is wholly and incredibly believable. And it's also more than just a love story.
Fonny Hunt and Tish Rivers, a young black couple living in Harlem during the early 1970s, grew up together and were friends first. Then they became lovers and pledged to marry one another. Their love is pure. I, for one, was quite moved. "I guess it can’t be too often that two people can laugh and make love, too, make love because they are laughing, laugh because they’re making love. The love and the laughter come from the same place: but not many people go there."
When Fonny is falsely accused of rape by a hate-mongering white cop and thrown into jail, we quickly come to see the picture Baldwin was painting for us – that of a racist New York City where the color of your skin could be crime enough to convict an innocent man of wrongdoing. Through his characters, we feel the author’s rage at the considerable injustices of this system, of this time in America – and rightly so. Fonny is one of the more ‘fortunate’ ones though. He has a support system in Tish and her family. Not every young black man had such sustenance. There’s a tragic story of another man, Fonny’s childhood friend Daniel, which illustrates another all-too real glimpse at the cruel offense of bigotry and the lasting effects of a brutal incarceration within the American prison system.
Tish’s parents, Sharon and Joseph, and sister, Ernestine, rally along with Tish to fight for Fonny’s freedom. Actually, what is quite gripping in this novel, too, is the family dynamics of both Tish’s and Fonny’s families. Fonny’s mother is a self-righteous ‘Christian’ that lords her beliefs over others and looks with contempt on anyone that does not follow suit. "It was like there was nothing, nothing, nothing you could ever hope to say to her unless you wanted to pass through the hands of the living God: and He would check it out with her before He answered you." Her daughters are much the same, while husband Frank, Fonny’s father, is adrift and angry and sometimes violent. However, unlike the rest of the Hunts, Frank loves his son unconditionally. The others exact a selfish price.
This novel has a feeling of urgency, despair and hope. It is written with the passion and rage from what I imagine to be the depths of Baldwin’s soul. He is unflinching in his intent to shed light on the mean injustices and rank corruption of an America that was yet to uphold the hard-fought rights of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s often quite harsh. Unnecessarily so? I really don’t think so. He understood and he was outraged. "… New York must be the ugliest and the dirtiest city in the world. It must have the ugliest buildings and the nastiest people. It’s got to have the worst cops. If any place is worse, it’s got to be so close to hell that you can smell the people frying. And, come to think of it, that’s exactly the smell of New York in the summertime."
Last summer I read Baldwin’s novel, Giovanni’s Room. It was my first encounter with his writing, and he immediately soared to my favorite author list based on that one book alone. The stunning prose left no doubt in my mind that I would read and love everything he had to offer. This book is much different from that one. The writing is unadorned, less lyrical. Yet, it is powerful and immediate and remarkable in its own way. It works, and I was once again impressed.
"Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind."
January 18, 2019
Fucking hell. Reeling. I can't wait to see what Barry Jenkins does with the film adaptation.
UPDATE (1/17/18)
I have finally seen the film adaptation! I went to a screening last Saturday with a friend. Here are some thoughts, which I shared in the comments section in response to Nicole:
I found the film adaptation to be just the kind of movie I would expect from Barry Jenkins, and yet not what I would have imagined as a film adaptation of this book. In my mind's eye, I saw something grittier, something heavier. Jenkin's adaptation isn't that – it is an incredibly striking film that is visually impeccable in a way that seems so intentional it's almost heavy-handed and too controlled. That said, it's a beautiful and devasting movie that appropriately (& tenderly) elevates the themes of black love (romantic and familial) found in the book, and juxtaposes it with the despair of Fonny's unjust incarceration. I especially loved the scene between Fonny & his friend Daniel. It was full of vulnerability between the two men, and a visceral foreshadowing of what was to come for Fonny.
A profile of Barry Jenkins that I like, an interview of Jenkins that I also liked & a review of the film that I appreciated .
UPDATE (1/17/18)
I have finally seen the film adaptation! I went to a screening last Saturday with a friend. Here are some thoughts, which I shared in the comments section in response to Nicole:
I found the film adaptation to be just the kind of movie I would expect from Barry Jenkins, and yet not what I would have imagined as a film adaptation of this book. In my mind's eye, I saw something grittier, something heavier. Jenkin's adaptation isn't that – it is an incredibly striking film that is visually impeccable in a way that seems so intentional it's almost heavy-handed and too controlled. That said, it's a beautiful and devasting movie that appropriately (& tenderly) elevates the themes of black love (romantic and familial) found in the book, and juxtaposes it with the despair of Fonny's unjust incarceration. I especially loved the scene between Fonny & his friend Daniel. It was full of vulnerability between the two men, and a visceral foreshadowing of what was to come for Fonny.
A profile of Barry Jenkins that I like, an interview of Jenkins that I also liked & a review of the film that I appreciated .
June 20, 2023
James Baldwin is, to me, an author who can do no wrong, except for this book which in many ways felt, was, and tended to be wrong.
Don't get ME wrong - the discussion of the horrors of the criminal justice system is excellent. One of the best I've ever read on the subject.
But nothing else - the family relationships, especially Fonny's family, the romance, the characters themselves - worked for me as well.
The women of Fonny's family and the sex scenes especially were nightmarish - there is a lot of misogyny in here!!! And to be honest, I'm not typically a reader who can't handle misogyny. But there was something disturbing about this.
Bottom line: Three stars for the justice system depiction alone! Everything else...shudder.
----------------
pre-review
not my favorite. but what is, really
review to come / 3 or 3.5 stars
----------------
tbr review
might mess around and read everything james baldwin has ever written
Don't get ME wrong - the discussion of the horrors of the criminal justice system is excellent. One of the best I've ever read on the subject.
But nothing else - the family relationships, especially Fonny's family, the romance, the characters themselves - worked for me as well.
The women of Fonny's family and the sex scenes especially were nightmarish - there is a lot of misogyny in here!!! And to be honest, I'm not typically a reader who can't handle misogyny. But there was something disturbing about this.
Bottom line: Three stars for the justice system depiction alone! Everything else...shudder.
----------------
pre-review
not my favorite. but what is, really
review to come / 3 or 3.5 stars
----------------
tbr review
might mess around and read everything james baldwin has ever written
April 27, 2023
REVISED Baldwin Beale Street Playlist
Beale Street Blues by Nat King Cole
This is Dedicated to the One I Love by The Shirelles
+Mary, Mary, What you going to name that pretty little baby? Sung by Black Nativity Original Cast
Troubled About My Soul by The Willing Four*
Reflections by The Supremes
Clementine by Pete Seeger*
People Call Me Jesus by Nadirah Shakoor*
His Name is Jesus by Rev Gerald Thompson*
(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet by The Reflections
+Uncloudy Day by The Staple Singers*
Alone In This City by Ray Charles
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King
Compared to What by Roberta Flack
My Man by Billie Holiday or Barbra Streisand
What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel by Paul Robeson*
When Your Lover Has Gone by Billie Holiday
Uncloudy Day by Willie Nelson (Written by Josiah K. Alwood. Alwood was an itinerant preacher)*
+My Lord and I by Luci Campbell*
We'll Walk Together by Dee Dee Sharp
My Gal by The Lovin' Spoonful
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
+Drowning in My Tears by Ray Charles
I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
Don't Answer The Door by B.B. King
Twilight Time by The Platters
Baby, I Love You by Aretha Franklin
Until My Change Comes by Mahalia Jackson
*Traditional gospel song
+Song taken from India Bhalla-Ladd's playlist
26 April 2023
=================================
Before I started reading James Baldwin's novel titled If Beale Street Could Talk I found it curious that the book was written about a Beale Street in New York City while the location of the movie was the Beale Street in New Orleans. A search for Beale Street in Google Maps revealed a dozen or more cities that have a Beale Street. All this piqued my interest in Baldwin's book and provided fodder for enthusiastic conversations with my wife.
Another web search revealed that Jelly Roll Morton had performed a song called Beale Street Blues about a Beale Street in Memphis. An additional web search revealed that Beale Street Blues was written by W.C. Handy and Handy referred to himself as the Father of the Blues.
The first recording of Beale Street Blues was made by Prince's Band, and it was released on May 24, 1917. (This, of course, wasn't the Prince you all know and love.)
According to BlackPast.org (Jul 12, 2018): "During the jazz age of the 1920s-1940s, musicians flocked to Memphis, and especially to Beale [Street]. B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Memphis Minnie, and Muddy Waters were just a few of the jazz and blues legends who helped create the style known as 'Memphis Blues', a style that was born on Beale Street."
In 1958, a movie titled St. Louis Blues was released. Nat King Cole sang and recorded Beale Street Blues for that movie. Cole's recording was released as a single, and it became a big hit. The book title of Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk was taken from the lyrics of the Beale Street Blues song. I think it's a safe assumption that James Baldwin was a fan of the Nat King Cole version of Beale Street Blues, and one can only guess if he was inspired by the St. Louis Blues movie.
Not long after I started reading, If Beale Street Could Talk, I read a sentence in the book that reminded me of The Reflections' song titled (Just like) Romeo and Juliet. Baldwin had written, "...they called us Romeo and Juliet, though this, was not because they'd read the play,..." Of course, I immediately thought, the neighborhood kids hadn't read the Shakespeare play, but they'd heard The Reflections sing, "Our love's gonna be written down in history, a-just like Romeo and Juliet."
A little bit later in the book, I noticed another reference to a song. This song was Ben E. King's Spanish Harlem. The text had been: "...'a rose in Spanish Harlem.' He grinned again. 'Next week, I'm going to get you a rose for'..."
I then got out a notepad and started a list, and every time I discovered a reference to a song in Baldwin's book, I wrote down the name of the song and artist that sang it. I eventually labeled the list, and I have duplicated the list below. (Many times, there was only one potential singer. Other times, I guessed the singer I thought Baldwin would have preferred. Naturally, I had to limit myself to performers that were alive when or before Baldwin was alive.)
James Baldwin's Beale Street Playlist
Beale Street Blues by Nat King Cole
(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet by The Reflections
Alone In This City by Ray Charles
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King
Compared to What by Roberta Flack
My Man by Billie Holiday or Barbra Streisand
What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel by Paul Robeson
When Your Lover Has Gone by Billie Holiday
Uncloudy Day by The Staple Singers (Written by Josiah K. Alwood. Alwood was an itinerant preacher)
We'll Walk Together by Dee Dee Sharp
My Gal by The Lovin' Spoonful
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
Don't Answer The Door by B.B. King
Twilight Time by The Platters
Baby, I Love You by Aretha Franklin
Until My Change Comes by Mahalia Jackson
I'm reasonably sure the above song list is correct or nearly correct. I'm also reasonably certain I probably missed two or three songs because on several occasions, I found what I thought was a song reference, but I couldn't determine what song it was referring to.
Has anyone else made a playlist based on the songs Baldwin referred to in If Beale Street Could Talk? If so, who? Did the other person's list match mine? (I was careful not to read other reviews during my song list search because I didn't want anyone to accuse me of cheating. However, my wife did do a web search, and she did find one song hint I had missed. But, in my humble opinion, I believe that the reviewer had incorrectly identified the song. It was a mistake I was happy to correct.)
I recommend people read Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk, because it's a great book. I also hope people will read or reread it in an effort to look for the songs referenced by Baldwin. I hope people can confirm my song list, add to my song list, or make corrections in my song list. Also, I hope someone can find the two or three songs I didn't find. (On several occasions, I found what I believed were song references, but I couldn't determine what songs were being referenced.)
If you're on "music.youtube.com", you can find me by searching for "Beale Street timothynull"; then scrolling down to the Playlists. You can then select my "Beale Street" playlist. It includes all the songs listed above.
Now, back to my book review, which so far hasn't really been much of a book review.
Before I started reading, If Beale Street Could Talk, I understood that Fonny was going to be in jail and Tish was going to be pregnant. I knew this because I had watched the first several scenes in the movie based on Baldwin's book. Yes, I only watched a few scenes of the movie because the portrayal of Mrs. Hunt was over the top and unwatchable.
(For the record: I'm a big Regina King fan. How about you? Regina King played Mrs. Rivers, not Mrs. Hunt.)
Because I knew Fonny was going to be in jail and Tish was going to be pregnant, I made a list of books I wanted to read after I read Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk. These books explore how excessive incarceration and anti-choice regulations work together to promote the subjugation of women and people of color.
Booklist:
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (Berengaria's review is already available)
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
American Prison by Shane Bauer
Invisible No More by Andrea S. Ritchie
Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin
Choice Words edited by Annie Finch
As usual, James Baldwin was at the forefront in recognizing the issues troubling our society. It's time for the rest of us to catch up with his vision.
I would summarize the theme of If Beale Street Could Talk by stealing some words from James Baldwin. That is, when it comes to racism and prejudice, we have "to face it, even taunt it, play with it, dare". Dare that we can conquer it.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
================================
"The righteous must be able to locate the damned." -- James Baldwin
Full review to follow. Probably on Monday.
Beale Street Blues by Nat King Cole
This is Dedicated to the One I Love by The Shirelles
+Mary, Mary, What you going to name that pretty little baby? Sung by Black Nativity Original Cast
Troubled About My Soul by The Willing Four*
Reflections by The Supremes
Clementine by Pete Seeger*
People Call Me Jesus by Nadirah Shakoor*
His Name is Jesus by Rev Gerald Thompson*
(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet by The Reflections
+Uncloudy Day by The Staple Singers*
Alone In This City by Ray Charles
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King
Compared to What by Roberta Flack
My Man by Billie Holiday or Barbra Streisand
What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel by Paul Robeson*
When Your Lover Has Gone by Billie Holiday
Uncloudy Day by Willie Nelson (Written by Josiah K. Alwood. Alwood was an itinerant preacher)*
+My Lord and I by Luci Campbell*
We'll Walk Together by Dee Dee Sharp
My Gal by The Lovin' Spoonful
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
+Drowning in My Tears by Ray Charles
I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
Don't Answer The Door by B.B. King
Twilight Time by The Platters
Baby, I Love You by Aretha Franklin
Until My Change Comes by Mahalia Jackson
*Traditional gospel song
+Song taken from India Bhalla-Ladd's playlist
26 April 2023
=================================
Before I started reading James Baldwin's novel titled If Beale Street Could Talk I found it curious that the book was written about a Beale Street in New York City while the location of the movie was the Beale Street in New Orleans. A search for Beale Street in Google Maps revealed a dozen or more cities that have a Beale Street. All this piqued my interest in Baldwin's book and provided fodder for enthusiastic conversations with my wife.
Another web search revealed that Jelly Roll Morton had performed a song called Beale Street Blues about a Beale Street in Memphis. An additional web search revealed that Beale Street Blues was written by W.C. Handy and Handy referred to himself as the Father of the Blues.
The first recording of Beale Street Blues was made by Prince's Band, and it was released on May 24, 1917. (This, of course, wasn't the Prince you all know and love.)
According to BlackPast.org (Jul 12, 2018): "During the jazz age of the 1920s-1940s, musicians flocked to Memphis, and especially to Beale [Street]. B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Memphis Minnie, and Muddy Waters were just a few of the jazz and blues legends who helped create the style known as 'Memphis Blues', a style that was born on Beale Street."
In 1958, a movie titled St. Louis Blues was released. Nat King Cole sang and recorded Beale Street Blues for that movie. Cole's recording was released as a single, and it became a big hit. The book title of Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk was taken from the lyrics of the Beale Street Blues song. I think it's a safe assumption that James Baldwin was a fan of the Nat King Cole version of Beale Street Blues, and one can only guess if he was inspired by the St. Louis Blues movie.
Not long after I started reading, If Beale Street Could Talk, I read a sentence in the book that reminded me of The Reflections' song titled (Just like) Romeo and Juliet. Baldwin had written, "...they called us Romeo and Juliet, though this, was not because they'd read the play,..." Of course, I immediately thought, the neighborhood kids hadn't read the Shakespeare play, but they'd heard The Reflections sing, "Our love's gonna be written down in history, a-just like Romeo and Juliet."
A little bit later in the book, I noticed another reference to a song. This song was Ben E. King's Spanish Harlem. The text had been: "...'a rose in Spanish Harlem.' He grinned again. 'Next week, I'm going to get you a rose for'..."
I then got out a notepad and started a list, and every time I discovered a reference to a song in Baldwin's book, I wrote down the name of the song and artist that sang it. I eventually labeled the list, and I have duplicated the list below. (Many times, there was only one potential singer. Other times, I guessed the singer I thought Baldwin would have preferred. Naturally, I had to limit myself to performers that were alive when or before Baldwin was alive.)
James Baldwin's Beale Street Playlist
Beale Street Blues by Nat King Cole
(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet by The Reflections
Alone In This City by Ray Charles
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King
Compared to What by Roberta Flack
My Man by Billie Holiday or Barbra Streisand
What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel by Paul Robeson
When Your Lover Has Gone by Billie Holiday
Uncloudy Day by The Staple Singers (Written by Josiah K. Alwood. Alwood was an itinerant preacher)
We'll Walk Together by Dee Dee Sharp
My Gal by The Lovin' Spoonful
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
Don't Answer The Door by B.B. King
Twilight Time by The Platters
Baby, I Love You by Aretha Franklin
Until My Change Comes by Mahalia Jackson
I'm reasonably sure the above song list is correct or nearly correct. I'm also reasonably certain I probably missed two or three songs because on several occasions, I found what I thought was a song reference, but I couldn't determine what song it was referring to.
Has anyone else made a playlist based on the songs Baldwin referred to in If Beale Street Could Talk? If so, who? Did the other person's list match mine? (I was careful not to read other reviews during my song list search because I didn't want anyone to accuse me of cheating. However, my wife did do a web search, and she did find one song hint I had missed. But, in my humble opinion, I believe that the reviewer had incorrectly identified the song. It was a mistake I was happy to correct.)
I recommend people read Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk, because it's a great book. I also hope people will read or reread it in an effort to look for the songs referenced by Baldwin. I hope people can confirm my song list, add to my song list, or make corrections in my song list. Also, I hope someone can find the two or three songs I didn't find. (On several occasions, I found what I believed were song references, but I couldn't determine what songs were being referenced.)
If you're on "music.youtube.com", you can find me by searching for "Beale Street timothynull"; then scrolling down to the Playlists. You can then select my "Beale Street" playlist. It includes all the songs listed above.
Now, back to my book review, which so far hasn't really been much of a book review.
Before I started reading, If Beale Street Could Talk, I understood that Fonny was going to be in jail and Tish was going to be pregnant. I knew this because I had watched the first several scenes in the movie based on Baldwin's book. Yes, I only watched a few scenes of the movie because the portrayal of Mrs. Hunt was over the top and unwatchable.
(For the record: I'm a big Regina King fan. How about you? Regina King played Mrs. Rivers, not Mrs. Hunt.)
Because I knew Fonny was going to be in jail and Tish was going to be pregnant, I made a list of books I wanted to read after I read Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk. These books explore how excessive incarceration and anti-choice regulations work together to promote the subjugation of women and people of color.
Booklist:
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (Berengaria's review is already available)
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
American Prison by Shane Bauer
Invisible No More by Andrea S. Ritchie
Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin
Choice Words edited by Annie Finch
As usual, James Baldwin was at the forefront in recognizing the issues troubling our society. It's time for the rest of us to catch up with his vision.
I would summarize the theme of If Beale Street Could Talk by stealing some words from James Baldwin. That is, when it comes to racism and prejudice, we have "to face it, even taunt it, play with it, dare". Dare that we can conquer it.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
================================
"The righteous must be able to locate the damned." -- James Baldwin
Full review to follow. Probably on Monday.
February 11, 2024
I love it when I get to stare at this blank page, where I’m supposed to put my thoughts into words, and all I can think to say is… wow!
This book is profound, heartbreaking, and masterfully told. James Baldwin writes in such a way that his stories and characters feel more real than fictional.
This book is profound, heartbreaking, and masterfully told. James Baldwin writes in such a way that his stories and characters feel more real than fictional.
May 24, 2023
Narrated mostly from 19 year old Tish's view, this contextually (written in the 1970s) stunning work tells the story of love in an arena of severe and overt social and racial injustice for Afro Americans in an urban America. Tish's sculptor lifelong friend and now boyfriend Fonny is brashly wrongly accused of a dark crime, and Tish and the families seek to do all they possibly can against the immovable force of corrupt racist individuals and institutions. As the blurb states the story of the rollercoaster of emotions and actions of the main couple, as well as some of the family's evokes a sense of the blues!
My first ever Baldwin read! I think I always avoided his work as I got the sense it was all misery drama, but I have cheated myself from a most glorious talent. Within a few pages I was completely embedded in the lives and world of Tish and Fonny; I now see how Baldwin's multi-layered and multifaceted renditions of the African-American condition are nothing but sublime, if this is an indication of the level of his work. The pain and trauma of Fonny's experience in the criminal (in)justice system is stark and brutal, but in Baldwin's words also staggering and courageous. A masterclass in writing, characterisation and story telling. A hard Four star, 9 out of 12.
2023 read
My first ever Baldwin read! I think I always avoided his work as I got the sense it was all misery drama, but I have cheated myself from a most glorious talent. Within a few pages I was completely embedded in the lives and world of Tish and Fonny; I now see how Baldwin's multi-layered and multifaceted renditions of the African-American condition are nothing but sublime, if this is an indication of the level of his work. The pain and trauma of Fonny's experience in the criminal (in)justice system is stark and brutal, but in Baldwin's words also staggering and courageous. A masterclass in writing, characterisation and story telling. A hard Four star, 9 out of 12.
2023 read
January 4, 2019
Last year I got up from the rock I was under and finally discovered the writing of James Baldwin. In one of my goodreads group, I read Giovanni’s Room with a few friends. The writing was outstanding and the ensuing discussion even better. We made plans to read another Baldwin novel in January and I was game. I suggested If Beale Street Could Talk based on the title, having no idea that the story was soon to be released as a movie. The title evokes images of a Memphis blues house and I envisioned luscious prose. While the plans for a buddy read fizzled out, I went ahead with sticking to my own reading plan, selecting If Beale Street Could Talk as my first novel of the year.
There are few American master storytellers I can return to again and again and not be disappointed. My two favorites are Steinbeck and McCullers, and Baldwin is slowly inching up the list, after only reading two novels. His prose is masterful and reels a reader in instantly, getting a feel for the time and place of the novel. Here we meet Tish Rivers. She is nineteen having come of age in 1970s New York, at a time when race politics were still fractious at best. Her parents Joseph and Sharon are in their early forties having had their children young and they would move water to support their two daughters. We find out that Tish is going to have the baby of her lifetime boyfriend and best friend, Fonny Hunt, only Fonny is imprisoned for being falsely accused of rape. The point of view is Tish’s and her sole goal is to get Fonny out of jail so that the couple can get married and raise their child together.
Baldwin introduces the Hunts and Rivers’ families, all representing a different archetype of African American life. Mrs Hunt is a holy rolling church lady and her obedient daughters copy her every move. Her husband Frank is as hard working as can be given the lack of opportunities for jobs for African Americans at the time, and it is obvious that the family is split down the middle between the men and women. Mrs Hunt has disapproved of Fonny from childhood, not loving him for who he is and desiring that he become a respectable church going man. Yet, all Fonny has ever desired is to spend his life with Tish and to use his hand to be a woodworker. Baldwin’s prose favors Fonny as an artist, a woodworker, but he has never been good enough for his mother, and now he is in jail, and his mother could not care less, leaving the Rivers family to prove his innocence on their own.
Tish has to be strong for Fonny, their baby, and herself. She has a strong support system in her parents and sister Ernestine, who are all as happy as can be for Tish to get married and start a family. We find out that Ernestine is a social worker and has connections in the white world, which will factor greatly in Fonny’s case. Procuring a respectable white lawyer as well as working for an actress who is sympathetic to their cause, it is Ernestine who shoulders most of Tish’s burden. Yet despite their being nine characters, the entire point of view is told through Tish. She alternates between her relationship with Fonny, then being completely in love and in tune with one another in body and soul, and the tense present time, where he is in jail and she spends every ounce of her being to get him out. At age nineteen, it is obvious that Baldwin has created a character in Tish who is wise beyond her years.
As expected, the prose of If Beale Street Could Talk does flow like Memphis jazz and blues, between the fractious moments with the Hunts to the crescendo of love between Fonny and Tish. The soundtrack I had playing in my mind would translate well to the big screen, and I look forward to seeing the film version. Some goodreads users downgraded the overall novel due to Baldwin’s inability to tie up loose ends. It seems, however, that this is Baldwin’s style, and, like improvised music, it is up to the reader to create an ending for themselves. Even though this is my first official read of the year, the memorable characters and prose that Baldwin has created will undoubtedly catapult If Beale Street Could Talk to among my year’s best. I expect to be revisiting his work again in years to come.
5 stars
There are few American master storytellers I can return to again and again and not be disappointed. My two favorites are Steinbeck and McCullers, and Baldwin is slowly inching up the list, after only reading two novels. His prose is masterful and reels a reader in instantly, getting a feel for the time and place of the novel. Here we meet Tish Rivers. She is nineteen having come of age in 1970s New York, at a time when race politics were still fractious at best. Her parents Joseph and Sharon are in their early forties having had their children young and they would move water to support their two daughters. We find out that Tish is going to have the baby of her lifetime boyfriend and best friend, Fonny Hunt, only Fonny is imprisoned for being falsely accused of rape. The point of view is Tish’s and her sole goal is to get Fonny out of jail so that the couple can get married and raise their child together.
Baldwin introduces the Hunts and Rivers’ families, all representing a different archetype of African American life. Mrs Hunt is a holy rolling church lady and her obedient daughters copy her every move. Her husband Frank is as hard working as can be given the lack of opportunities for jobs for African Americans at the time, and it is obvious that the family is split down the middle between the men and women. Mrs Hunt has disapproved of Fonny from childhood, not loving him for who he is and desiring that he become a respectable church going man. Yet, all Fonny has ever desired is to spend his life with Tish and to use his hand to be a woodworker. Baldwin’s prose favors Fonny as an artist, a woodworker, but he has never been good enough for his mother, and now he is in jail, and his mother could not care less, leaving the Rivers family to prove his innocence on their own.
Tish has to be strong for Fonny, their baby, and herself. She has a strong support system in her parents and sister Ernestine, who are all as happy as can be for Tish to get married and start a family. We find out that Ernestine is a social worker and has connections in the white world, which will factor greatly in Fonny’s case. Procuring a respectable white lawyer as well as working for an actress who is sympathetic to their cause, it is Ernestine who shoulders most of Tish’s burden. Yet despite their being nine characters, the entire point of view is told through Tish. She alternates between her relationship with Fonny, then being completely in love and in tune with one another in body and soul, and the tense present time, where he is in jail and she spends every ounce of her being to get him out. At age nineteen, it is obvious that Baldwin has created a character in Tish who is wise beyond her years.
As expected, the prose of If Beale Street Could Talk does flow like Memphis jazz and blues, between the fractious moments with the Hunts to the crescendo of love between Fonny and Tish. The soundtrack I had playing in my mind would translate well to the big screen, and I look forward to seeing the film version. Some goodreads users downgraded the overall novel due to Baldwin’s inability to tie up loose ends. It seems, however, that this is Baldwin’s style, and, like improvised music, it is up to the reader to create an ending for themselves. Even though this is my first official read of the year, the memorable characters and prose that Baldwin has created will undoubtedly catapult If Beale Street Could Talk to among my year’s best. I expect to be revisiting his work again in years to come.
5 stars
September 30, 2019
I’m disappointed to report If Beale Street Could Talk was just ok for me. I wasn’t blown away. Perhaps my expectations were too high after all of the hype surrounding the book but I have to say, I felt letdown.
New York City, 1970s: Fonny, a young African-American man, is accused of raping a woman, a crime he did not commit. While he’s in jail, his newly pregnant girlfriend, Tish, works diligently with her family and Fonny’s father, Frank, going to great lengths beyond their means to try to save Fonny from this fate.
I never felt invested in any of the characters - Yes, there was racial injustice and it wasn’t fair these two families had to endure this challenge, but it was hard for me to feel for them - I remained disconnected throughout the book. I also truly disliked the abrupt, unfinished ending. I’m fine with an ending that leaves some elements of a story open to interpretation - After all, life is rarely neat and tidy, but this one genuinely felt abandoned.
This isn’t a long book, though it took me days to get through. It’s clear James Baldwin is a talented writer, but for me, If Beale Street Could Talk is a three star read, and the third star is strictly for the quality of the writing. I do plan to watch the movie soon (the trailer is what initially peaked my interest in this story) and hope I will like it more than the book.
Update 9/29/19: Watched the movie and enjoyed it, at least more than the book. The actors/actresses were very good. I appreciated that the ending was a little more clear and less abrupt than in the book too.
New York City, 1970s: Fonny, a young African-American man, is accused of raping a woman, a crime he did not commit. While he’s in jail, his newly pregnant girlfriend, Tish, works diligently with her family and Fonny’s father, Frank, going to great lengths beyond their means to try to save Fonny from this fate.
I never felt invested in any of the characters - Yes, there was racial injustice and it wasn’t fair these two families had to endure this challenge, but it was hard for me to feel for them - I remained disconnected throughout the book. I also truly disliked the abrupt, unfinished ending. I’m fine with an ending that leaves some elements of a story open to interpretation - After all, life is rarely neat and tidy, but this one genuinely felt abandoned.
This isn’t a long book, though it took me days to get through. It’s clear James Baldwin is a talented writer, but for me, If Beale Street Could Talk is a three star read, and the third star is strictly for the quality of the writing. I do plan to watch the movie soon (the trailer is what initially peaked my interest in this story) and hope I will like it more than the book.
Update 9/29/19: Watched the movie and enjoyed it, at least more than the book. The actors/actresses were very good. I appreciated that the ending was a little more clear and less abrupt than in the book too.
May 10, 2020
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin is a an angry and sometimes brutal love story set in the Bronx, New York.
Tish is 19 and pregnant - her partner Fonny is a couple of years older and in prison, falsely accused of rape. Tish’s family are close and supportive. Fonny’s are stiff and judgemental.
Childhood friends, Tish and Fonny (Alonzo) have fallen in love and are building a life together. With meagre income and youthful naivety this is never going to be easy.
The situation they find themselves in after Fonny’s arrest seems almost impossible.
James Baldwin paints a bleak picture of racism and injustice - a cry against the establishment and attitudes of 1970’s America.
If Beale Steeet Could Talk is a short and powerful novel. The plot is simple and propulsive, the dialogue gritty and crackles on the page, and the images are graphic.
The story is full of sadness and searing emotion - it’s hard not to feel angry, as the odds are stacked against our star struck lovers from the start.
The only real criticism is that I wanted to spend longer with Tish and Fonny as they struggle on into the future.
As Joseph, Tish’s father says to them at one point:
‘Take care of each other ......... you are going to find out that it’s more than a notion’
Tish is 19 and pregnant - her partner Fonny is a couple of years older and in prison, falsely accused of rape. Tish’s family are close and supportive. Fonny’s are stiff and judgemental.
Childhood friends, Tish and Fonny (Alonzo) have fallen in love and are building a life together. With meagre income and youthful naivety this is never going to be easy.
The situation they find themselves in after Fonny’s arrest seems almost impossible.
James Baldwin paints a bleak picture of racism and injustice - a cry against the establishment and attitudes of 1970’s America.
If Beale Steeet Could Talk is a short and powerful novel. The plot is simple and propulsive, the dialogue gritty and crackles on the page, and the images are graphic.
The story is full of sadness and searing emotion - it’s hard not to feel angry, as the odds are stacked against our star struck lovers from the start.
The only real criticism is that I wanted to spend longer with Tish and Fonny as they struggle on into the future.
As Joseph, Tish’s father says to them at one point:
‘Take care of each other ......... you are going to find out that it’s more than a notion’
October 27, 2023
This coming-of-age novel is a mixed bag for me.
It's James Baldwin's writing, so I delighted, as always, in the crack and hum of his dynamic words, and the violence he strikes with his consciousness shattering one-liners.
It's an important book as well: a relatable story about systemic racism and the ripple effects of oppression, “a bottomless cruelty, a viciousness cold and icy.”
I wanted to love it, but, unfortunately, I wrestled with it instead, bothered from the first page to the last by Mr. Baldwin's inability to connect with his main character, Tish.
It seems atypical for an offering of his, to experience this disjointed connection. I felt that, no matter how hard he tried, Mr. Baldwin could not access Tish's Voice. A lot of the dialogue in this novel felt inauthentic to me, but I struggled most particularly with almost every sentence that came out of Tish's mouth (not to mention that she was simultaneously unformed, yet omniscient).
I did, however, find myself cheering on Tish's very believable mother, Sharon, who was definitely my favorite character, and I also found myself fascinated by the white attorney, Hayward, and his own personal journey down the rabbit hole of social injustice, but the story hinged on Tish's narration and I kept being pulled out of it by what felt like her reading off of cue cards.
I was also more than a little disturbed by the violence on women in this story, set in New York City, and the excuses that are made for the “comeuppance” of the women in the community—the multiple occurrences of women being slapped into compliance by the male characters and the mob mentality of women that Mr. Baldwin presents here, in the guise of excusing certain acts of violence on women because they were committed by other women. In short: being “bitch-slapped” by other “bitches.”
Let me clarify: I understand that Mr. Baldwin was mirroring, in his fictional story, a very real world of violence upon women that was alive and kicking in the early 1970s in this country, but I felt, also, that he was somewhat flippant in relating it.
I think it was disappointing for me to discover that even a man who was a minority in two significant ways would still feel very “male” in his depiction of women.
Also. . . grumble, grumble, grumble. . . did Mr. Baldwin even interview any women, to ask them what it was like, the first time they ever had sex? I'm a woman, and I've known a lot of women in this lifetime, and none of them have ever described to me that the first time they had sex, they grabbed the man's ass to drive him deeper into themselves and then climaxed after having their hymen broken. To be honest, from the stories I've either experienced or had shared with me, a woman is a lot more likely to cry when she loses her virginity, than to cry out in pleasure, and I knew a woman once who shared with me that she vomited afterward.
Again. . . it felt very “male” to me that a man should have such a perception of a woman's experience of having sex for the first time. The scene with the 18-year-old virgin, moaning and groaning and demanding more dick, turned me into a grouchy reader, quick.
It took some big balls to publish this story in 1974, especially so close on the heels of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but I still felt frustrated by what was standing in this story's way.
It's James Baldwin's writing, so I delighted, as always, in the crack and hum of his dynamic words, and the violence he strikes with his consciousness shattering one-liners.
It's an important book as well: a relatable story about systemic racism and the ripple effects of oppression, “a bottomless cruelty, a viciousness cold and icy.”
I wanted to love it, but, unfortunately, I wrestled with it instead, bothered from the first page to the last by Mr. Baldwin's inability to connect with his main character, Tish.
It seems atypical for an offering of his, to experience this disjointed connection. I felt that, no matter how hard he tried, Mr. Baldwin could not access Tish's Voice. A lot of the dialogue in this novel felt inauthentic to me, but I struggled most particularly with almost every sentence that came out of Tish's mouth (not to mention that she was simultaneously unformed, yet omniscient).
I did, however, find myself cheering on Tish's very believable mother, Sharon, who was definitely my favorite character, and I also found myself fascinated by the white attorney, Hayward, and his own personal journey down the rabbit hole of social injustice, but the story hinged on Tish's narration and I kept being pulled out of it by what felt like her reading off of cue cards.
I was also more than a little disturbed by the violence on women in this story, set in New York City, and the excuses that are made for the “comeuppance” of the women in the community—the multiple occurrences of women being slapped into compliance by the male characters and the mob mentality of women that Mr. Baldwin presents here, in the guise of excusing certain acts of violence on women because they were committed by other women. In short: being “bitch-slapped” by other “bitches.”
Let me clarify: I understand that Mr. Baldwin was mirroring, in his fictional story, a very real world of violence upon women that was alive and kicking in the early 1970s in this country, but I felt, also, that he was somewhat flippant in relating it.
I think it was disappointing for me to discover that even a man who was a minority in two significant ways would still feel very “male” in his depiction of women.
Also. . . grumble, grumble, grumble. . . did Mr. Baldwin even interview any women, to ask them what it was like, the first time they ever had sex? I'm a woman, and I've known a lot of women in this lifetime, and none of them have ever described to me that the first time they had sex, they grabbed the man's ass to drive him deeper into themselves and then climaxed after having their hymen broken. To be honest, from the stories I've either experienced or had shared with me, a woman is a lot more likely to cry when she loses her virginity, than to cry out in pleasure, and I knew a woman once who shared with me that she vomited afterward.
Again. . . it felt very “male” to me that a man should have such a perception of a woman's experience of having sex for the first time. The scene with the 18-year-old virgin, moaning and groaning and demanding more dick, turned me into a grouchy reader, quick.
It took some big balls to publish this story in 1974, especially so close on the heels of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but I still felt frustrated by what was standing in this story's way.
February 9, 2021
You have to brace yourself to read James Baldwin. And even then, even if you know he’s going to throw a punch at you, he’ll still knock you right off your feet.
Written and set in the 1970s, “If Beale Street Could Talk” might as well be set now, because this is the kind of story that we read about in the news all too often: and just as in real life, there is no perfect resolution to this tale of injustice, prejudice and broken homes.
Tish and Fonny have always loved each other, even when they were too young to know it. When they do finally realize it and begin to make plans for a life together, their dreams are dashed: a woman is raped by an black man, points to Fonny in a line up, and he is sent to jail. Tish and her family know that Fonny is innocent, but they have the testimony of a white cop against them, and then the accuser disappears…
Told in Tish’s voice, the story of how her and her family try to free Fonny is endlessly tragic, but also, somehow, a beautiful love story. Tish is strong and resilient, but also prudent. She is well-aware that the nightmare she is in is neither uncommon nor is it going away easily. Her family, a tight-knit group of imperfect but loving people who will try anything to help, is a stark contrast to Fonny’s, whose father is the only one who takes a part of fighting for the young man’s freedom – the very religious but heartless mother and sisters echoing Baldwin’s previous work, where characters are devoted to their Church but not to their family and community.
Baldwin’s prose, of course, is sharp like a scalpel and exposes the truths he saw and heard and that he desperately wanted other people to see and hear. He knew that his strongest weapon in a fight for justice was his story-telling. So he wrote about the lengths some people have to go in order to get the justice that others take for granted, that the cost is more than simply money, and that a rigged system doesn’t only hurt the person who is unfairly jailed, but all those who are near and dear to them.
This little novella packs quite a punch, and isn’t as far from us as the publication date might make it seem. My tiny review can’t do justice to this heartbreaking and important book.
Written and set in the 1970s, “If Beale Street Could Talk” might as well be set now, because this is the kind of story that we read about in the news all too often: and just as in real life, there is no perfect resolution to this tale of injustice, prejudice and broken homes.
Tish and Fonny have always loved each other, even when they were too young to know it. When they do finally realize it and begin to make plans for a life together, their dreams are dashed: a woman is raped by an black man, points to Fonny in a line up, and he is sent to jail. Tish and her family know that Fonny is innocent, but they have the testimony of a white cop against them, and then the accuser disappears…
Told in Tish’s voice, the story of how her and her family try to free Fonny is endlessly tragic, but also, somehow, a beautiful love story. Tish is strong and resilient, but also prudent. She is well-aware that the nightmare she is in is neither uncommon nor is it going away easily. Her family, a tight-knit group of imperfect but loving people who will try anything to help, is a stark contrast to Fonny’s, whose father is the only one who takes a part of fighting for the young man’s freedom – the very religious but heartless mother and sisters echoing Baldwin’s previous work, where characters are devoted to their Church but not to their family and community.
Baldwin’s prose, of course, is sharp like a scalpel and exposes the truths he saw and heard and that he desperately wanted other people to see and hear. He knew that his strongest weapon in a fight for justice was his story-telling. So he wrote about the lengths some people have to go in order to get the justice that others take for granted, that the cost is more than simply money, and that a rigged system doesn’t only hurt the person who is unfairly jailed, but all those who are near and dear to them.
This little novella packs quite a punch, and isn’t as far from us as the publication date might make it seem. My tiny review can’t do justice to this heartbreaking and important book.
October 13, 2025
"We were a part of each other, flesh of each other's flesh--which meant that we took each other for granted that we never thought of the flesh"
"He was a stranger to me, but joined".
"I had never seen the love and respect that men could have for each other"
"It can't be too often that two people can laugh and make love too...The love and the laughter come from the same space, but not many people go there."
"It's astounding the first time you realize that a stranger has a body, the realization that he has a body makes him a stranger; it means that you have a body too, You will live with this forever, and it will spell out the language of your life"
"A white man's eyes...it was not looking into a man's eyes, it was very powerful. It was seduction which contained the promise of rape. It was rape which promised debasement and revenge on both sides"- James Baldwin.
This may be one of James Baldwin's most powerful, and romantic books he has ever written. I've read so much of him that it is difficult to say which novel is the masterpiece- but the love story between pregnant Tish, and of her beloved Fonny will never leave you.
According to Jessica B. Harris, from her book “My Soul Looks Back” Baldwin wrote this novel as a fictionalized account of his friend Tony Maynard being wrongfully imprisoned for murder by way of his creating that glorious and melancholy hero, Fonny.
Fonny is in prison and accused of raping Mrs. Rivers, a Puerto Rican woman, who because of trauma, does not recognize the possibility that she may be sending an innocent black man to his death.
In spite of its bleak and downbeat story line, there are moments that Mr. Baldwin weaves his brand of romantic magic and longing into the pages of "If Beale Street Could Talk".
I reread this during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, and witnessing the murder of George Floyd.
Fonny's story is even more urgent because it's so relevant to our current moments of racial injustice and the unfair incarceration of young black men. And in our state of anxiety- I have realized that this book should be read urgently by anyone who wants to know more about to be an ally in understanding race in America.
The love story of star crossed lovers Tish and Fonny are still the center of this novel, but I overlooked parts of the the novel as a story of three men connected to one another; who are all unjustly treated by police and systemic racism: Fonny's the obvious character we read about, but his formerly incarcerated friend Daniel; and his own father, Frank- all become pawns in a society that treats them as if they weren't human. I found this trio of men to be the center of my attention now, as I reread this novel.
Also, there are moments in the book which are subversively pointing out the notion of Queer families, or "the other" choosing their own families for love and support, rather than their own: In the case of Fonny, he's with Tish's family the most, plus he has Daniel, and Pedrocito, a waiter.
I found the book to be more profound and wistful at the same time, for its written by an author who hoped for love to triumph over race- but is quickly grounded by the fact that our justice system is still incarcerating innocent black men simply because of their melanin.
But what still makes your heart soar and break with love at the same time is the family that Tish has, her support system. Her mother Sharon, a hero with quiet strength; her father Joseph, handsome, understanding, patient; and her persistent sister Ernestine keep love going.
As Sharon tells Tish to "trust love"- it is a line that I wish we all could just follow.
PS- I highly recommend Barry Jenkins' sensitive and faithful, moody atmospheric film version of this book. Not only does he allow us into the intimate world of Fonny and Tish's; it features some quietly powerful and unforgettable performances: Kiki Layne and Stephan James as Tish and Fonny, Brian Tyree Henry as Daniel; Colman Domingo as Joseph, and Regina King in her deserved Academy Award winning performance as Sharon is a wonderful adaptation and complements Baldwin’s masterpiece.
"He was a stranger to me, but joined".
"I had never seen the love and respect that men could have for each other"
"It can't be too often that two people can laugh and make love too...The love and the laughter come from the same space, but not many people go there."
"It's astounding the first time you realize that a stranger has a body, the realization that he has a body makes him a stranger; it means that you have a body too, You will live with this forever, and it will spell out the language of your life"
"A white man's eyes...it was not looking into a man's eyes, it was very powerful. It was seduction which contained the promise of rape. It was rape which promised debasement and revenge on both sides"- James Baldwin.
This may be one of James Baldwin's most powerful, and romantic books he has ever written. I've read so much of him that it is difficult to say which novel is the masterpiece- but the love story between pregnant Tish, and of her beloved Fonny will never leave you.
According to Jessica B. Harris, from her book “My Soul Looks Back” Baldwin wrote this novel as a fictionalized account of his friend Tony Maynard being wrongfully imprisoned for murder by way of his creating that glorious and melancholy hero, Fonny.
Fonny is in prison and accused of raping Mrs. Rivers, a Puerto Rican woman, who because of trauma, does not recognize the possibility that she may be sending an innocent black man to his death.
In spite of its bleak and downbeat story line, there are moments that Mr. Baldwin weaves his brand of romantic magic and longing into the pages of "If Beale Street Could Talk".
I reread this during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, and witnessing the murder of George Floyd.
Fonny's story is even more urgent because it's so relevant to our current moments of racial injustice and the unfair incarceration of young black men. And in our state of anxiety- I have realized that this book should be read urgently by anyone who wants to know more about to be an ally in understanding race in America.
The love story of star crossed lovers Tish and Fonny are still the center of this novel, but I overlooked parts of the the novel as a story of three men connected to one another; who are all unjustly treated by police and systemic racism: Fonny's the obvious character we read about, but his formerly incarcerated friend Daniel; and his own father, Frank- all become pawns in a society that treats them as if they weren't human. I found this trio of men to be the center of my attention now, as I reread this novel.
Also, there are moments in the book which are subversively pointing out the notion of Queer families, or "the other" choosing their own families for love and support, rather than their own: In the case of Fonny, he's with Tish's family the most, plus he has Daniel, and Pedrocito, a waiter.
I found the book to be more profound and wistful at the same time, for its written by an author who hoped for love to triumph over race- but is quickly grounded by the fact that our justice system is still incarcerating innocent black men simply because of their melanin.
But what still makes your heart soar and break with love at the same time is the family that Tish has, her support system. Her mother Sharon, a hero with quiet strength; her father Joseph, handsome, understanding, patient; and her persistent sister Ernestine keep love going.
As Sharon tells Tish to "trust love"- it is a line that I wish we all could just follow.
PS- I highly recommend Barry Jenkins' sensitive and faithful, moody atmospheric film version of this book. Not only does he allow us into the intimate world of Fonny and Tish's; it features some quietly powerful and unforgettable performances: Kiki Layne and Stephan James as Tish and Fonny, Brian Tyree Henry as Daniel; Colman Domingo as Joseph, and Regina King in her deserved Academy Award winning performance as Sharon is a wonderful adaptation and complements Baldwin’s masterpiece.
June 5, 2020
A lyrical, rapturous, beautifully written short novel about love in the face of brutal injustice.
Fonny and Tish are a young Black couple in early 1970s New York City. Fonny has been falsely accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman and is in prison; Tish, who narrates most of the book, is pregnant. Their families – especially Tish's – are working to get Fonny out of jail, but then, as now, the odds are stacked against a young Black man, especially when there's a racist cop looking to pin something on you.
This is the first Baldwin novel I've read, but it won't be my last. The prose is rich and soulful; my heart ached for this young couple just starting out in the world, and I especially loved being inside Tish's inquiring mind.
There's real pain and despair contained in the book; there's a section where Fonny and Tish meet up with Daniel, one of Fonny's old friends, and Daniel tells them what happened to him in prison (where he was sent after his own trumped-up charge). But there's just as much goodness. One sequence in which a young landlord agrees to rent a loft (Fonny is a sculptor) to the pair exudes warmth and affection. (He's Jewish; he knows they're in love and discriminated against.)
I sought out this book because I had seen Barry Jenkins's (Moonlight) film adaptation a few months ago (it gets a general release soon). I was curious about the rapturous, romantic tone of the movie. Why wasn't there more about the false charge? What happened to the racist cop?
I realize now, after having read the book, that those questions belong to another kind of movie, one we've all, sadly, seen before. This book is about hope, love, perseverance. It's about the endurance of the human spirit, if you will.
If our city streets could talk, would they howl in anger and pain? Would they accuse? Those streets soak up so much blood, they witness prejudice, veiled and unveiled threats. They feel the weight of Black bodies brutally pushed down on them, handcuffed, beaten, shot, killed.
The streets can't talk back. But they can witness. Baldwin, too, is a witness, and he's got one helluva powerful voice: urgent, necessary, passionate, forgiving.
Fonny and Tish are a young Black couple in early 1970s New York City. Fonny has been falsely accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman and is in prison; Tish, who narrates most of the book, is pregnant. Their families – especially Tish's – are working to get Fonny out of jail, but then, as now, the odds are stacked against a young Black man, especially when there's a racist cop looking to pin something on you.
This is the first Baldwin novel I've read, but it won't be my last. The prose is rich and soulful; my heart ached for this young couple just starting out in the world, and I especially loved being inside Tish's inquiring mind.
There's real pain and despair contained in the book; there's a section where Fonny and Tish meet up with Daniel, one of Fonny's old friends, and Daniel tells them what happened to him in prison (where he was sent after his own trumped-up charge). But there's just as much goodness. One sequence in which a young landlord agrees to rent a loft (Fonny is a sculptor) to the pair exudes warmth and affection. (He's Jewish; he knows they're in love and discriminated against.)
I sought out this book because I had seen Barry Jenkins's (Moonlight) film adaptation a few months ago (it gets a general release soon). I was curious about the rapturous, romantic tone of the movie. Why wasn't there more about the false charge? What happened to the racist cop?
I realize now, after having read the book, that those questions belong to another kind of movie, one we've all, sadly, seen before. This book is about hope, love, perseverance. It's about the endurance of the human spirit, if you will.
If our city streets could talk, would they howl in anger and pain? Would they accuse? Those streets soak up so much blood, they witness prejudice, veiled and unveiled threats. They feel the weight of Black bodies brutally pushed down on them, handcuffed, beaten, shot, killed.
The streets can't talk back. But they can witness. Baldwin, too, is a witness, and he's got one helluva powerful voice: urgent, necessary, passionate, forgiving.
Read
January 24, 2022I've never come across a Baldwin read I didn't love. Beale Street 'talked' something sexual and consciously charged. It is profound and suspenseful storytelling (I think I was on page 78 and still didn't know why Fonny was locked up, yet I went along patiently and willingly). This book is very different from the lyricism that is Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni's Room, but the love story and angst is Baldwinian. I don't think I've come across such a vivid portrait of the urban, African-American, blue-collar family struggle as I have here. At some point I read( I believe it was in one of Maya Angelou's memoirs), that Baldwin once found himself flat on his back, on a paved lot, at the command of a police officer - the rest is implicitly stated. In this novel, it's not so implicit. The language is at times brutal, the pain palpable. What I'll say is this: in these times, when the truth is too harsh, and when it sometimes manifests itself into hateful rhetoric, as it did with Fonny's father, this book may not be for everyone. Better yet, if Ellison's Invisible Man is not your cup of tea, most likely this wouldn't be. The novel ends in a commune in France and if you know Baldwin's life story, you know at some point he became so disheartened, he left America to live in France.
November 7, 2020
It's a lyrical voice that seems to have the power of penetrating even dreams...
The family unit is the strongest structure--it's refreshing to see the power of staying together, of belonging by blood. Remember "Raisin in the Sun"? It's power is as magnetic as this novel's. Which is all about the family, about rescuing members that are drowning.
&, of course, the enormous racism inherent in the U.S. "correction" system is seen at the forefront.
The family unit is the strongest structure--it's refreshing to see the power of staying together, of belonging by blood. Remember "Raisin in the Sun"? It's power is as magnetic as this novel's. Which is all about the family, about rescuing members that are drowning.
&, of course, the enormous racism inherent in the U.S. "correction" system is seen at the forefront.
August 27, 2020
Una preciosa historia de amor. Una dura crítica al racismo en EEUU.
Es un libro muy íntimo que narra el amor entre dos adolescentes que quieren ser adultos y que se aman desde que eran niños.
Baldwin arrasa con toda la maquinaria de su país: una justicia corrupta; una policía racista; una sociedad hipócrita. Muy poco se salva de su mordacidad.
No todo es malo. Hay personas buenas, muy buenas, que cuidan de los demás.
Es uno de estas novelas que, o te destroza o te hace más fuerte.
A beautiful love story. A harsh critique of racism in the US.
It is a very intimate book that narrates the love between two teenagers who want to be adults and who have loved each other since they were children.
Baldwin destroys all the machinery of his country: a corrupt justice; a racist police force; a hypocritical society. Very little is saved from his mordacity. Not everything is bad. There are good people, very good people, who take care of others.
It's one of those novels that either destroys you or makes you stronger.
Es un libro muy íntimo que narra el amor entre dos adolescentes que quieren ser adultos y que se aman desde que eran niños.
Baldwin arrasa con toda la maquinaria de su país: una justicia corrupta; una policía racista; una sociedad hipócrita. Muy poco se salva de su mordacidad.
No todo es malo. Hay personas buenas, muy buenas, que cuidan de los demás.
Es uno de estas novelas que, o te destroza o te hace más fuerte.
A beautiful love story. A harsh critique of racism in the US.
It is a very intimate book that narrates the love between two teenagers who want to be adults and who have loved each other since they were children.
Baldwin destroys all the machinery of his country: a corrupt justice; a racist police force; a hypocritical society. Very little is saved from his mordacity. Not everything is bad. There are good people, very good people, who take care of others.
It's one of those novels that either destroys you or makes you stronger.
May 12, 2019
A novel about racial injustice in New York in the 1970s. A young black man is arrested for a rape he didn't commit. I have to confess at one point I was hoping for the twist that he was guilty because that would have opened up a much broader canvas. But this is a novel of angels and demons and was never nuanced enough to truly engage me. I never got as angry as the author wanted me to get. And I'm someone who gets angry easily at social injustice and racism. Perhaps everyone in this book was too good to be true. And I didn't warm to the nondescript writing style. Probably might be more successful as a movie.
December 7, 2018
"Black love literally shouldn’t exist in America, in any form. Familial, heterosexual, trans, queer, community, etc. Everything was done to prevent it. It is the purest form and most glaring example in American History, to me, of resistance." - Reginald Cunningham from "Black Love is Revolutionary" via the Huffington Post (2017).
A classic novel that showcases two participants in this revolution, Tish & Fonny. Despite all of the odds, they stuck by each other and knew that their love, which developed from their youth, was worth fighting for.
A love story that is HILARIOUS, full of superb dialogue, and critiques of criminal justice in the US that could have been written in 2025 (no typo). A book that also lives up to its eponymous street through James Baldwin's effortlessly poetic prose, hard earned wisdom, and blues references to spare.
I look forward to this novel, that centered Black people and Blackness, as a movie. Barry Jenkins centered Black lives beautifully with his Academy Award winning Moonlight, and I look forward to him directing, what I hope will be, another Oscar winner.
A classic novel that showcases two participants in this revolution, Tish & Fonny. Despite all of the odds, they stuck by each other and knew that their love, which developed from their youth, was worth fighting for.
A love story that is HILARIOUS, full of superb dialogue, and critiques of criminal justice in the US that could have been written in 2025 (no typo). A book that also lives up to its eponymous street through James Baldwin's effortlessly poetic prose, hard earned wisdom, and blues references to spare.
I look forward to this novel, that centered Black people and Blackness, as a movie. Barry Jenkins centered Black lives beautifully with his Academy Award winning Moonlight, and I look forward to him directing, what I hope will be, another Oscar winner.
January 23, 2025
This is an intense family drama and straight romance that revolves around the love of two young people, her pregnancy, his incarceration in prison, and the sometimes “off the rails” family dynamics in an apartment in NYC.
The female lover, Trish, is the one telling the story.
This isn’t a fast moving book. It’s thick with relationship and language and interaction. Electricity happens when there are fierce and vicious arguments - the most volcanic one being a clash between the two lovers’ families - that blew apart my mind with its hatred and verbiage - and when the lovers explore sex with one another over several initial encounters.
This is a novel of explicitness but a novel it is, nothing less. People are trying to navigate life in conflict and sometimes in connection with each other. Baldwin must have poured himself and all his being into its writing. The raw wires of emotion are naked to the sky.
My audio book was powerfully read by a female - playing Trish - with a heavy “New Yoke” accent I finally got my head around.
Epic. Sometimes I wanted to say Shakespearean in theme and in how it sprawled over the stage of the novel. It’s also tragic 🎭
The female lover, Trish, is the one telling the story.
This isn’t a fast moving book. It’s thick with relationship and language and interaction. Electricity happens when there are fierce and vicious arguments - the most volcanic one being a clash between the two lovers’ families - that blew apart my mind with its hatred and verbiage - and when the lovers explore sex with one another over several initial encounters.
This is a novel of explicitness but a novel it is, nothing less. People are trying to navigate life in conflict and sometimes in connection with each other. Baldwin must have poured himself and all his being into its writing. The raw wires of emotion are naked to the sky.
My audio book was powerfully read by a female - playing Trish - with a heavy “New Yoke” accent I finally got my head around.
Epic. Sometimes I wanted to say Shakespearean in theme and in how it sprawled over the stage of the novel. It’s also tragic 🎭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2016
My first read by Baldwin & now I know the reason why he's a renowned great writer.
September 18, 2019
A sobering look at the injustice of racial profiling in New York in the 70’s, this shows the human side of a family uniting to prove one of their own innocent amongst all the odds stacked against them. The strength of their collective love to free an innocent man from life in jail really pulls at the heartstrings, it’s clear early on that hope is dim with the knowledge that it’s a one sided judicial system a system that is there to derail them. It’s sad and raw and it should make you angry, but also fill your cup of joy at the strength of love and the uniting bond to protect one of their own and how hope can make a difference, but sometimes even that’s not enough. I really enjoyed my second foray reading James Baldwin. I love the grit and power of his storytelling.
June 23, 2024
James Baldwin is a national treasure. I have only read a handful of his books, but every one I have read has been a journey of heart-felt emotion and a life-changing experience.
Baldwin, a civil rights activist, wrote primarily about the Black Experience, but in immersing one’s self in one of his books, one quickly realizes that the intersectionalities of a diversity of ethnicities, cultures, and experiences (Baldwin was also gay) made it clear that he was actually writing about the Human Experience.
“If Beale Street Could Talk”, written in 1974, is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, and I’m berating myself for not discovering it until now, at age 51. I feel like I’ve wasted most of my life by not having Baldwin, and this book, in my life. At the same time, I feel better for having finally discovered it. This is the “life-changing” aspect of the book.
At the heart of the story is a young black couple, Fonny and Tish. Fonny is in jail, awaiting trial for a crime he didn’t commit. Tish, still in her teens, is pregnant with Fonny’s baby. They had planned on getting married right before the alleged crime occurred. Now, Tish has to be strong, and she has never felt strong. Petite and timid, Tish has to find her voice, not just for herself but for the man she loves and for her unborn child. Thankfully, she has a family to support her. But families are fragile things.
To say that this book is a tearjerker is a given. It is more than that, though. There is not a single fake or manipulative emotion in this novel. It is as if Baldwin opened up a vein and bled his sorrow and grief and anger and frustration out upon the page. This is the “heart-felt” aspect of the book.
I daresay that this is, quite simply, one of the best novels I have ever read.
Baldwin, a civil rights activist, wrote primarily about the Black Experience, but in immersing one’s self in one of his books, one quickly realizes that the intersectionalities of a diversity of ethnicities, cultures, and experiences (Baldwin was also gay) made it clear that he was actually writing about the Human Experience.
“If Beale Street Could Talk”, written in 1974, is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, and I’m berating myself for not discovering it until now, at age 51. I feel like I’ve wasted most of my life by not having Baldwin, and this book, in my life. At the same time, I feel better for having finally discovered it. This is the “life-changing” aspect of the book.
At the heart of the story is a young black couple, Fonny and Tish. Fonny is in jail, awaiting trial for a crime he didn’t commit. Tish, still in her teens, is pregnant with Fonny’s baby. They had planned on getting married right before the alleged crime occurred. Now, Tish has to be strong, and she has never felt strong. Petite and timid, Tish has to find her voice, not just for herself but for the man she loves and for her unborn child. Thankfully, she has a family to support her. But families are fragile things.
To say that this book is a tearjerker is a given. It is more than that, though. There is not a single fake or manipulative emotion in this novel. It is as if Baldwin opened up a vein and bled his sorrow and grief and anger and frustration out upon the page. This is the “heart-felt” aspect of the book.
I daresay that this is, quite simply, one of the best novels I have ever read.
August 20, 2020
2,5*
Depois de ler um Penguin 60's com três contos, achei que James Baldwin me conquistara, mas essa proeza não se confirmou com nenhum dos seus romances, depois de ter largado “O Quarto de Giovanni” a meio e de ter terminado “Se Esta Rua Falasse” com um certo fastio.
Dizer que gosto dos protagonistas de Baldwin quando estão calados pode parecer abrasivo, uma ofensa gratuita, mas os momentos realmente bonitos deste livro são os de instrospecção, quando Fonny está transido de medo na sua cela, quando Tish está a sentir e pensar no bebé que tem dentro dela, quando a família Rivers está reunida em silêncio, a ouvir música. Quando estão a expressar-se, quando estão em diálogo ou em conflito, as personagens são histriónicas, parece que estão sempre aos gritos, a pregar a sua mensagem, a lançar a sua raiva e a sua revolta, totalmente justificada, aos sete ventos, o que em mim não surte nenhum outro efeito que não seja a irritação. Pode ser sinal da minha “fragilidade branca”, um termo muito em voga agora, mas faz-me confusão que haja um branco muito, muito mau, capaz de incriminar, violar, matar e um outro branco que, depois de muita desconfiança, até é um porreiraço; que haja as mulheres desprezíveis da família de Fonny, que são umas beatas insensíveis, e do outro lado, haja as mulheres formidáveis da família da Tish, em que a irmã é uma activista e a mãe é uma ex-cantora muito forte e determinada; que seja tudo, de facto, muito preto ou branco, sem tons de cinzento, como eu vejo a vida na realidade. Chegando por fim ao casalinho no centro deste drama, é Fonny o único que vejo como sendo de carne e osso, uma pessoa com desejos, ideias e sonhos, porque, se virmos bem, Tish é quase um autómato, uma rapariga a quem acontecem coisas, mas que não chega a fazer nada de livre vontade.
Não pretendo demover ninguém de ler “Se Esta Rua Falasse”, muito pelo contrário, pois aplaudo o interesse da editora Alfaguara por este autor norte-americano, que só peca por ser tardio (um atraso de cerca de 70 anos!). Eu, obviamente, não sou um homem negro nos Estados Unidos nos anos 70 e, por isso, tenho uma sensibilidade e uma vivência diferente, mas além da flagrante injustiça racial e social que serve de tema a esta obra, há cenas de violência doméstica e verbal que servem apenas para caracterizar ou punir as personagens, que não vistas como problemáticas e isso, para mim, no meu Speaker’s Corner virtual, é sempre um problema. Por exemplo, por duas vezes se refere que as mulheres deste livro se deviam prostituir a fim de se arranjar dinheiro para as despesas legais do rapaz que foi preso; e a naturalidade com que isso é dito é arrepiante.
Depois de ler um Penguin 60's com três contos, achei que James Baldwin me conquistara, mas essa proeza não se confirmou com nenhum dos seus romances, depois de ter largado “O Quarto de Giovanni” a meio e de ter terminado “Se Esta Rua Falasse” com um certo fastio.
Dizer que gosto dos protagonistas de Baldwin quando estão calados pode parecer abrasivo, uma ofensa gratuita, mas os momentos realmente bonitos deste livro são os de instrospecção, quando Fonny está transido de medo na sua cela, quando Tish está a sentir e pensar no bebé que tem dentro dela, quando a família Rivers está reunida em silêncio, a ouvir música. Quando estão a expressar-se, quando estão em diálogo ou em conflito, as personagens são histriónicas, parece que estão sempre aos gritos, a pregar a sua mensagem, a lançar a sua raiva e a sua revolta, totalmente justificada, aos sete ventos, o que em mim não surte nenhum outro efeito que não seja a irritação. Pode ser sinal da minha “fragilidade branca”, um termo muito em voga agora, mas faz-me confusão que haja um branco muito, muito mau, capaz de incriminar, violar, matar e um outro branco que, depois de muita desconfiança, até é um porreiraço; que haja as mulheres desprezíveis da família de Fonny, que são umas beatas insensíveis, e do outro lado, haja as mulheres formidáveis da família da Tish, em que a irmã é uma activista e a mãe é uma ex-cantora muito forte e determinada; que seja tudo, de facto, muito preto ou branco, sem tons de cinzento, como eu vejo a vida na realidade. Chegando por fim ao casalinho no centro deste drama, é Fonny o único que vejo como sendo de carne e osso, uma pessoa com desejos, ideias e sonhos, porque, se virmos bem, Tish é quase um autómato, uma rapariga a quem acontecem coisas, mas que não chega a fazer nada de livre vontade.
Não pretendo demover ninguém de ler “Se Esta Rua Falasse”, muito pelo contrário, pois aplaudo o interesse da editora Alfaguara por este autor norte-americano, que só peca por ser tardio (um atraso de cerca de 70 anos!). Eu, obviamente, não sou um homem negro nos Estados Unidos nos anos 70 e, por isso, tenho uma sensibilidade e uma vivência diferente, mas além da flagrante injustiça racial e social que serve de tema a esta obra, há cenas de violência doméstica e verbal que servem apenas para caracterizar ou punir as personagens, que não vistas como problemáticas e isso, para mim, no meu Speaker’s Corner virtual, é sempre um problema. Por exemplo, por duas vezes se refere que as mulheres deste livro se deviam prostituir a fim de se arranjar dinheiro para as despesas legais do rapaz que foi preso; e a naturalidade com que isso é dito é arrepiante.
February 23, 2021
رواية إنسانية ممتعة ومؤثرة. عن العنصرية التي يتعرض لها أصحاب البشرة السمراء في أمريكا.
.
.
.
“أنها معجزة حين تكتشف أن أحدهم يحبك”.
“كانوا أحرارًا إلى درجة أفقدتهم إيمانهم بأيّ شيء، وأعمت بصائرهم عن رؤية أن هذه الحرية هي محض وهم يعيشونه، بل أن هذا الوهم هو الحقيقة الوحيدة التي يملكونها”.
“إن من أفضع الأمور وأكثرها غموضًا في الحياة، أن لا تنتبه إلى تح��ير كان قد وجِّه إليك إلا حين تستعيد الماضي، أي بعد فوات الأوان”.
جيمس بالدوين .
.
.
.
“أنها معجزة حين تكتشف أن أحدهم يحبك”.
“كانوا أحرارًا إلى درجة أفقدتهم إيمانهم بأيّ شيء، وأعمت بصائرهم عن رؤية أن هذه الحرية هي محض وهم يعيشونه، بل أن هذا الوهم هو الحقيقة الوحيدة التي يملكونها”.
“إن من أفضع الأمور وأكثرها غموضًا في الحياة، أن لا تنتبه إلى تح��ير كان قد وجِّه إليك إلا حين تستعيد الماضي، أي بعد فوات الأوان”.
جيمس بالدوين .
August 8, 2020
I decided to reread If Beale Street Could Talk in anticipation of its movie adaptation hitting cinemas in Germany next week. I first read it back in April 2017, and already forgot much of the plot and outcome of the story. Now, as I did back then, I managed to read this wonderful novel within one day. Spanning only 197 pages that’s not the biggest achievement, but still: there aren’t many authors who can captivate me and keep my attention like Baldwin does. If Beale Street Could Talk is, as of right now, my favorite work of his; not least of all because it had an unmatched sense of urgency and relevancy to it.
The novel was written (if not revised for publication) by Baldwin in the 1950s, but ultimately published in 1974. It centers around the loving relationship between 19-year-old Tish and 22-year-old Fonny, and their struggle for justice as Fonny is put into jail for raping a Puerto Rican woman – a crime he didn’t commit. The only Black man in a police line-up, he is "identified" by the distraught, confused woman, whose testimony is partly shaped by a white policeman. His fiancee, Tish, is pregnant; the fact of her pregnancy is, at times, all that keeps them from utter despair.
The two of them grew up in the same run-down Black neighborhood in New York City, and fell in love in their late teens. Through flashbacks, Baldwin shows us their childhood and how they navigated through America, whilst inhabiting a Black body. The psychological aspect of racial segregation is the focus of this tale. How can Fonny become a man, when society denies him exactly that? We see children go to the dogs, waste away their lives on drugs, sell their bodies for some cash … It is not easy to keep your head up high and your morale intact when your possibilities in life are being purposefully limited. It is not easy to love, to truly love, in an environment like that. But somehow Tish and Fonny have found one another and they cling to each other to remain sane.
Fonny’s family, however, is another matter entirely. His father Frank is trying his best to support his son, but he is lost, has succumbed to alcohol and cannot count on his wife for support. Fonny’s light-skinned sisters have got it into their head to get out of the ghetto, and being there for their dark-skinned imprisoned brother won’t help them with that. As accusations fly and the families fight, Baldwin’s language oozes contempt and harshness. This novel is not for the faint of heart. It is tense and offensive and difficult … and ultimately, a forthright account of what it meant to be Black in America in the 1950s.
I am incredibly happy that If Beale Street Could Talk features so many strong Black women. In the past, I have been frustrated with Baldwin’s lack of care for his female characters or his blatant ignorance when it comes to the plight of Women of Color (if you’re interested in that, read his interview with Audre Lorde), but Beale Street reads almost like a love letter to Black women, their strength and resilience to push through hardships like nobody else.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a moving and painful story. It is so vividly human and so obviously based upon reality, that it strikes us as timeless. A novel that is nearly impossible to put down; it's been a long time since I felt that an author's message was so urgent, so important, so deserving of being heard.
The novel was written (if not revised for publication) by Baldwin in the 1950s, but ultimately published in 1974. It centers around the loving relationship between 19-year-old Tish and 22-year-old Fonny, and their struggle for justice as Fonny is put into jail for raping a Puerto Rican woman – a crime he didn’t commit. The only Black man in a police line-up, he is "identified" by the distraught, confused woman, whose testimony is partly shaped by a white policeman. His fiancee, Tish, is pregnant; the fact of her pregnancy is, at times, all that keeps them from utter despair.
The two of them grew up in the same run-down Black neighborhood in New York City, and fell in love in their late teens. Through flashbacks, Baldwin shows us their childhood and how they navigated through America, whilst inhabiting a Black body. The psychological aspect of racial segregation is the focus of this tale. How can Fonny become a man, when society denies him exactly that? We see children go to the dogs, waste away their lives on drugs, sell their bodies for some cash … It is not easy to keep your head up high and your morale intact when your possibilities in life are being purposefully limited. It is not easy to love, to truly love, in an environment like that. But somehow Tish and Fonny have found one another and they cling to each other to remain sane.
I know. But I know some hustles and you know some hustles and these are our children and we got to set them free.The reason I love this novel so much is the way in which Baldwin shows us the variety of family dynamics that shaped these two young adults in their rawest form. Tish has a great support system and can always lean on her mother, father and older sister. They are there for her through it all, through Fonny’s imprisonment, her pregnancy; they somehow find a way to make life bearable.
Fonny’s family, however, is another matter entirely. His father Frank is trying his best to support his son, but he is lost, has succumbed to alcohol and cannot count on his wife for support. Fonny’s light-skinned sisters have got it into their head to get out of the ghetto, and being there for their dark-skinned imprisoned brother won’t help them with that. As accusations fly and the families fight, Baldwin’s language oozes contempt and harshness. This novel is not for the faint of heart. It is tense and offensive and difficult … and ultimately, a forthright account of what it meant to be Black in America in the 1950s.
“I have been in America a long time,” she says. “I hope I do not die here.”As I mentioned before, I rarely read a novel that had such a sense of urgency to it. And even the second time around, I kept turning the pages because I needed to know if they would be able to get Fonny out of prison, if Tish would have enough strength to bring their baby into the world, if the families would somehow be able to reconcile … so many questions, so many wounds that Baldwin tore open with his writing, it’s nearly impossible to extract yourself from it.
I am incredibly happy that If Beale Street Could Talk features so many strong Black women. In the past, I have been frustrated with Baldwin’s lack of care for his female characters or his blatant ignorance when it comes to the plight of Women of Color (if you’re interested in that, read his interview with Audre Lorde), but Beale Street reads almost like a love letter to Black women, their strength and resilience to push through hardships like nobody else.
I know I can't help you very much right now – God knows what I wouldn't give if I could. But I know about suffering; if that helps. I know that it ends. I ain't going to tell you no lies, like it always ends for the better. Sometimes it ends for the worse. You can suffer so bad that you can be driven to a place where you can't ever suffer again: and that's worse. […] I know that a lot of our loved ones, a lot of our men, have died in prison: but not all of them. You remember that.As the men in the family quickly despair over Fonny’s hopeless situation, Tish’s mom Sharon keeps the family together and does everything in her power to support her daughter, she even travels to Puerto Rico to confront the woman who has accused Fonny of raping her. Tish’s sister Ernestine is honestly my favorite character in this whole entire novel. She’s tough and intense and wonderful, and a true lioness when it comes to protecting her sister from harm. Ernestine truly is the one who keeps the whole investigation running, constantly pushing Fonny’s lawyer to make sure he’s doing his utmost to get Fonny out of jail. And Tish herself is a remarkable woman, too; all the times in which Fonny despaired and had to lean on her and she took it all with such grace, even though she, too, was feeling like shit. Absolutely admirable!
If Beale Street Could Talk is a moving and painful story. It is so vividly human and so obviously based upon reality, that it strikes us as timeless. A novel that is nearly impossible to put down; it's been a long time since I felt that an author's message was so urgent, so important, so deserving of being heard.
August 27, 2020
Una preciosa historia de amor. Una dura crítica al racismo en EEUU.
Es un libro muy íntimo que narra el amor entre dos adolescentes que quieren ser adultos y que se aman desde que eran niños.
Baldwin arrasa con toda la maquinaria de su país: una justicia corrupta; una policía racista; una sociedad hipócrita. Muy poco se salva de su mordacidad.
No todo es malo. Hay personas buenas, muy buenas, que cuidan de los demás.
Es uno de estas novelas que, o te destroza o te hace más fuerte.
A beautiful love story. A harsh critique of racism in the US.
It is a very intimate book that narrates the love between two teenagers who want to be adults and who have loved each other since they were children.
Baldwin destroys all the machinery of his country: a corrupt justice; a racist police force; a hypocritical society. Very little is saved from his mordacity. Not everything is bad. There are good people, very good people, who take care of others.
It's one of those novels that either destroys you or makes you stronger.
Es un libro muy íntimo que narra el amor entre dos adolescentes que quieren ser adultos y que se aman desde que eran niños.
Baldwin arrasa con toda la maquinaria de su país: una justicia corrupta; una policía racista; una sociedad hipócrita. Muy poco se salva de su mordacidad.
No todo es malo. Hay personas buenas, muy buenas, que cuidan de los demás.
Es uno de estas novelas que, o te destroza o te hace más fuerte.
A beautiful love story. A harsh critique of racism in the US.
It is a very intimate book that narrates the love between two teenagers who want to be adults and who have loved each other since they were children.
Baldwin destroys all the machinery of his country: a corrupt justice; a racist police force; a hypocritical society. Very little is saved from his mordacity. Not everything is bad. There are good people, very good people, who take care of others.
It's one of those novels that either destroys you or makes you stronger.
July 16, 2017
"One of the most terrible, most mysterious things about a life is that a warning can be heeded only in retrospect: too late."
That this novel, first published in 1974, rings so true 43 years later, is an indicator that James Baldwin is indeed correct: the life of the black man in America is marked by constant belated warnings that leave our previous brothers marked as a target for the corrupt justice system that is intent on shackling us or killing us, or both.
The emotional center of everything that Baldwin has ever written is rage, and this novel is no different. He uses the novel in the same way that he uses his masterfully written essays: to plumb the depths of the human psyche, excavating all of the inner contradictions that are essentially what makes us human. He unapologetically critiques this country's racist foundations and through it all, manages to write in a beautiful style that could never be duplicated by any other writer.
While this novel is not as lyrical and evocative, or even as imaginative as what I consider Baldwin's two masterpieces--Giovanni's Room and Just Above My Head--to be, I must give a 5 star rating because of his ability to so beautifully tell a story of real human beings faced with obstacles that, against all odds, must be confronted and demolished, despite the throbbing anguish that the characters feel.
That this novel, first published in 1974, rings so true 43 years later, is an indicator that James Baldwin is indeed correct: the life of the black man in America is marked by constant belated warnings that leave our previous brothers marked as a target for the corrupt justice system that is intent on shackling us or killing us, or both.
The emotional center of everything that Baldwin has ever written is rage, and this novel is no different. He uses the novel in the same way that he uses his masterfully written essays: to plumb the depths of the human psyche, excavating all of the inner contradictions that are essentially what makes us human. He unapologetically critiques this country's racist foundations and through it all, manages to write in a beautiful style that could never be duplicated by any other writer.
While this novel is not as lyrical and evocative, or even as imaginative as what I consider Baldwin's two masterpieces--Giovanni's Room and Just Above My Head--to be, I must give a 5 star rating because of his ability to so beautifully tell a story of real human beings faced with obstacles that, against all odds, must be confronted and demolished, despite the throbbing anguish that the characters feel.
November 30, 2025
i actually cannot in good conscience tell you whether i enjoyed this book or giovanni's room more (i read the latter in 2019—i'm definitely overdue for a reread), but i will say they were both gut-punchers.
i resent the GR reviews i've read for if beale street could talk that analyze its characters or plot workings from the perspective of realism (i.e. "why does tish recede from the fore and start narrating from other characters' perspectives—she would have no way of knowing all that information!" or, "why does tish only ever think about fonny/pregnancy/love and have no life outside of that?"). i think these are purposely dense, extremely contemporary readings of an old, very slim novel created—like much of baldwin's work—with a very precise, very OVERT political thrust, i.e. anti-blackness, police brutality, class, and the historical contradictions inherent to the american justice system. it's not meant to be a sprawling family saga. it's a book about the specific events that led to a black man's incarceration; everything else exists in service of that thrust, even the flashbacks we get contextualizing fonny and tish's origin story.
sometimes people with obvious reading inclinations (reading inclinations that are INCREDIBLY commercial/modern) will crack open a book written half a century ago and throw their hands up when it doesn't behave the way they want it to. and i mean this on the level of craft, narration, pacing—in other words, the CONSTRUCTION of the novel we're reading.
i find this super frustrating. we need to be more willing to meet old books on the terms they clearly set out for themselves (and work out our litcrit from there), and in the sociocultural contexts under which they were written. this is like me reading old translated russian literature today and going, "why does it sound like a morality play 😣😓😭🙄???"
stop it. get help.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT, i do think it's worth taking a fine-tooth comb to baldwin's work and the way he writes about women (especially their physical appearances + sexual lives) as compared to the men in his worlds. there's definitely something there that should be analyzed, across his oeuvre, and through the conversations he had with black women writers of the twentieth century.
i see WHY someone would be unsettled by the misogyny in if beale street could talk, specifically, but i also think a good amount of it is there because baldwin is representing twentieth century nuclear families navigating a modern version of slavery (arguably one of the most extreme emotional/material experiences of that era). moreover, some of these nuclear families have clear, historically relevant religious ties that are coloring their behavior and language.
this is a book aware of the limited ways women were able to support themselves and survive (i.e. through the church or romantic and sexual relationships with men). the caveat would be whether certain emotional/physical depictions are evenly wrought across genders—which is a more exacting question than the ones i'm seeing most reviewers on here ask.
this is a complicated book (all of baldwin's work is) and there's a tendency today to ONLY want to read literature that is perfectly politically sound, that offers up a totally sympathetic main cast immune to harmful behavior or thought. it's worth disclaiming: if beale street could talk is not that book. i don't know that any of baldwin's work is (though i haven't read everything he's ever written).
on the level of craft, i (as always) have very few complaints here. baldwin is among those very few, very coveted writers of mine whose prose is so quality, so compellingly itself, that every few pages, i have the urge to close my book and go write. he's a writer's writer, in addition to being a reader's writer. not many can say the same. him and morrison are for me unmatched, for different reasons.
i loved the more conversational narration style at work here, which in spite of this never sacrificed that clarion quality you find in all of his work. i continue to love the voices in the dialogue he writes, his gesturing, his overuse of italics for particularly turbulent scene-work, his lengthy paragraphs, his way of representing neighborhoods/place. the abrupt, ambiguous ending worked perfectly for me (it's one of the rare instances where i think i can stand by the impulse to end before we've caught our breath or figured out our emotional orientation in the narrative).
if this novel had wrapped itself up nicely—if it had offered a conclusive ending one way or another—i don't think i would feel as strongly about it as i do now. in essence, this is for me one of the greats (of its time, and in general).
i resent the GR reviews i've read for if beale street could talk that analyze its characters or plot workings from the perspective of realism (i.e. "why does tish recede from the fore and start narrating from other characters' perspectives—she would have no way of knowing all that information!" or, "why does tish only ever think about fonny/pregnancy/love and have no life outside of that?"). i think these are purposely dense, extremely contemporary readings of an old, very slim novel created—like much of baldwin's work—with a very precise, very OVERT political thrust, i.e. anti-blackness, police brutality, class, and the historical contradictions inherent to the american justice system. it's not meant to be a sprawling family saga. it's a book about the specific events that led to a black man's incarceration; everything else exists in service of that thrust, even the flashbacks we get contextualizing fonny and tish's origin story.
sometimes people with obvious reading inclinations (reading inclinations that are INCREDIBLY commercial/modern) will crack open a book written half a century ago and throw their hands up when it doesn't behave the way they want it to. and i mean this on the level of craft, narration, pacing—in other words, the CONSTRUCTION of the novel we're reading.
i find this super frustrating. we need to be more willing to meet old books on the terms they clearly set out for themselves (and work out our litcrit from there), and in the sociocultural contexts under which they were written. this is like me reading old translated russian literature today and going, "why does it sound like a morality play 😣😓😭🙄???"
stop it. get help.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT, i do think it's worth taking a fine-tooth comb to baldwin's work and the way he writes about women (especially their physical appearances + sexual lives) as compared to the men in his worlds. there's definitely something there that should be analyzed, across his oeuvre, and through the conversations he had with black women writers of the twentieth century.
i see WHY someone would be unsettled by the misogyny in if beale street could talk, specifically, but i also think a good amount of it is there because baldwin is representing twentieth century nuclear families navigating a modern version of slavery (arguably one of the most extreme emotional/material experiences of that era). moreover, some of these nuclear families have clear, historically relevant religious ties that are coloring their behavior and language.
this is a book aware of the limited ways women were able to support themselves and survive (i.e. through the church or romantic and sexual relationships with men). the caveat would be whether certain emotional/physical depictions are evenly wrought across genders—which is a more exacting question than the ones i'm seeing most reviewers on here ask.
this is a complicated book (all of baldwin's work is) and there's a tendency today to ONLY want to read literature that is perfectly politically sound, that offers up a totally sympathetic main cast immune to harmful behavior or thought. it's worth disclaiming: if beale street could talk is not that book. i don't know that any of baldwin's work is (though i haven't read everything he's ever written).
on the level of craft, i (as always) have very few complaints here. baldwin is among those very few, very coveted writers of mine whose prose is so quality, so compellingly itself, that every few pages, i have the urge to close my book and go write. he's a writer's writer, in addition to being a reader's writer. not many can say the same. him and morrison are for me unmatched, for different reasons.
i loved the more conversational narration style at work here, which in spite of this never sacrificed that clarion quality you find in all of his work. i continue to love the voices in the dialogue he writes, his gesturing, his overuse of italics for particularly turbulent scene-work, his lengthy paragraphs, his way of representing neighborhoods/place. the abrupt, ambiguous ending worked perfectly for me (it's one of the rare instances where i think i can stand by the impulse to end before we've caught our breath or figured out our emotional orientation in the narrative).
if this novel had wrapped itself up nicely—if it had offered a conclusive ending one way or another—i don't think i would feel as strongly about it as i do now. in essence, this is for me one of the greats (of its time, and in general).
January 18, 2019
This was a riveting read. Baldwin’s honest and emotion-laden writing grabs you from the start. He tells you a simple story of gross injustices inflicted on people of color in New York City in the 60s and 70s. Weaving into this narrative family love, passionate love between two young people, hope and despair, dogmatic prejudices and forgiveness, he transports you to a world that makes you throw your hands up in disbelief at the injustices and at the same time marvel at humanity.
Fonny and Tish from their respective black families fall in love and are about to get married. Fonny loves the art of sculpting, but for this passion he has to tolerate his mother’s and sisters’ scorn. Just as Tish discovers that she’s with child, Fonny is thrown into prison on a false charge of rape, because a white policeman is set on ruining him out of spite. Tish’s parents and elder sister rally to help Fonny get exonerated. Meanwhile, Tish and Fonny are sustained by their love for each other and the baby in Tish’s womb.
The beauty of the novel lies in the true-to-life characters that jump off the page. Each character is drawn vividly with his/her flaws and strengths and beliefs and idiosyncracies. Their dialogues and interaction makes it easy to believe they were the folks who walked the streets of New York in that time period.
I’m giving this novel 4.3 stars.
Fonny and Tish from their respective black families fall in love and are about to get married. Fonny loves the art of sculpting, but for this passion he has to tolerate his mother’s and sisters’ scorn. Just as Tish discovers that she’s with child, Fonny is thrown into prison on a false charge of rape, because a white policeman is set on ruining him out of spite. Tish’s parents and elder sister rally to help Fonny get exonerated. Meanwhile, Tish and Fonny are sustained by their love for each other and the baby in Tish’s womb.
The beauty of the novel lies in the true-to-life characters that jump off the page. Each character is drawn vividly with his/her flaws and strengths and beliefs and idiosyncracies. Their dialogues and interaction makes it easy to believe they were the folks who walked the streets of New York in that time period.
I’m giving this novel 4.3 stars.
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