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What Members Thought
I made it about half way--tired of the very long sermons by a quarter of the way through the book. I see the historical resonance of this book, for the black community and especially for the gay community, but I just couldn't take more lambasting/preaching, even with the smart critique of it that was shot through the text. It is an evocative, sometimes truly beautiful book, but I appreciate/enjoy several others of Baldwin's much more than this one.
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This is one of those books that, sadly, are 'good for you' but tedious to read. It may be because it is about a preacher's family (in Harlem, NY), and some parts are narrated in a pretty didactic tone. The adoption of multiple perspectives - the son's, the mother's, the father's, the aunt's - is really interesting, however, and reflects Baldwin's skill at writing about the African American experience.
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A painful, yet beautiful read.
Mar 02, 2009
Madeleine
marked it as to-read
Feb 09, 2010
Sarah
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Jun 26, 2012
Jayme Pendergraft
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Apr 24, 2014
Jackie
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Mar 29, 2016
erin
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Apr 13, 2016
superawesomekt
marked it as to-be-continued
Dec 31, 2016
Jen
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Feb 04, 2017
Jen
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Mar 22, 2017
Yiga
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Aug 29, 2018
Kristen Iworsky
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Feb 02, 2019
Elizabeth
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Dec 08, 2019
Scott Flicker
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Jul 06, 2020
Apeksha
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Nov 27, 2020
Tiffany
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