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Go Tell It on the Mountain

James Baldwin

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Apr 06, 2021 Linda Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: families, 2021, christian, classics, geo-new-york, cults

This is a great novel, no doubt about it. James Baldwin was a master of literary writing and what he wrote does not provide all the answers but is intended to make us think a while on all the questions. I'll be honest. I really prefer novels that are a bit easier to understand. I like paragraphs that make sense without a long pause for meditation. The stream-of-consciousness type of writing style used in this novel is reminiscent of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, but there's a story being to This is a great novel, no doubt about it. James Baldwin was a master of literary writing and what he wrote does not provide all the answers but is intended to make us think a while on all the questions. I'll be honest. I really prefer novels that are a bit easier to understand. I like paragraphs that make sense without a long pause for meditation. The stream-of-consciousness type of writing style used in this novel is reminiscent of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, but there's a story being told that's easily understood when you get past all the verbiage.

This novel made me stop and the end and think, "What did I just read? And why did he write it?" The novel is semi-autobiographical. A bit of research into his history on Wikipedia helped a lot to put things into perspective. He was raised in a Pentecostal church, had a conversion experience and became a junior minister during his teen years. However, it was all over by age 17. This novel was written from the perspective of someone disaffected from his church of origin and he had a lot of indoctrination to write about and get off his mind. The novel does not follow this story line, but his involvement in the church did give him many insights and a lot of Biblical knowledge that helped him write Go Tell It on the Mountain.

Well, I'm a Christian. I wasn't raised in a church as James Baldwin was. I didn't become a Christian until I was 61. I have never been Pentecostal. (I'm born again nondenominational.) So what benefit is it for a Christian to read a semi-autobiographical novel by someone who left his church? I was looking for insight as to what happened and why he chose to leave. I got some mighty clues from this novel, though no outright statements. I think with what everything James Baldwin went through as a child and his discovery of being gay as a teenager, it is clear why James Baldwin made the decision to turn against the Christian religion. I am no one to judge him on this... really, he had his life story to live out and share with us this way. It is his legacy and now, ours to learn from, since his life became so public over the years due to his writing.

With all that under consideration, I recommend this book to whoever wants to read it. The writing is superb, it will make you think, and we should be willing to learn from the insights and experiences of others.
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