Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - 4 stars

[annapi]

This is a series of essays written as a letter to his son, about racism and the author's reality of living as a black man. Very thought-provoking but also very bitter and depressing, with very little hopefulness, and it left me disquieted. I'm glad I was pushed to read this for a game, but I'm also glad it was only 163 pages, or I might have passed on it. Reading it, I felt like an outsider looking in through the window at a life I have no knowledge of, although as an Asian I have experienced the odd occasion of being a target of racism. Some of the negative comments on Amazon (many by black people) were on point - about some factual errors on history, for example. But a lot of them were are mean-spirited as they accuse the author of being hateful. What is undeniable is that this spurs discourse and thought, which is sorely needed in this world if we are to progress beyond the divisiveness we currently live in.

[Denizen]

Good review. I definitely want to read this in the next few months.