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Essays discuss race relations, segregation, the role of the writer in society, and the work of Andre Gide, Richard Wright, and Norman Mailer. Baldwin's early essays have been described as 'an unequalled meditation on what it means to be black in America' . This rich and stimulating collection contains 'Fifth Avenue, Uptown: a Letter from Harlem', polemical pieces on the tragedies inflicted by racial segregation and a poignant account of his first journey to 'the Old Country', the southern states. Yet equally compelling are his 'Notes for a Hypothetical Novel' and personal reflections on being American, on other major artists - Ingmar Bergman and Andre Gide, Norman Mailer and Richard Wright - and on the first great conference of Negro - American writers and artists in Paris. In his introduction Baldwin describes the writer as requiring 'every ounce of stamina he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are' ; his uncanny ability to do just that is proclaimed on every page of this famous book.… (more)
User reviews
Read this, for example: "...[T]he American equation of success with the big times reveals an awful disrespect for human life and human achievement. This equation has placed our cities among
My copy is a gift from one of my sisters, who wrote inside, "My favorite author." I believe I know why.
He left the US for Paris at one point because he felt he could not survive “the fury of the colour problem” there.
He writes about being a Negro and also being an American writer.
He introduced me to Richard Wright, a
Wright was one of the speakers at a conference of Negro-African writers and artists in Paris in 1956, which Baldwin attended, and we are given the content of Wright’s speech.
Baldwin tells us about Harlem and that “Negroes want to be treated like men”.
He discusses the differences between the South and the North (of the US).
He quotes a black friend as saying “The spirit of the South is the Spirit of America”.
He tells us “the South is not merely an embarassingly backward region, but a part of this country, and what happens there concerns every one of us”.
For the Northener, “Negroes represent nothing to him personally except, perhaps, the dangers of carnality”. “He never sees Negroes, Southerners see them all the time. Northerners never think about them whereas Southerners are never really thinking of anything else. Negroes are, therefore, ignored in the North and under surveillance in the South, and suffer hideously in both places. Neither the Southerner nor the Northerner is able to look on the Negro simply as a man.”
This book was written many years ago; I hope that what Baldwin wrote then has become outdated. I don’t know because I've never been to the US at any time.
There’s an article/chapter about Faulkner and desegregation and an interesting description of Baldwin’s visit to Sweden, where he visited Ingrid Bergman. He gives us a detailed account of the intricacies of their conversation.
There is also a chapter describing Baldwin’s complicated relationship with Richard Wright, and one about his relationship with Norman Mailer.
I found these latter chapters wonderfully illuminating both as regards Baldwin’s and the others’ characters/personalities.
Although this volume may seem and in fact is rather obsolete, I found many of the chapters fascinating. I would highly recomend that any reader at all interested in Baldwin or his work read this book, if it can still be obtained.