Book 76. "Another Country" by James Baldwin

[@notquitehim]

The algorithm decided to show me this video on my feed. New subscriber

[@ANovelReview]

Thankyou so much for subscribing! I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy :)

[@issymf]

this was such a beautiful soothing thing to come across on the internet. Really happy to have found you. I love James Baldwin, but his misogyny is a really interesting dimension to his work, and his life, so it was nice to hear you bring it up. He was criticised at the time by black women writers for his attitudes, and for not being receptive to them, the way he criticised people for not being receptive to him as a black queer man. I don't think he hated women, or didn't care about them, but I don't think he could conceive of their complex inner lives the way he did with men. A little like Murakami in modern day, it's not malicious, but it can be uncomfortable, and it's so interesting how people can think so deeply about the human experience and still have blind spots about other groups.

[@ANovelReview]

Thankyou for the beautiful comment :) And thankyou for talking about how James Baldwin was criticised by black women of the time, that is great to learn and important to know. I also love how you don't condemn him for this, and instead just acknowledge it as a flaw in his writing - although, yes it does seem odd, despite thinking this deeply, he still couldn't bridge that gap!

[@rica3947]

really interesting review - I've been planning to read Giovanni's Room for a while, might have to bump it up on my to read list now :)

[@ANovelReview]

Thanks for the great comment :) Honestly, I would say if you have never read any James Baldwin, start with Giovanni's Room - It is considerably shorter than this book and I also think a more well-rounded story in general. I love Giovanni's Room and i genuinly envy you to get to read it for the first time!!

[@rica3947]

@@ANovelReview okay so this comment made me even more excited to read Giovanni's Room! :) it's also great to know that it is a good starting point to get familiar with James Baldwin - it can be quite overwhelming to approach the work of famous author's whose writing maybe isn't the most easily accesible for newbies

[@ANovelReview]

Let me know when you read it and what you think!

[@nicholasbeutler3126]

Are you on Goodreads, by any chance? :)

[@ANovelReview]

Hey, thanks for the comment :) It is something I have been meaning to do for a long time so this was the kick i needed! I just created my account and will start to review every book i've done on the pod so far and of course all books I review going forward :) www.goodreads.com/user/show/183658663-a-novel-review-podcast

[@nicholasbeutler3126]

@@ANovelReviewGreat! Sent you a friend (fan!) request :)

[@ANovelReview]

Thankyou mate, I appreciate that :)