Going to Meet the Man: Stories by James Baldwin (EPUB)

Description

In this modern classic by one of our most important writers, “there’s no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it.” The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water.It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob.By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying–and informed throughout by Baldwin’s uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators–Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “He is thought-provoking, tantalizing, irritating, abusing and amusing. And he uses words as the sea uses waves.” —Langston Hughes“If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one.” —Michael Ondaatje“This author retains a place in an extremely select group; that composed of the few genuinely indispensable American writers.” —Saturday Review From the Inside Flap s no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it.” The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob.By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying–and informed throughout by Baldwin’s uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators–Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers. From the Back Cover “There’s no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it.” The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob. By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying–and informed throughout by Baldwin’s uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators–Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers. About the Author James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book does not have one plot per se, as it is a collection of short stories. However, there is a through-line in that all the narratives have to do with the same thing. Mr. Baldwin’s stories all relate, directly or indirectly, to the lived experiences of Blacks living in New York City during the 1950’s and 60’s. Each builds and expands on the themes of the previous story as the reader goes along. To say that the stories are about racism is a gross oversimplification. In many ways they are allegories about American ideals gone awry in the face of a system that ultimately diminishes all its citizens by devaluing the humanity of the race of some of it citizens. The stories include: The Rockpile, The Outing, The Man Child, Previous Condition, Sonny’s Blues, This Morning, This Evening, So Soon, Come Out the Wilderness, and Going to meet the Man.The first stories, The Rockpile and the Outing, speak of faith and family, incorporated elements of African American identity playing out against the backdrop of mid-century Harlem. A young boy learns resentment at the feet of a step-father and the early seeds of manhood on the shoulder of a close friend. The White characters that inhabit Man Child speak of an underlying bitterness and resentment that fuel grotesque acts. This story strikes this reader as being an allegory about mainstream America in the midst of war, pilfering the lives of her sons, overseas and at home, over battles of entitlement. Previous Condition chronicles the life of the young creative intellectual struggling for identity in a society of well-meaning While liberalism and Black misapprehension. Sonny’s Blues plays the mournful song of hopelessness and helplessness of a young Black man, accompanied by the sorrowful strains of his struggle with addiction in the Harlem mid-century jazz scene. This Morning, This evening, So soon, powerfully presents the slow, impotent rage of a Black father who must sacrifice the innocence of his son at the altar of racism. Come Out the Wilderness’ protagonist struggles with self-worth and identity. Going to Meet the Man, subversively portrays a man trapped by the guilt of a southern tradition, taking his family out for a picnic.Fifty years hence, in the location and settings of these stories, America has changed. The author James Baldwin, who died in 1987, did not live to see the ascent of Colin Powell, Robert L. Johnson, Condoleezza Rice or Barack Obama; evidence that almost certainly things have changed for the better, for many of us. But in many ways it remains distressingly and disturbingly the same. A system that villifies the Black poor for their poverty, and personifies young Black males as violent criminals, continues to perpetuate the kind of psychic pain and anger that permeated much of Baldwin’s work. Going to Meet the Man should be required reading, if for no other reason than to remind us of what we must continually strive to change.

⭐I was slightly disappointed with the first novel I read by the late great James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room. Although I found it difficult to empathize with the main character (who I found to be a little whiny and spoiled), I was really taken by how beautiful Baldwin’s writing was. It was enough to keep me interested in reading more of his work and I’m glad I chose this book as the next one. This solid collection of 8 short stories is a great primer to his writing style and the themes that permeate most of his work, such as race, identity, sex, life in Harlem, and the influence of art, religion, and family.Baldwin’s writing is consistently sincere, although some stories kept my attention more than others. There are two stories that are the big standouts in this collection. The soulful “Sonny’s Blues” is about a man struggling to understand and reconnect with his estranged, heroin-addicted, musician brother, and also happens to be a look at the liberating power of the blues. The following quote is one the best descriptions of what great music, especially “the blues” is supposed to do, and what it means to be a musician:”He and his boys up there were keeping it new, at the risk of ruin, destruction, madness, and death, in order to find new ways to make us listen. For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”The title story, “Going to Meet the Man”, floored me and haunted me, and might be one of my favorite short stories. It actually kept me up at night thinking about it afterward. It’s a story written with pitch-perfect confidence by Baldwin, about a middle-aged, racist, deputy sheriff of a Southern town in the U.S. recalling the event in his childhood that might have made him the bigot he is. The story challenges you to see how an innocent 8-year-old boy, who’s best friend is black, can somehow turn into something else. It also explores the uncomfortable relationship between prejudice and sexuality, and how one can profoundly affect the other. A great piece.

⭐Received my book on time in perfect condition, I can’t wait to snuggle up with a hot cup of cocoa and this book!

⭐James Baldwin is amazing! I cannot believe that his books were even allowed to be printed. The truth is horrible and fascinating at the same time! If you don’t know about the Black experience, he will put you right in it!

⭐I purchased this collection in order to read the titular short story. I was not disappointed, and in fact, I was shocked. I know that James Baldwin’s work is part of the Black cultural and art renaissance that seems to be happening right now, but there seems to only be a focus on his interviews, not so much on his writing. This story (and I feel that I can safely assume that other stories in this collection) reinforce the theoretical framework that Baldwin applies to his outlook of American concerning racism, violence, and intolerance. Read it for yourself because he has much more to say than what he has shared in television interviews.

⭐James Baldwin is one of the most revered black authors of blackness..an intellectual.

⭐This should be required reading for every American. Whatever else I might say would not do justice to this breathtaking collection.

⭐James Baldwin classic.

⭐I generally prefer reading novels to collections of short stories, but James Baldwin is such an incredible writer than I had to read this, having loved everything else of his I have read. It didn’t disappoint. Hard to review, but I suppose it’s a gritty, warts and all portrayal of humanity and the inner hopes, dreams and disappointments of “ordinary people.” Racism is a prominent theme in Baldwin’s work and, sadly, every bit as relevant today as it was when he was writing. Baldwin’s genius as a writer is in creating characters which feel like real people you have actually encountered. I sometimes catch myself wondering about them and what happened to them as though they actually existed!This isn’t my favourite work by this writer, but still great and I would recommend.

⭐I bought Going to Meet the Man about a year but somehow left it to gather dust on my book shelf. I only picked it up last week as bedtime reading. Boy, was I mistaken! Going to Meet the Man is definitely not bed time reading.The book is a collection of short stories: The Rockpile, The Outing, The Man Child, Previous condition, Sonny’s blues, Come out of the Wilderness and, of course, Going to Meet the Man. These stories explore the nuances of human condition: love, racism and murder.My favourite stories are This Morning, This Evening, So Soon and Going to Meet the Man. In `This Morning’, a successful Paris-based Black American musician/actor plans to return to the US with his Swedish wife, Harriet, and their mixed race son, Paul. As our musician comes to terms with his return to the Old Country, his fears (and history) now become apparent; Europe was not just an escape from a stifling American form of racism but his redemption. He had become a man in every sense of the word in Europe. Alas, this was an opportunity that was denied him in the US. However, he wistfully contemplates his decision and decides to return to the US all the same.Going to Meet the Man was simply haunting. It is set sometime in the 1950’s in the American South. The Civil Rights movement is in full swing and Black protesters engage in a sit-in and singing session at the jailhouse, where one of their lot has been arrested. The Deputy Sheriff, Jesse, handles the situation the only way that he knows how to: with extreme violence. Alas, violence does not work. The Sheriff then remembers an event from his childhood: the lynching of a black man.Baldwin does not describe the circumstances that led to the lynching. Instead, his description of the macabre, barbarous, dark lynching `party’ itself is laid out in exquisite detail. Young Jesse thought that the black body hanging from the tree was the `most beautiful and most terrible’ thing that he had ever seen. One sees the lynching through the eyes of an eight-year old boy. It is fascinating, wicked, twisted and somehow captivating. The lynching is over almost as soon as it had begun. The folks retire and have a picnic after the event. What a bizarre affair! All I could think about when reading this story was the song, Strange Fruit by Billie Holliday.Going to Meet the Man is the first Baldwin novel that I have read. He, like Langston Hughes, my favourite American author, uses the metaphor of escape to Europe (to France) in order to discover oneself. Yes, Europe was not perfect but the Old World had done away with lynching by the 1930’s. Baldwin is a master story teller. In Going to Meet the Man, while he uses words to paint a most haunting portrait of man at his worst yet there is no judgment. The reader has to distil his own meaning from the work. At the end of the story, it was not clear to me who the victim was – the black man who was lynched or the child who was made to witness and internalise such a horrible event.

⭐But it is a necessary read. Baldwin pulls no punches in writing down black reality throughout his lifetime. These texts provide both fiction and truth, in ways that will scar your soul.

⭐The story that gives the collection it’s name shows that JB understood the chemistry behind the insanity of racist southern whites – even as if he had walked among them as a member himself ! Valuable, all the more, in the times of Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene? Extraordinary insights from a literary giant.

⭐Going to meet the man was written with such care and attention it allowed the reader to obtain a better understanding what it is to be judge by the colour of their skin without knowing the individual as a person. It left no doubt how much racial prejudice affected the main characters on so many levels. Very well written.

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