Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin (EPUB)

Description

In an age of Black Lives Matter, James Baldwin’s essays on life in Harlem, the protest novel, movies, and African Americans abroad are as powerful today as when they were first written. With documentaries like I Am Not Your Negro bringing renewed interest to Baldwin’s life and work, Notes of a Native Son serves as a valuable introduction.Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in “The Harlem Ghetto” to a sobering “Journey to Atlanta.” Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright’s work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise. Notes is the book that established Baldwin’s voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin’s own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.

User’s Reviews

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

⭐I had read James Baldwin when I was younger. I admired some of his short stories and I had studied his play Blues for Mister Charlie. Recently, however, I was brought back to his work and I find the more that I read of it, the more I am impressed by it.He is a master stylist. I could spend pages of this review just quoting memorable lines. (“But one cannot claim the birthright without accepting the inheritance.” “I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” “I am not one of the people who believe that oppression imbues a people with wisdom or insight or sweet charity…” “Joyce is right about history being a nightmare—but it may be the nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”) He has a way of melding his wide vocabulary and particular syntax into an engaging prose that is wholly his own. I can imagine him sweating over each sentence to get it just right.He is also a fierce critic. His analysis of Native Son and Carmen Jones pulls no punches. But that is nothing compared to when he turns his critical eye upon his own experiences. His memories of Harlem are powerful. His writing about Paris, especially his time struggling through the French legal system, is vivid and memorable. Most of all, however, I enjoyed the closing essay of the book where he describes his time as the only Negro is a Swiss alpine village. The challenge of dealing with a group of people who mean him no offence allows him to interrogate his American experience more deeply.A fool might think that these essays are too dated to offer the modern reader much of anything. On the contrary, with only slight alteration, almost every essay here could be published today. His understanding of politics, history, and rage speaks very much to the moment we are in now. This is a book worth reading.

⭐This was my second book by James Baldwin and it is another very well written view of the 1960’s and the role race played. So little has changed since then, Baldwin’s observations are that much more insightful. He sees the racial divide so clearly, even as he was expending his thoughts on the core issues. The other book I read just before this one “The Fire Next Time” is a fully realized view and is my 1st pick of Baldwin’s writing (so far). The premise that -white folks don’t need to learn to accept black folks, instead can black folks accept white folks- continues to occupy my thoughts. I know have a concrete understanding of why it might be impossible to end all the racial injustice and, if we cannot, it’s the lack of substance (of a soul) of white folks that will be to blame. Baldwin brought into focus Malcolm X’s idea of -the white folk’s house is on fire-, a truth that is at the heart of racial discrimination and at the heart of the deeply troubling rise of ignorance and hatred in the US and parts of Europe. Baldwin sees through the chaos and noise and articulates the problems so well, it’s too bad his books aren’t a part of every high school Social Studies program. But even that idea brings to mind a term I heard in the documentary “Accidental Courtesy” (at the table in Baltimore), “generational trauma”, and that is also a very strong point that makes this mess we have now and have been “white-washing” for centuries all the more duanting to see how there ever could be racial parity and peace in the US.James Baldwin is an extraordinary writer.

⭐Baldwin’s writing lingers because it is haunted.His essay on his troubled father kept me up one night. He is describing terribly important things, but Baldwin is one of those gifted and visceral writers. I’m glad to have read him but he does haunt the reader to wrestle with difficult truths.

⭐“The people who think of themselves as White have the choice of becoming human or irrelevant.” (From the Preface)“I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

⭐Baldwin is one of this country’s great authors, thinkers, and orators. Especially these days, with the ongoing struggle for civil rights, justice, and equality, Baldwin’s voice deserves to be heard and appreciated. His is a unique voice and a unique perspective on this centuries long struggle that has caused this country to elevate whiteness and denigrate blackness, continuing the original sin of slavery by marginalizing and continuing to torture and kill black people with impunity.

⭐The title essay in Baldwin’s important collection has been one of those pieces of writing that has been personally important throughout my personal and professional life. Baldwin combines his first experiences of racism with his memories of his strained relationship to his bitter father. The encounter with racism in a New Jersey restaurant where he is refused service leads Baldwin to a better understanding of his father’s pain and his attempts to overcome his own.The essay is beautifully written, artfully combining and complicating the different themes. I’ve used it regularly in my teaching, and regard it as one of the best pieces of twentieth-century American prose. While I’m not African American, the writing allows me at least partly to enter Baldwin’s feelings about race. Equally moving for me, and I suspect for many readers, is the description of Baldwin’s strained relationship to and eventual compassion for his father, and his attempts to overcome his own frustration and anger. This deeply honest and articulate essay and book is a must for anyone concerned with modern American writing and also seeking a deeper understanding of his or her own inner complexities.

⭐As always, Baldwin’s writing soars even as his vision is fixed firmly on the ground that both white and black share. The complex relationship between white Americans and black Americans is explored both in a personal level and a national, or even international one. And, not unlike The Fire Next Time, Baldwin manages to find hope for us both.

⭐I love James Baldwin. He’s always got a lot to say and knows his stuff. Reading his Notes enlightens me onto other books he mentions, which is always a good thing.

⭐Insight into a different era. The more we change the more we remain the same.

⭐brilliance

⭐A timeless classic. So insightful and poetic at the same time. Wonderful

⭐:D

Keywords

Free Download Notes of a Native Son in EPUB format
Notes of a Native Son EPUB Free Download
Download Notes of a Native Son 2012 EPUB Free
Notes of a Native Son 2012 EPUB Free Download
Download Notes of a Native Son EPUB
Free Download Ebook Notes of a Native Son