The Fire Next Time (Vintage International) by James Baldwin (EPUB)

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The book that galvanized the nation, gave voice to the emerging civil rights movementin the 1960s—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today. • “The finest essay I’ve ever read.” —Ta-Nehisi CoatesAt once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle … all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of literature.

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

⭐As a voracious reader, there are few books that I have read and at the end felt as though I was a completely different person. Even fewer have moved me to the point of tears. James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time is a book that did both.Before reading thisImage result for the fire next time book, I had only heard of Baldwin in passing and had never read any of his books. My friend and mentor Brad Kramer (who is an anthropologist and professor at Utah Valley University) recommended the book to me so I bought it out of a sense of duty to heed a mentors recommendation. However, I put the book off for a time and did not view it as urgent to read it. Then, while we were having lunch with Brad, he told me that he got similar feelings when reading Baldwin’s book that he did in past times when he was reading the scriptures (he and I are practicing Mormons). This increased my intrigued and I put the book on my list to read in the new year. I am not engaging in hyperbole when I state this book is one of the best that I have ever read.The book takes the form of a long essay divided into two parts. The first portion is Baldwin writing a letter to his fourteen year old nephew. The second (and most important part) is Baldwin’s account of his life as a black man in Harlem and how we as American’s must overcome our racial issues if we are truly to become a great nation. Baldwin, who lived during the Civil Rights Movement, is a much different person than the two men who have come to be the faces of that era: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King was a Christian minister who saw the movement in terms of the Christian message. Malcolm was a minister in the Nation of Islam (until 1964) and thought that the blacks and whites should be separated and that blacks were superior to whites.Baldwin was somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. He recounts in the essay that he was attracted to Christianity as a youth because of its power to move people and eventually became a Christian minister himself. But, after seeing how the Christian Church was not making progress on the race issue and seeing how it could be used to justify racism, he left Christianity. However, Christianity never left him. In the essay Baldwin comes across with the air of prophet, warning that if change isn’t made the consequences will be dire. Unlike Malcolm, Baldwin did not believe that one place was superior to the other (he says just because something is different does not make it superior or inferior). His message, while spoken in religious terms, does not require adherence to any theology.I will address two key moments in the book, and leave it to the reader to read the book and fill in the rest. While Baldwin was in Chicago, he had the opportunity to meet and have dinner with Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. While he ate with Elijah, he was impressed with the power of the man over his followers, but noted that he was disgusted with the Nation’s teachings. While he respected the Nation for making blacks more self-reliant, he could not endorse their racist ideology, which he saw as the same story as what white Americans were doing but in reverse. This spoke to me personally because I also have had the opportunity to be around members of the Nation of Islam, and like Baldwin was more than uncomfortable. The message is counterproductive and nonsensical.The most important part of the good is after Baldwin describes his meeting with the Elijah Muhammad. He states:Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves to totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeple, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.Baldwin concludes that America needs to become post-racial, meaning that while we can acknowledge that we have differences in skin color, there is no reason to attribute certain characteristics to people due to there skin color. Further, while Baldwin was friends with the aforementioned Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, he also points out that we all need each other; racism has an equally bad effect upon whites as it does upon blacks.In an era where racism still raises its ugly head, The Fire Next Time is a book that all Americans, regardless of color, need to have in their personal library. I plan to read it once a year going forward. A truly wonderful, remarkable book.

⭐A great read. James Baldwin is the best

⭐It was a topic of interest to me.

⭐Baldwin is at his best here, wrestling with his dualistic thoughts on the white man/negro issues in 1963 during the Civil Rights movement. He recounts his meetings with Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad after being completely disillusioned with the hypocrisy of the Christian churches, which he equates – understandably – to a white European power grab that suppresses minorities in order to keep their power. What I love about Baldwin, however, is that he recognizes this as a thoroughly “man” issue, and no matter what group holds power, they will mistreat, oppress, and suppress those underneath them. Because of this, he realizes that the Nation of Islam movement had the exact same aims, just with a different color, and while he respected their beliefs, he chose not to become immersed in the mirror image of what he was experiencing. I also love that even though he suffered severe prejudice and discrimination, he was able to see that not all white people are a certain way, just like not all black people are the same. He knew it was pointless to bring in any anecdotal evidence…”but I have white friends that are not like this” because he would be shouted down by both sides.He even brings out the point that the Neo-Nazi party contributed to the Nation of Islam because they had the same goal – to stay in power at the expense of others, and those others are “of the devil.” He also quoted Bobby Kennedy that a black man would be able to be President one day, though Baldwin completely disagreed with this . I wish he had been alive to witness this, and perhaps this would have given him hope that not all is lost between the races.I appreciate and learned so much from him. Baldwin is incredibly eloquent, even more so in his novels, but this short synopsis is by far one of his most important works that will stay with me a very, very long time.

⭐Delivery in record time and in perfect condition! Thank you.

⭐A masterpiece!And a must read for all the people.This book presented how the past racism will continue to exhibit itself unless here’s a more conscious effort to eradicate it.Mr. Baldwin, didn’t hold back on his viewpoints or personal experiences in dealing with racism he faced as a young person.

⭐Book came in great condition

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