I usually like to read a book before I watch the film, but this time I read the book about two years after I watched the film. I really enjoyed remembering vivid snippets of the film, especially picturing the characters as their actors, while I read.



If Beale Street Could Talk is very much about its plot - the story of a young, Black man being falsely accused of a crime - but it is also about so much more that the book wasn't ruined by already knowing what happened, especially since changes always take place between page and screen. In particular, although I knew the story didn't have a happy ending, the way Baldwin wrote it still broke my heart.

I came to James Baldwin because of his eloquence, and the poetry that I so much enjoyed in Giovanni's Room (you can read my review here) was also one of my favourite aspects of If Beale Street Could Talk. I am in awe of not only the way Baldwin writes, but the way his mind works. I don't agree with everything his narrator and characters say, but there is an undeniable truth to everything he writes, just because of the way he writes, the way he sees the world.

I read a review that described it as a relief to read the story from Tish's point of view, and I completely agree. Somehow, If Beale Street Could Talk manages to be both heart-breakingly real and irresistibly hopeful. The film adaptation pulls this off too. I think a lot of this is because Tish, so clearly supported by her loving family, is our narrator. So don't be put off by thinking this is a depressing book; it's not. It's beautiful, and heart-breaking, and uplifting. I especially loved the descriptions of Fonny sculpting - one artist to another.