From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

Native Son

Richard Wright

Start date: May 1, 2019

Finish date: May 31, 2019

Discussion: Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

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Aug 19, 2013 Chrissie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: downpour, hf, classics, race, usa, 2014-read

Are you a White? Do you want to understand how it was for Blacks, particularly those who are poor, in the States, in the 30s and 40s and of course before that too? This book is set in Chicago. You read it to climb into the skin of a Black. It is not pleasant, but it is revealing. Do you dare?

The book description just does not get across the most important aspect of the book: you will be in Bigger's skin, and this is scary. As I noted below, for much of the book you will be sitting on the edge o Are you a White? Do you want to understand how it was for Blacks, particularly those who are poor, in the States, in the 30s and 40s and of course before that too? This book is set in Chicago. You read it to climb into the skin of a Black. It is not pleasant, but it is revealing. Do you dare?

The book description just does not get across the most important aspect of the book: you will be in Bigger's skin, and this is scary. As I noted below, for much of the book you will be sitting on the edge of your seat. You will need to stop, pause, get a breath of air to go on.

I was totally thrilled with the book and its message.... until the end, until the court proceedings. The closing speeches of both the defense lawyer and the state attorney were both long-winded and not believable. The defense lawyer's was too theoretical, not to the point; the author should have been able to do better. The state attorney's speech would have to have been interrupted by the judge! No way could he have said what he said. Nope, here the writing could have been improved. The author was almost lecturing the reader, hammering in his message all too clearly. This book was really amazing, until almost the very end. It is still very good though.

The narration of the audiobook by Peter Francis James was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!! Superb. Outstanding. He can imitate Black women singing, newspaper reporters, radio announcements; he did everybody perfectly.

DO read this book!!! Or listen to it.

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After Book One, so still just at the very beginning:

I have begun. What a book!!! Do you want a book with suspense, one that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat from the start AND one that has/had an important message AND one that is perfectly executed? Every word is simple but perfect. I am scared with every move. I understand that Bigger is dangerous. Dangerous, not with evil intent, but from fear. And the white girl's total incomprehension makes me hate her more than even Bigger could hate her. What happens is NOT Bigger's fault; it is Mary's, the daughter of Bigger's new white employer. See the book description; this is not a spoiler. Did I say this was suspenseful? It is also heartrending. I DO understand that Mary is young and naive. She too has only good intentions.

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I will reread this too. Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man) and Richard Wright were friends. This time I will listen. Narration by Peter Francis James is available at Audible and Downpour, and it is supposed to be good.

Will I still give this four stars on my second reading? ...more

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May 15, 2019 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, american-lit, classics, 1001-books

Richard Wright was born in Mississippi in 1908. All four of his grandparents were born into slavery and freed as a result of the Civil War. Both grandfathers served in the Union military. Richard’s dad was a deadbeat who deserted the family when Richard was only 6 years old. Due to several moves and his mother’s stroke, Richard was 12 years old before he had attended even one day of school. But he was an intelligent boy who found himself in sixth grade only one year later, and two years after th Richard Wright was born in Mississippi in 1908. All four of his grandparents were born into slavery and freed as a result of the Civil War. Both grandfathers served in the Union military. Richard’s dad was a deadbeat who deserted the family when Richard was only 6 years old. Due to several moves and his mother’s stroke, Richard was 12 years old before he had attended even one day of school. But he was an intelligent boy who found himself in sixth grade only one year later, and two years after that (at age 15) he published his first story. By the age of 19 Richard was supporting his mother and younger brother and the family left the south and moved to Chicago.

In 1938 Wright was earning enough money with his publications and stipends to support himself while writing. He moved to Harlem and began writing this novel, Native Son. It was published in 1940, and was quickly chosen by Book of the Month Club — the first such book written by an African American.

Written in thee parts, (named Fear, Flight and Fate), the book is intense. It is violent, shocking, and unyielding. Wright was criticized for it. The first two parts are a tautly paced character portrait which introduce us to Bigger Thomas who commits one murder by mistake and another with impunity. He seems to find his own identity and agency through these crimes. He seems to be stronger because of them. He seems to be excited by the second murder — he likes it because it makes him feel powerful.. These sections of the book beautiful build the story and allow us to find empathy and compassion for Bigger despite his actions.

In the third part, Bigger is hunted, caught, and tried for murder. The focus is on the trial and this section is a strong commentary on racism in America. I found it moving, sad, raw and real. Despite the fact that it was written 80 years ago, it felt like a powerful social commentary on racism in America, today. I enjoyed the first two parts more, but the third made me think more.

4.5 stars

“If only ten or twenty Negroes had been put into slavery, we would call it injustice, but there were hundreds of thousands of them throughout the country. If this state of affairs had lasted for two or three years, we could say that it was unjust; but it lasted for more than two hundred years. Injustice which lasts for three long centuries and which exists among millions of people over thousands of square miles of territory, is injustice no longer; it is an accomplished fact of life.”

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