Between the World and Me in FoCo Readers

Dec 08, 2015 Paul Binkley rated it it was amazing

This is one of the most beautiful and cynical books I have ever read - and the cynicism is persuasively defended. Coates' artistic language never felt forced or pretentious. Instead, it enhanced his argument and made his prose all the more engaging. It is an exigent and powerful book. For nearly two weeks I have been mulling over how to best write this review. I have decided I cannot truly write the kind of review this books deserves, but I feel compelled to write a review all the same.

I "read" This is one of the most beautiful and cynical books I have ever read - and the cynicism is persuasively defended. Coates' artistic language never felt forced or pretentious. Instead, it enhanced his argument and made his prose all the more engaging. It is an exigent and powerful book. For nearly two weeks I have been mulling over how to best write this review. I have decided I cannot truly write the kind of review this books deserves, but I feel compelled to write a review all the same.

I "read" this by listening to the audio book, which is read by the author himself. This is a letter from Coates to his son, so hearing it in his voice seemed appropriate. However, I also understand the appeal of experiencing it more gradually, allowing it to be read more meditatively. There is a great deal I would have liked to stop and consider, so I have decided I need to read a hard copy of the book as well.

Since this book is rooted so thoroughly in Coates' life and contexts, I feel I need to position myself (and my reading of this book) within my contexts. I was born into nearly every kind of privilege. That has meant there is a great deal about inequality and oppression I cannot truly understand, other than having insight into how privilege can operate. Coates' book articulates the oppression and institutional racism in America far better than I ever could. I have periodically tried to explain those ideas to others (at least explain it to the degree I can understand), and now I feel I should hand them this book instead.

I really can't recommend this book enough. It is uncomfortable, it is tragic, and it is beautiful. That's everything this book should be: I should not be comfortable with the issues Coates describes. No one should. So it is a difficult read in many ways, and many people will bristle at Coates' claims and his argument's implications. However, as long as the reader doesn't enter into this discussion with an antagonistic or defensive attitude, they will walk away with a much better understanding of one of the most important issues in America - and it's an issue that has been present from America's earliest beginnings. ...more

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Oct 05, 2015 Stina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-selections, finished-in-2015, top-reads-of-2015, goodreads-choice-finished-earlier

Book #43 for 2015

This was a difficult and uncomfortable read for me. As it should be. As a white American, I felt like I was eavesdropping on an intimate conversation, and as this book was a letter from a father to his teenage son, that was very much the case. As a white American, though, I can learn from this powerfully written indictment of white America and how thoroughly it has embraced the brutality upon which the nation was founded. I can begin to recognize how I have been part of this cul ...more

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