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Ben Siems's Reviews > Native Son
Native Son
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My older brother Larry, who is extremely well-read, recently came to town for a visit. He had with him a copy of Native Son. I asked what prompted him to re-read it. He explained that he had actually never read it before, which he confessed was really odd, given that the book is an undisputed classic.
Well, here is Larry's two-word review of the book:
Holy shit.
I concur.
Those who have studied the Harlem Renaissance know that Richard Wright was a passionate, angry man, the writer about whom other African American writers of his era would say, "Well, I'd never write THAT, but I'm glad someone did." Native Son is a brutally frank look at the racial divide of the America of the 1930s, and the relevance to today is positively painful.
There have been many profound and moving stories, both true and fictionalized, of young black men wrongfully accused of crimes. This book dares to tell the story of a young black man who, in a moment of panic, commits a horrible act. That makes the way the man is treated thereafter so incredibly present and real. You can't read this story from a distance. You're in it, you feel it so palpably.
I think Native Son is one of the most powerful and important American books ever written.
Well, here is Larry's two-word review of the book:
Holy shit.
I concur.
Those who have studied the Harlem Renaissance know that Richard Wright was a passionate, angry man, the writer about whom other African American writers of his era would say, "Well, I'd never write THAT, but I'm glad someone did." Native Son is a brutally frank look at the racial divide of the America of the 1930s, and the relevance to today is positively painful.
There have been many profound and moving stories, both true and fictionalized, of young black men wrongfully accused of crimes. This book dares to tell the story of a young black man who, in a moment of panic, commits a horrible act. That makes the way the man is treated thereafter so incredibly present and real. You can't read this story from a distance. You're in it, you feel it so palpably.
I think Native Son is one of the most powerful and important American books ever written.
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Finished Reading
December 26, 2007
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Apr 16, 2009 08:29PM
Holy shit, indeed!
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I concur. Then, you watch footage of protesters being soaked by fire hoses 15 years later and you gotta wonder how many people actually read Native Son.
Jason Williams wrote: "I concur. Then, you watch footage of protesters being soaked by fire hoses 15 years later and you gotta wonder how many people actually read Native Son."That's for sure. I only wish I felt that the percentage of Americans who have read the book had substantially increased since then.
I just read it for the first time at 41. I read Baldwin at too young of an age and just always felt like I didn't need to read Wright. Same reaction: Holy Shit!
I really liked your review, Ben. Thanks. Finally read Wright myself this year, at age 53.
Pretty sure it's during the '30's since it was published in 1940, but "Holy Shit" is right.
Thanks for the correction. While it is true that Wright's work on the original version of Native Son spilled into 1940, and that variations and expansions were the author's primary project well into 1941 (including a dramatic version that ran on Broadway, mid-1941 through 1942), your criticism is accurate and appreciated. Wright wrote the bulk of the novel in 1939, while under a Guggenheim Fellowship he received for Uncle Tom's Children.
required reading in high school,but that was so long ago I can't even remember it!! Just begun reading it again...
Gonna read it right now!!!!
Holy Shit is spot on. This book has always been on numerous reading lists during my high school days, however, I never really gravitated towards it. Now that I am in my 30's and more conscious of my African American history, this book found me. I guess back then, I wasn't ready to receive the message, but man, it was worth the wait, while at the same time, I am pissed off that it took me this long to read such a powerful and extremely prophetic book.
There were times I could not read another word because I could feel what was about to happen. I was so invested in this book, I thought maybe if I didn't read it then Bigger would be ok.
I just finished. My stomach actually hurts.
Insightful, thought-provoking and so sad. That b*stard Buckley’s summing up was painful to read.
You’re right, it is a classic. I also suggest ‘Just Mercy’. Another ‘holy sh**’ book that will leave you even more unsettled because it’s non-fiction and, in my view, on its way to becoming a classic.
well said! your review starting with "HOly…" is right on!!!
Nailed it...enough said!!
Nice review. Great book. Also bowled over by the power of Black Boy.
Not sure I’ve ever read a more spot-on review of a book, so kudos to you on that. I agree with all this 100%.
Kim, I know what you mean. I’m reading it right now for a class, and I keep putting it down because I know what’s coming for him. I’m so glad that our prof assigned it because I may not have read it otherwise. Excellent review as well!
when i had read 30 pages or so, I said to my adult daughter "i don't think I can read this". But not being one to not finish once i start, i read on.......... and finished. like previous review my response is "HOLY SHIT"
This book is gut wrenching and breath taking. The writing is a powerful rendering of a very angry young man who feels so many conflicting emotions. He is achingly alert to an unbearable reality that for this reader was palpable. Not a book I will forget.
Yep. Same feeling after I read it. Unbelievable complex and could fill conversations, debates, and deep thoughts for a whole college course.
Yes, I 100% agree. One of the most powerful and important books ever written. Borne out of such pain and fury. You can't turn away. You are forced to face the truth about our nation.
Yup, I loved this! I'm going to have to read "Black Boy" next.
I just finished this morning. Yes! This book is particularly outstanding.
I’m 70 years old and have read a lot of fiction including all of Dreiser. I say that because it is easy to get blown away by any book if one doesn’t read and that An American Tragedy is an earlier novel that kept coming to mind. It is basically the same kind of story with the exact authorial intent. Basically, “it ain’t the guy, this compelled by circumstance individual, at blame here. It all of us for letting these exploitive and maddening socioeconomic systems drag on.
Dreiser’s novel is from 1925 and written by a Midwest German immigrant type. Native Son 1939 by a black souther with that horrible background. Native Son on one level reads as a hard core crime novel like the other that emerged from The Great Depression, Dreiser brutal scenes are more polite the rough 30s stuff was just in short pants still, and pop was working.
I came to this via Algren’ Morning Never Come which is really great as well. They were Chicago CP comrades.
An incredibly powerful book. Well said.
