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Cross Of Redemption: Uncollected Writings (2010)

by James Baldwin(Favorite Author)

4.35 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1299018033 (ISBN13: 9781299018037)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Vintage Books

review 1: Probably the most electrifying writer I have ever read, and one of the most provocative minds twentieth-century America ever produced. The essays here, as elsewhere, are astonishing -- both subject and style. It was hard for me to read this book, because I miss Baldwin's fierce humanism: so often I wonder what he would have to say about the state of our nation and the world today. (In his excellent introduction, Kenan talks about this.) I can't help but think that if he hadn't been taken so soon, Baldwin, with his relentless insistence on speaking truth to power, might have changed the tone of the discourse in America. The book reviews that are included (of mostly forgettable books) seem like a mysterious choice, but they highlight his playful (or withering) sarcasm -- let... more's face it, it's almost always more fun to read a bad review than a good one-- or his philosophy of writing. Because they are included in chronological order, the reader can follow the evolution of his style and philosophy.Baldwin's nonfiction, in my opinion, is much stronger than his fiction --with the crucial exception of "Go Tell It on the Mountain," his first novel. Kenan includes a short story, "Death of a Prophet," which was a study for the novel and anticipates its brilliant prose. Gorgeous.
review 2: "An absorbing portrait of Baldwin's time - and of him", The New York Review of Books state on the cover of The Cross of Redemption - a collection of essays, reviews, speeches and letters by the American author. And this is very true; Baldwin tells us of the American psyche and conscience spanning from the '50s to the '80s, painting the sharp details of the prejudice and fears that were eating the public's hearts, then as well as nowadays. He tells of the American dream, which is exactly that - a dream as easily shattered as the ones we experience at night, fading in front of our eyes as we wake up to face the world. The Cross of Redemption is certainly an awakening of sorts. Much is familiar, we know too much of these false dreams already, but we haven't heard it spoken in as clear and singeing words as these before. But as much as this book tells about the state of affairs of Baldwin's time and age, more than anything, this book had a lot to say about myself. I first picked this up roughly a year ago, and felt appalled by the coarse reality I witnessed in it. Surely Baldwin was just embittered, surely he was just complaining about things with no real meaning? I put the book down a few pages in, and did not touch it again until a couple of months later. What then hid in the pages of The Cross of Redemption astounded me - so big a number of these thoughts were mine! Baldwin's writings on racism and the wishful ignorance so highly valued even today, were all thoughts that had been starting to bother my own mind. In Baldwin's words, I could set these thoughts free. And not only my thoughts, but my personal experience as well. In his essay "The Artist's Struggle for Identity", the author almost brought me to tears (and even more to joy) in recognition. It so well told the tale of my journey, of the compulsion to write and to document, and the shame and sometimes the hopelessness, and finally that burning liberation that literature brings to what you once thought was a lost soul. With this essay alone, Baldwin made me want to trust myself to hold a pen again. The rest of the book is thoughtful excursions into race, nationalism, and the self-deception of an entire people (and more). It will certainly feed any interest in both politics and writing that you might have, and is a good collection to return to every now and then just to re-read a favourite speech. Those, and the essays are undeniably the most interesting and inspiring parts, while the reviews in the end of the book might prove a little tedious to somebody who are not familiar with the books reviewed. Still, a very good book, showing that Baldwin was just as good with essays as he was with fiction. An excellent writer, whose legacy will hopefully continue to free minds years forward. less

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