“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
I think, for me, it is Normal People by Sally Rooney and Chanel Miller’s memoir, Know My Name
This quote comes from “The Fire Next Time” and wanted to share it here. So powerful. Baldwin left us such an incredible legacy.
Does the Mormon concept of God and it’s doctrines make members more loving and freer? I have my thoughts but I’ll ask for all of your comments.
Hi everyone! I’m currently reading Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin and im finding a lot of claims that sound like arbsurdism ( or it could just be themes from existentialism)
When talking about humans he says “He is not, after all, merely a member of a Society or Group or a deplorable conundrum to be explained by Science. He is- and how old-fashioned the words sound!- something more that that, something resolutely undefinable, unpredictable. In overlooking, denying, evading his complexity- which is nothing more than the disquieting complexity of ourselves- we are diminished and we perish; only sighing this web of ambiguity, paradox, this hunger, danger, darkness, can we find at once ourselves and the power that will free us from ourselves”
I know that was a long quote, I found more but didn’t want this to be too long. I just find it really interesting because I found his “overlooking” the complexity of humans part really similar to Camus’ Philosophical Suicide
‘About my interests: I don't know if I have any, unless the morbid desire to own a sixteen-millimeter camera and make experimental movies can be so classified. Otherwise, I love to eat and drink—it's my melancholy conviction that I've scarcely ever had enough to eat (this is because it's impossible to eat enough if you're worried about the next meal)—and I love to argue with people who do not disagree with me too profoundly, and I love to laugh. I do not like bohemia, or bohemians, I do not like people whose principal aim is pleasure, and I do not like people who are earnest about anything. I don't like people who like me because I'm a Negro; neither do I like people who find in the same accident grounds for contempt. I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. I think all theories are suspect, that the finest principles may have to be modified, or may even be pulverized by the demands of life, and that one must find, therefore, one's own moral center and move through the world hoping that this center will guide one aright. I consider that I have many responsibilities, but none greater than this: to last, as Hemingway says, and get my work done.
I want to be an honest man and a good writer.’
So any recommendations for real human drama would be greatly appreciate. Due to McCullers name being mentioned, yessum I'm aware of Faulkner but have yet to tackle Cheers
I just finished reading Giovanni’s Room and I can’t decide how I feel about it. I enjoyed the style of writing and it was interesting to read about the early 20th century, especially in Paris. However, it felt like the whole book was just giving context for the only actual plot point, which happened in the last 20 (out of 160) pages. I’m going to think about it, and I’m sure I’ll reread it in a few years and have a different opinion, but does anyone else have any thoughts? I’m wondering if I just missed something, as I read it primarily on my lunch breaks so it was a bit disjointed.
Do anarchists feel any certain way about James Baldwin? Did his beliefs align with anarchists at all? Would you recommend any of his books?
