Another Country

This is my favorite work of fiction I've read by James Baldwin so far. I found Giovanni's Room psychologically astute -- it told the truth about internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity -- but it was ugly and relentlessly pessimistic. I read not just because I'm looking for truth about the world, but also because I'm lonely. Giovanni's Room just made me lonelier.If you haven't read James Baldwin's fiction, then Another Country is a wonderful place to start. He doesn't shy away from portraying racism, patriarchy, and capitalism as unstoppable, hegemonic forces and institutions, but he gives us readers hope, a real chance at love. Love (and sex) are as present as hate in this book, and while Baldwin doesn't offer love as a panacea for racial and gender violence, exactly, he makes us feel what a gift it is, intimacy with other people, different people. That intimacy is doomed -- it can't last -- but it's still beautiful all the same, and maybe it can teach us something.And as a reader, I loved these characters despite their cruelty and propensity for violence. The worst of human behavior is present here, ranging from sexual violence to physical and emotional abuse and the near-constant threat of racial terrorism, but these crimes are contextualized and it's clear that perpetrators are also victims, broken down by social forces and histories greater than themselves.Baldwin is skillful at rendering characters as three-dimensional human beings. In particular, Baldwin did a fantastic job writing female characters in this story: Ida and Cass are remarkably human, sympathetic without falling into familiar tropes. And for queer readers, especially POC queer readers, I think this book is genuinely a gift. If some of James Baldwin's characters are capable of self-love and fresh beginnings, then perhaps we are, too. This book is like music.

A book that needs to reappraised today when we need it more than ever, James Bawldwin's Another Country is one of the most honest books I'll ever read. Set in Greenwich Village, Another Country blows the lid off the "pretty, wholesome, good ole America" image of the 1950s with total abandon and disregard. All the main characters-- Rufus, Vivaldo, Cass, Ida, Eric-- are angry, either outwardly, silently, or, sometimes, both. The problem alies when they can't quite figure out what makes them so resentful and bitter and, ultimately, hopeless, helpless. Whether it's Rufus's black rage destroying his life slowly but surely or Cass realizing the truth about women who tell themselves they want the "white picket fence" Haven of marriage and children, or proud, liberal Vivaldo coming to grips with the fact that loving black people is not the same as understanding them; or Eric battling his self hatred over his homosexuality, the characters searching for and discovering these truths are on a road paved with broken glass and flowers, as revelations can be as beautiful as they are ugly. The characters themselves are made of glass and flowers, too, as they can be as thoughtful, just, and kind as they can be willfully ignorant, selfish, and plain mean.Again, it's the honesty of it all, perfectly crafted by James, that makes the story as compelling and prescient and rough and complicated and uplifting as it is. I need to spread James Bawldwin's masterful sensitive words and prose to as many people as possible.

Loved this book. The characters as well as the story is raw with insight and emotion. The characters struggle with their lives, their work, their place in society in a New York City of another era but not so different from today.

APPRECIATE HAVING THIS AUTHOR WORK IN MY READING LIBRARY.HE IS A LITERARY & NECESSARY GIANT!!! THANKS APPLE FIR RELEASING THIS VOLUME TO THE MASSES.

Another Country is a fantastic book with many themes and messages that are sadly still relevant for our times. James Baldwin is a talented author who tells a story set in the late 1950s, explaining racism through splendidly developed characters. Rufus Scott, a Black drummer who is deeply affected by a world that does not understand his soul, commits suicide early in the story, and the rest of the book focuses on the people who knew him and their imperfect relationships. Few authors can develop characters as powerful as Baldwin’s. Through the characters’ interactions, love affairs, and dialog, the reader comes to appreciate Black Americans’ issues. Ida, Rufus’s sister, vividly conveys the plight of the Black American female. Ida is so overpowered by some of the men in the story that we begin to see how important it is for Black women to tell their stories. Interracial relationships are depicted throughout the novel, and the omniscient narrator describes the feelings of the characters and those they encounter in a realistic, thought-provoking manner.Additionally, Baldwin’s narrative includes explicit sexual encounters between gay and bisexual characters in a world that is unaccepting. Some of the most poignant takeaways are about relationships and commonalities in all relationships. Baldwin’s characters converse in a manner that is universally understood and relatable.

It’s incredible, his ability to distill the immense weight of the past and present being held at all times while american

It's James Baldwin, which means it will be not only good but amazing! Excellent book about relationships, love, sexuality, racism, worth reading!

The book is great but the quality of the book is not that good.

I have bought this book over and over again as each time friends borrow but never returns. This is a classic which I've read many times. Wonderfully written which makes a great read.

Deals with so many identity issues. A very captivating read that gives you a lot to think about. Still relevant today

First read this when I was nearing the end of high school. Read it a second time in my fifties. And now, approaching the age of seventy, I just finished reading it again. As to be expected, it was different each time. It affected me most when I was seventeen and a half years old, a time when I could barely read, yet it is with this most recent reading that I truly appreciate this novel—James Baldwin, Another Country—a gem.