James Baldwin in Turkey
February 21, 2009
The Feb. 9-16th issue of The NewYorker has a fascinating essay, Another Country, by Claudia Roth Pierpont about James Baldwin’s trip to Istanbul in the early 1960s. There is a new book out about this journey and about his later life (James Baldwin’s Turkish Decade, by Magdalena J. Zaborowska) that the essay essentially reviews– a bit unevenly. I enjoyed the essay and learning more about Baldwin, but then I also realized much to my dismay: I’ve never read any of James Baldwin’s books.
I’ve known of him for years, since high school in fact and I’ve long been intrigued by his life: gay, black, acquaintance (often tumultuously) of Richard Wright, activist, lively social life (especially in NYC), extensively traveled. And I know i’ve read articles about him before, but I do find it odd that i’ve never picked up a book of his. Maybe not so odd– there are hundreds (thousands? millions?) of writers whose books I should be picking up and reading!
I want to be an honest man and a good writer.
–James Baldwin
Any recommendations for which of his books to read first? (so I can add it to the list of 15,071 other books I need to read before I die).
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February 22nd, 2009 at 6:35 am
I’ve been reading No Name in the Street lately. It’s memoir/essay and amazingly relevant right now. I’d recommend it, for sure.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Giovannis Room…when it first came out many didn’t know it was written by a black man…
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
i’ve read “go tell it on the mountain” and “giovanni’s room.” both were good, although i liked “go tell it on the mountain” more–there’s just a torrent of emotion behind it that’s so compelling. “giovanni’s room” is perhaps more historically significant in that it’s a novel about gay men written and published during a time when gay protagonists were unusual outside of pornography.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Hi Rob. I think Baldwin is like a few other super-intelligent writers I admire, such as Gore Vidal: he is at his absolute best as an essayist, and in comparison his fiction always feels a little stagy to me. The last book he wrote is called Evidence of Things Not Seen and is around a hundred pages. He visits Atlanta during Wayne Williams’ murder trial and talks to lots of people about the Atlanta child murders. It’s a truly amazing book. Then try Notes of a Native Son. Then, Giovanni’s Room, which is especially good if you can make yourself nineteen again. BC
March 26th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Bard,
Thanks for the tips. I read about Evidence of Things– it sounds intriguing. I’m going to have to check it out.