Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Another Country by James Baldwin

12 reviews

pupaebug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my fourth James Baldwin novel. I have been in love with his writing style for a while now. Baldwin captures intimacy and the human condition with so much complexity and tenderness, and in a way that makes reading from other writers just absolutely pale in comparison. 

This book is the Baldwin novel I felt most excited to read since Giovanni's room. This novel was really slow at first. It took me a while to become interested in the large cast of characters, and the somewhat nonlinear narrative at the beginning of the book. 

However, after the third act, when Eric came back to NYC, I couldn't put the book down. This book felt so ahead of its time in its discussion of the nuances of race and sexuality in intimate relationships. Every single character was struggling with something, and every single character had made mistakes and done things that hurt other people, but I loved and I understood all of them. Baldwin does an incredible job of giving his characters such humanity and depth. 

I also loved the way that this book started slowly, then everything began to simmer until the tension between the characters became so unbearable that everything came out at a climax toward the end of the book. At the beginning, when I felt I was being introduced to the characters and their intricacies and relationships with one another, I could put the book down and not think about it for a while. But once shit hit the fan per say, I needed to consume every word on the page, insatiably. It was an unexpectedly riveting story.

Anyway, I loved this book and these characters. This was a beautiful story of Blackness, Whiteness, masculinity, bisexuality,

infidelity

, and love, and it was a deeply touching look at humanity through these complicated and messed-up people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Grief, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use

mayze's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Cursing, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Classism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Sexual content, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, and Physical abuse

Another amazing book by James Baldwin. Another Country tells the story of a social circle of NYC bohemians in the 1950s. Rufus a black jazz musician, Vivaldo an Irish-Italian write, Cass a wealthy liberal housewife, Ida a singer and Rufus' younger sister and Eric, an actor who just returned from some time off in France. While reading this book it's easy to understand why it's held in such high regard. The gripping writing and its clever way to interweaving different themes (racism, sexism, homosexuality/bissexuality) was decades ahead of its time and still does it better than the average book who tries to connect themes today. The characters were well written, they all have clear faults (some of them heinous) and even though none of them were overall likeable, I didn't find them particularly unlikeable either. They just felt like three-dimensional characters were the complexity and themes of the plot make some of their actions understandable from their POV. As usual, Baldwin's descriptions of NYC are very effective, you can easily picture Seventh Avenue, the dive bars the characters are fond of, coast towns in Southern France, and even how chaotic and smelly the characters' living quarters are. I highly recommend this, it's very uncomfortable at times but I feel that readers can learn a lot from it and easily put themselves in the characters' shoes even if they don't necessarily agree with their actions.

lazlio's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, and Death

slayalicious's review

challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The book is meant for a certain type of person who loves literature and can withstand the boring parts and long chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Grief

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a well written but challenging read. At times it was hard to parse the emotions of the characters, which seems so volatile. Modern readers might struggle to understand the way Baldwin writes about love and sexuality if the context of the period he is writing in is not taken into account. the human heart and mind are strange and complex creatures, and Baldwin’s writing makes clear how muddled and confusing that make our world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, and Misogyny

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Took me an entire fall to read this (not intentionally, just got really busy with school and life and lost myself a bit within all of that). James Baldwin's writing is truly a blueprint— one that many nowadays try to recreate, but no one can quite capture. The authenticity, the raw naturalness of it all, and the use of songs and lyrics to enhance an experience. Another Country's beauty lies in the pure excess that makes up a lot of the book. The characters navigating new lives and settings. The exploration of bisexuality and the world. the violence that comes in heterosexual or interracial relationships. It's a beautiful book that left me thinking about so much. there are some lines that I think will never not stick with me having read them. Above all, Baldwin's talent lies in capturing the feelings of what it means to live, and what it means to feel like you haven't quite lived enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

piperclover's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I have no idea how to rate this because I read it for class, not pleasure. I never would've picked it up for pleasure but there's a lot worth analyzing for essays

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

amkclaes's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is maybe the best book ever written, it is so beautiful and gut wrenching and tender and horrifying, and each character feels so completely real, as if baldwin could know others better than they know themselves, each small tic and feeling going completely within the character's universe, it was just haunting, in the best way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

sofipitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Still processing how I feel after finishing this. The ending felt really abrupt but I'm sure that was on purpose, this book was very much "a slice of life" so I don't think Baldwin wanted a resolution bc life often has none. But a greedy part of me still wants more. Also Baldwin's writing is beautiful as always. I think certain stories about affairs have been done to death but I think Baldwin's writing, and by having race and sexuality play role in the relationships of the characters made it excellent. In a lot of ways I wonder if plucking them out of the 1960s would have helped but probably not, we still deal with a lot of these same issues today

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs

aliannavelezzzz's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit