Reviews

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

4.0

“Ah, that son of Noah’s had been cursed, down to the present groaning generation: A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Then the ironic voice, terrified, it seemed, of no depth, no darkness, demanded of John, scornfully, if he believed that he was cursed. All niggers had been cursed, the ironic voice reminded him, all niggers had come from this most undutiful of Noah’s sons."

Chinua Achebe in his postscript to his collection of essays, ‘Hopes and Impediments’, says of James Baldwin, “how easy it was to make Jimmy smile; and how the world he was doomed to inhabit would remorselessly deny him that simple benediction.” The very fact of being a colored person in a racist time, the difficult relations with his abusive father, the breaking away from a faith (he was deeply religious to start with) which would have him feel guilty for his natural instincts and getting criticism from his own Black community when he touched themes of homosexuality ensured a sad life for him.

‘Go tell it on the mountains’ is highly auto-biographical – the protagonist James too is deeply religious, struggling with his homosexuality, has an adoptive father who was a priest and who abused him more than his natural sons.

I thought it would be a coming-to-age book of sorts focused fully on John but it is more like a group of interconnected stories showing the impact religion has on people. With John, it resulted in repression of and feeling guilt at his natural instincts.

Gabriel, his father, too felt guilt over his own sexual affairs but each time he does so he makes himself believe that God has forgiven him even though he happened to ruin a few lives on the way – the hypocrisy. But isn’t that what religious morality is based on? Guilt, denial, fear and hypocrisy.

“I guess it takes a holy man to make a girl a real whore.”

And the women, John’s mother and aunt. They both tried to take hold of their own lives to go after their dreams only to find themselves brought down the world … or God, whatever you like – like is often the fate of so many rebellious underdogs …. and now, religion is but the last solace for them.

“There was a stiffness in him that would be hard to break, but that, nevertheless, would one day surely be broken. As hers had been, and Richard’s—there was no escape for anyone. God was everywhere, terrible, the living God; and so high, the song said, you couldn’t get over Him; so low you couldn’t get under Him; so wide you couldn’t get around Him; but must come in at the door”

..... You know come to think of it, this is second book which I have reviewed in a row which is sad. And whenever I'm depressed I turn to religion ... I mean where else will you find so many things to laugh at? But not today.

Today we have something serious to talk about - And that is this illusion that religions are against homosexuality, nothing is far from truth. The problem is that people lay too much importance on the 'word' - as if the 'word' is everything, I mean are you really naive enough to believe that spoonfuls which Mary Popkins gave to the children were, in fact, of sugar? Same aplies to rellgion. Now you can't suppose that saints or religious folks could have told those ancient or medieval folks that homosexuality is good, or later would have simply killed them. No, you have to learn to read between the lines - just think about it, religions always ask women to keep their bodies covered, seperate the people of two sexes on pretext of morality, tradition and war, the very monasteries are full of men who have nothing except books to keep then busy and are against abortion, also people of opposite sex are often addressed as 'brothers' and 'sisters' - I mean what kind of sexuality does it promote?

I tell you, you know people by their action not by their words. It says so in scriptures too - "you shall know a tree by fruits it bears". I tell you relgion is all about repressed sexuality. And then so many religious heads had multiple wives; tell me, how come no one suggested that they have a better chance at sexual satisfaction if they had tried someone of opposite sex for a change?

You don't believe me? Well, don't then. But talking about Christianity - and mind you, I have always liked Christ, because he is one of few religious figures who chose to let themselves die rather than kill or asking others to die or kill on their behalf. Moreover, for last couple of years, I have been a true Christian, I know it may not agree with some of other things I keep on saying but it is true, I have been instinctively following Christ's message - love thy neighbor. I mean, yes, she is not Christian enough to reciprocate ... I know, how infidel right! but hey there is no lacking of faith on my path.

And if you only get high on word, than remember ultimate dictum of morality across all religions 'Do not do unto others what you don't want done unto yourself'. It is impossible to follow this rule in heterosexuality due to simple physical reason of different sex organs. It is, in fact, a living adevtesiment of homosexual sex

Anyway, as I was saying, I read gospels and you know there is this particular part that I want to bring to your notice .... I'm not going to draw conclusions, all interpretations you might draw will be your own. I'm just going to state facts. So, it is the last supper time, Jesus has just announced, that it is his farewell party, to his apostles, all of whom coincidentally happen to be men, who drank from same cup (mind you, I'm not suggesting anything) and all heavily drunk and sad about Christ's departure and ....
.... And, and, and they have a whole night to themselves.

oliviaengland05's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

bhnmt61's review against another edition

5.0

This isn’t always an easy read, both because there are some difficult and horrifying stories, and also because there are a couple of sections that get a bit tedious. But there are also sections that fly by because they are so interesting. It’s about a day (maybe two? I lost track) in the home of a deacon of a Harlem Pentecostal church, but there are extensive flashbacks that provide context. It’s brilliant. Sometimes classic books are only worth reading because they are classics, but this one still works. I am always surprised when a man is able to write convincingly from a woman's point of view, but I thought Baldwin was pitch perfect writing the women in this novel. Brilliant.

weejman33's review against another edition

4.0

Started off 2024 with a bang. Love stories with multiple narrators, and this is certainly one of my favorites I’ve tackled in recent memory.

yaminipant's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.75

thechanelmuse's review

5.0

James Baldwin once said, "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else. I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal, above all, with my father. He was my model; I learned a lot from him. Nobody's ever frightened me since.”

Go Tell It on the Mountain is a semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age novel that largely centers on John Grimes (Baldwin) and three members of his family (his father, aunt, and mother) during the evening of his fourteenth birthday at a storefront church in 1930s Harlem. The story unfolds with John's contemplation of following in his father's path to become a preacher. But his internal tug-of-war with ideals of the church opposed with those of "the world" signals shifts throughout the novel, in which the footsteps of his family members travels back in time.

“There are people in the world for whom 'coming along' is a perpetual process, people who are destined never to arrive.”

Unveiling their complexities as individuals and as a family unit as a whole, Baldwin ties their present-day internal struggles into biblical allusions before artfully sweeping to and fro through memory, addressing generational parent/guardian-child relationships, morality versus immorality (sex) per the church, gender, race, and other themes.

Baldwin was truly a master of the pen.

bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition

3.0

One of those rare books that portray religion from the perspective of how it's actually lived, rather than from a detached or condescending perch. We see how it informs the language, social norms, and life choices the characters make.

It's refreshing to have a tale of American religion that isn't voyeuristic or belittling of religion (or reductive of its complexities).

avabevs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

zerofactorial's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely devastating beautiful in every way. The prose, the people, the plot. Achieves sanctity by remaining faithful while offering some very hard truths about the life of faith.

samlikestoreadbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5