Stephanie Jane reviewed If Beale Street could talk by James Baldwin
And nothing has changed
5 stars
The aspect of If Beale Street Could Talk which most deeply hit me was realising that James Baldwin's novel was set in the early 1970s - and published in 1974 - yet it appears to be just as illustrative of Black America today as it was then. Nothing has improved with regards to police racism, in fact, from the news reaching me here in the UK, things may even have gotten worse.
Baldwin's sharp prose throughout If Beale Street Could Talk kept me glued to the story from its first page to the last. I loved how deeply he portrayed his characters, within what is a relatively short novel, and how those people interacted so realistically. The young 'Romeo and Juliet' couple at the centre, Tish and Fonny, should be at the happiest point of their lives together - they are planning to get married and Tish is expecting their …
The aspect of If Beale Street Could Talk which most deeply hit me was realising that James Baldwin's novel was set in the early 1970s - and published in 1974 - yet it appears to be just as illustrative of Black America today as it was then. Nothing has improved with regards to police racism, in fact, from the news reaching me here in the UK, things may even have gotten worse.
Baldwin's sharp prose throughout If Beale Street Could Talk kept me glued to the story from its first page to the last. I loved how deeply he portrayed his characters, within what is a relatively short novel, and how those people interacted so realistically. The young 'Romeo and Juliet' couple at the centre, Tish and Fonny, should be at the happiest point of their lives together - they are planning to get married and Tish is expecting their child - but for the prejudiced realities they face every day. I got more and more angry at the unfairness and injustice they encounter as the novel progessed, partly fuelled by how Tish and her family took everything in their stride so pragmatically. Their normality should not be normal for anyone!
If Beale Street Could Talk was the first of Baldwin's novels I have read and I admit that I did not expect his work to be so shockingly relevant after almost fifty years. He is such an observant author and I was impressed at how naturally he made his points within the story. This is brilliant political fiction.
