go tell it on the Mountain

Wow!

The book is a semi-autobiographical novel that deals with so much. The main thrust of the story concerns a black church in Harlem. In the novel it is portrayed as s source of hypocrisy and also a source of strength.

Baldwin weaves his story by focusing on different people in his novel.

The prose is excellent.

Racism is a constantly in the background. There are no good white people in this novel.

I think this is an important book. Many of the problems Baldwin mentions are still present today - e.g. racism, the moral failings of the church, and the irresponsibility and dishonesty of many men when it concerns their chlldren and the women they sleep with.

This is a strange book. It spends a lot of time exploring the way injustice due to racism interacts with the religious fervor of pentecostal devouts - self-described "saints". Given what I knew of James Baldwin's later beliefs, or lack of, I was expecting the book to more consistently undermine that religious zealotry. And from my own position as an atheist, raised Catholic in Catholic schools, their way of obsessing over the Bible, constantly using religious jargon and shibboleths, experiencing what can only be described as debiltating shame and depression due to the inevitable feelings of inadequzcy that result - to be blunt they looked insane at times. Just flat out bonkers. And as a reading experience I might add that the constant repetition gets very monotonous. EVERYTHING is related back to the Bible. They interpret EVERYTHING that isn't kneeling in prayer as sin. And even when they are praying they beat themselves up over being inadequate and dirty. On numerous occassions we are reminded that the dust and grime of the Grimes family home AND of the storefront church is perpetual. It never gets cleaned despite constant work to do so. They only seem happy in the aftermath of ecstatic experiences that are superficially identicial to rituals from all kinds of religions (and cults) - not just Christianity - and when we get a description of what it feels like from a first person perspective, it hardly seems entirely positive or euphoric. Afterwards, the character ends up questioning his friend about how much work is still left to do, how being saved is really just more battle and struggle, and we are reminded that he still lives in Harlem in a racist society. But the novel never gives you a fully definitive change in character one way or the other. You don't see whether he changes as a result or whether he realizes that maybe he just had that experience out of a desire to impress and endear himself with his friend who he really has a crush on. But I think the novel overdoes the ambiguity. I could easily see someone from an evangelical background, perhaps unfamiliar with Baldwin's later thought, coming to an opposite though still somewhat qualified conclusion of how we are supposed to think about the character(s) and his/their religious faith. Great works are ambiguous, but I just think Baldwin was 15% too subtle with this one. His language as always is absolutely gorgeous although some sentences were apparently overwritten - attempting a formal eloquence but achieving a halting convolutedness. Luckily that was rare. But a lot of the eloquence in this book also came from religious language and that religious language and those ideas got soooo repetitive. When he finally breaks into a section of story telling, I felt a palpable relief. Overall I think it's good. If religious stuff annoys you, then stay far away. If you're religious and don't mind it, then I don't think you will much care for the book either simply because if you pay any attention you will easily notice how many of the ideas get subtly undermined. I still think you should read it because you, like I as an atheist, should have your beliefs challenged from time to time - otherwise they aren't worth very much.

the transition from one character's thoughts to reality was a little confusing

Excellent book, I love everything he writes. I love his truth!

After Giovanni’s Room, I never intended to read another piece of long fiction from James Baldwin. I despised that book so much, it convinced me that he just wasn’t cut out for this medium. Man, am I glad I didn’t stick with that vow. Go Tell It on the Mountain is a really, really solid piece of writing. The characters are, for the most part, fully developed, complex, and interesting. And though it’s not a plot-driven novel, the inflection points of the plot did hold some real stakes for me as a reader. Moments like John’s ecstatic rebirth, Florence’s long-awaited confrontation of her brother, Gabriel’s fall from grace (in his own eyes, at least), the story of Elizabeth & Richard, etc.—they’re each so poignant, and so well written. I was captivated, time and again. I have a feeling I’ll be re-reading this, rare as that is for me, and I kind of can’t wait.