Go Tell it On the Mountain by James Baldwin

 

Title:  Go Tell it On the Mountain

Author:  James Baldwin

Narrated by:  Adam Lazarre-White

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 45 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Libby

What is the worst birthday you’ve had?  I had a couple in a row where I had the stomach flu and then hypomesis gravidum when pregnant with my daughter. This pales in comparison to John Grimes birthday in Go Tell it On the Mountain.

John Grimes is celebrating his14th birthday and struggles with his faith over the course of a day.  The book explores the complexity of his family.  Set during the depression in New York City, will John find his morality and purpose in life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book as part of the Classics Buddy Read for June with @Dees.reads.

·       Go Tell it On the Mountain was James Baldwins first published novel in 1953.  He was thirty years old when it was published.  He did well as this novel has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English language novels.

·       This seems to be a semi-autobiographical novel as much of it is based on Baldwin’s own life.  He was born out of wedlock to an unwed mother.  His mother never told him who his biological father was.  She married a Baptist preacher.  He and his father had a difficult relationship.  He didn’t like that James like to read and had white friends.

·       This is complex story of an unhappy family.

·       This was a very well written novel, but also a very bleak story.

·       This was a coming-of-age story for 14-year old John Grimes, but it also delves into the past of his father, Aunt Florence, mother, and grandmother.

·       It was interesting look at the struggle between faith and living the life you want to live and faith versus sexuality.  As part of their faith there was no cards, music, dancing, etc. and it a struggle for the young people.

·       John’s mother Elizabeth had a tragic love story with Richard, John’s biological father.  He was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.  It broke him and caused his suicide.

·       John’s father, Gabriel, is a pastor, but greatly struggles with following his faith and avoiding sin.  He drove me insane.  He judges Elizabeth for having a child out of wedlock, something he himself also did, but never acknowledged.  The hypocrisy and double standard for sexual morality of women versus men was astounding.

·       The audiobook had a great narrator with a deep voice who was perfect for the preaching sections.

Overall, Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin was a bleak, but well written coming of age novel about the struggles between faith, racism, and sexism.