Richard Wright
Paperback | Pages: 419 pages Rating: 4.05 | 45643 Users | 1779 Reviews
Details Books In Pursuance Of Black Boy
| Original Title: | Black Boy |
| ISBN: | 0060929782 (ISBN13: 9780060929787) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Narration Toward Books Black Boy
Gems sometimes come from unexpected places such as Richard Wright’s autobiography/novel Black Boy. I decided to read this because I discovered a free literature course named The American Novel since 1945 from Open Yale and it was the first title discussed. If interested in the course check this link: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-291. I have to admit that I did not know much about the author (he seems to be famous in the US) and I was not so keen about reading this book even after watching the introduction made by the course teacher. I was increasingly surprised when pages started to fly and I found myself totally immersed in Richard Wright’s childhood as a poor black boy in the South at the end of WW1. That was a horrible time for an intelligent and curios black boy to be alive and try to accomplish his dream of telling stories. Even though slavery was abolished, black people were treated not much better than animals by the white folks. His curiosity and his love for books made him suffer endless beatings and the wrath of his family. Moreover, His honest and straight-forward manner created conflicts with the whites. He slowly learned to control his feelings and put all his strengths in finding a way to escape to the North. I did not feel like the author was trying to make us feel pity for his childhood. The intent was more to present the facts as they were, how life was back then for a black boy. His intention is supported by the name of the book, Black boy. A generic name that can let us imagine that his experience is the experience of many of the black boys from that period. In the beginning of the review I said this is an autobiography/novel because there are many voices/proofs that contest the reality of some of the facts presented in the autobiography. It appears that some adventures were copied from other children’s experiences and some of the events happened differently than pictured here. That comes to support the idea that he wanted his autobiography to be generic.Declare About Books Black Boy
| Title | : | Black Boy |
| Author | : | Richard Wright |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | The Restored Text Established by The Library of America |
| Pages | : | Pages: 419 pages |
| Published | : | September 1998 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics (first published February 1945) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Nonfiction. Autobiography. Memoir. Biography. Cultural. African American |
Rating About Books Black Boy
Ratings: 4.05 From 45643 Users | 1779 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books Black Boy
I would give a million stars to this book if I could!!! Richard Wright lived from 1908 to 1960, the book is an autobiography taking place from around 1912 to 1928. The book mainly focuses on Wrights childhood such as the abuse he suffered under his father, his mothers illness, having to move house constantly, the ever present threat of starvation and living as a young black boy in the South after the civil war. As the story progresses, Richard is mistreated terribly by almost everyone aroundGems sometimes come from unexpected places such as Richard Wrights autobiography/novel Black Boy. I decided to read this because I discovered a free literature course named The American Novel since 1945 from Open Yale and it was the first title discussed. If interested in the course check this link: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-291.I have to admit that I did not know much about the author (he seems to be famous in the US) and I was not so keen about reading this book even after watching the
Professor Amy Hungerford points out in her Open Yale lectures:http://academicearth.org/lectures/ame...that there is a certain amount of well-founded doubt as to the absolute accuracy of this work as an autobiography. Wright, however, does not claim this as his life, but rather as a Record of Youth and Childhood, the tale of a Black Boy growing up in the Southern States between the two World Wars. Thus a generic life. There can be no doubt whatsoever about its emotional authenticity. I read this
As I learned from the excellent free Yale lecture series entitled The American Novel Since 1945 with Amy Hungerford (available on YouTube), Black Boy is in fact part autobiography and part work of fiction. Wright admits that at least several of the events described in the book did not actually happen to him. Instead the work is intended mix his own life with a portrayal of the general experience of a black boy growing up in the American South in the early twentieth century. And what a time it
Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I had clutched at books; consequently, my belief in books had risen more out of a sense of desperation than from any abiding conviction of their absolute value. If you've found your way to this corner of the Internet, the above quote should look strangely familiar. It's the most popular quote accredited to Richard Wright, and considering the context (as if that were not mandated for every critical engagement), this tells us a great
What can I say? Black Boy is arguably one of the best (underrated) autobiographies / memoirs ever written. As an author, political and social commentator and all round citizen of the world, what is there not to love about the great Richard Wright?I enjoyed this book on both a personal and political level that I'm not sure it's possible for me to break down how I feel about it into this little box, let alone critique it (although I would have loved it to have encompassed Wright's reflections on
Utterly exceptional in every way. An amazing depiction of human intolerance and Southern brutality. It makes you eager to read other books by Wright. He was such a great writing talent!
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