Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

We’ll be reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin from the 10th of Feb onwards.

Has anyone seen the film yet? The trailer (https://youtu.be/N4m3t3G3Zqc) looks great but I want to read the book before I watch the film.

Joyce Carol Oates's review in The New York Times: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...

Review from The Guardian archive: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

I viewed the film with friends last weekend. I think I might be in the minority re: "loving the movie."

Ohh that’s a shame. I guess (and hope) the book will be more enjoyable for you. Would love to hear why you didn’t quite enjoy it (as long as it is spoiler free haha!). I did read a review somewhere that said it would have been better as a play. Hmm.

I should have prefaced my comments by stating I'm not a fan of the 'romance' genre. I appreciate love/romance more if it's not the focal point of the novel/movie, but I'm not a romance novel reader, nor do I frequent romance-comedies on the big or small screen. All that said, I kept an open mind. It was an "artsy" film where one will note the mechanics of cinematography (camera angles, the use of color(s), lighting, etc), scene settings, wardrobe, blah, blah. However, there was little dialogue (much like the movie Moonlighting) and long passages of the lovers looking longingly into each others eyes. It was a bit too much for me and seemed to drag out the film....I mean, we "got" that these two were in love very early on, so let's move the story forward, please. I found myself MUCH more interested in the other characters and thought it could have been a better movie if we got more of their stories and let them "talk" more. Honestly, Fonny and Tish were a bit of a snoozefest for me and Tish annoyed me in that she states she's 19 years old 2-3 times in the movie, but at times she acted and talked like she was 12! At several points, I was wondering when will it be over; it felt longer than it actually was. I KNOW I'M IN THE MINORITY - so please don't hate me. LOL! It's not a "bad" movie....and I have no regrets viewing and supporiting it, it's just not a "must see" movie, imo.

Regina King did win Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes last night, so that has me even more interested in the film even though I'm not a huge fan of romance either.

Yes, I saw that and that was part of my comment re: the other characters being more interesting than the prime two. Those two weren't bad actors, but the supporting cast was in many ways much stronger than those two.

Here is an article for consideration:

How James Baldwin’s Writings About Love Evolved

The author is best known for arguing that emotional connection could help heal America’s racial divides. But his 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk focused instead on the bonds that held black people together.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...

I have read If Beale Street Could Talk recently.

I am not planning to see the movie as I do not think that the movie could convey what I liked about the book.

I understand that there is a difference between books and movies (and in reality I am not much of a movie watcher) but the comments about the cinematography does pique my interest.

I do recommend the book because the much in the book to discuss about the themes/situations.

Mocha Girl wrote: "I should have prefaced my comments by stating I'm not a fan of the 'romance' genre. I appreciate love/romance more if it's not the focal point of the novel/movie, but I'm not a romance novel reader..."

Very interesting! Yeah I’m not a huge fan of romance novels or movies and it’s a shame that the movie was disappointing. Sometimes arthouse movies can take things too far and miss the point entirely ha ha! :)

Beverly wrote: "Here is an article for consideration:

How James Baldwin’s Writings About Love Evolved

The author is best known for arguing that emotional connection could help heal America’s racial divides. But ..."

Thanks for sharing the article Beverley – so so interesting! I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t even heard of this novel until I heard about the movie. I’m more familiar with his well more popular novels (which I love) so this should be an interesting read!

Gary wrote: "I saw the film on Christmas Day. I did think it was beautifully shot and Regina was queenly. I’m very interested in how the story was originally written and imagine the arcs will be even more poign..."

I hope you are able to get hold of a copy by the 10th! There is an incredibly long waitlist at my library too haha! I loved Giovanni’s Room – which reminds me I need to reread it soon!

I read the book some years ago and reread it in anticipation of the film. I love anything James Baldwin and the film actually did the book some justice.

I want to see the movie, especially since Regina King was awarded for her role in it. Before I see it, I want to read the book first, since book is usually better than the movie.

I did see the film, just because I wanted to see how beautiful black people can look on screen with the right production crew. The continuity editor got all the historical setting details right, which was satisfying. I expect re-reading the book -- I am sure I read this 40 years ago, but cannot remember much of it now --will be an entirely different experience.

Mistinguette - glad they got the historical details right! Hope you will join the buddy read next month!

Carissa and Bernie: hope you can join the discussion :)

My copy’s just arrived. Can’t wait to start reading this weekend!

Priyanka Sofia wrote: "My copy’s just arrived. Can’t wait to start reading this weekend!"

My hold has arrived at my library, just in time!

I'm almost halfway through. I haven't read this Baldwin book before (and I am trying to complete his body of work). I'm enjoying the writing and loved the way Fonny expressed his feelings about his profession.

Me too, the writing is beautiful. It feels very different from his other works for some reason (I have only read Giovanni's Room and The Fire Next Time). Could it be because this is his only novel featuring a woman narrator?

I thought I'd share Ta-Nehisi Coates' article The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration in which he revisits the 1965 Moynihan report titled "The Negro Family: The Case For National Action".

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

As for a discussion schedule, this is a very short novel but maybe let's limit the discussion to the first 100 pages until Friday the 15th .

From Friday onwards, the entire book is open for discussion.

OK...I listened to an audio book, so I don't know where page 100 lands, so I'll wait until the 15th to share my thoughts....sadly, I think I'll be in the minority...I wasn't 'wow'd' by this offering...in fact, I was a bit underwhelmed.

Disclaimer: Let me preface my comments by saying, I’m not a fan of the Romance genre, nor am I a “romantic” at heart. I’m more so a realist; very pragmatic by nature, thus the passages surrounding Trish and Fonny’s “love” for each other (i.e. the majority of the book) were overkill for me - it took quite a bit of patience to listen to this relatively short book on 2X speed! Baldwin established early on that they were in love. I believe that once it’s established it doesn’t have to be reiterated repeatedly. Unlike others, I struggled to find the scenes sweet, touching or endearing. Granted I LOVE love; but this particular couple did nothing for me. They came off as two irresponsible ‘dreamers.’

On Tish. Tish’s voice/persona and actions were just too childlike for me to appreciate her as a ‘woman’ in love. At times, I thought she might have been a bit mentally challenged because she behaved more like a 12-year-old rather than a 19-year-old. The actress in the movie conveyed her simplistic views very well - again, in the movie, I was thinking she might be a bit challenged as well - but she was just acting as the character was originally written. She’s “babied” by her parents, protected by her sister, coddled by Fonny and then purposely gets pregnant. (Sadly, I think she uses her ability to get pregnant as a show of “love” for Fonny). She’s one-note and largely one-dimensional; no depth, no purpose but to “love Fonny, be there for Fonny, be strong for Fonny, have this baby for Fonny, etc.” It was exhausting and toward the end just sad. She had no agency of her own. At least Fonny demonstrated some talent (as a sculptor), had attempted trade school, dreamed of leaving (the country), owning a business, so while he loved Tish, he clearly had other interests and ambitions. Tish’s desires, talents weren’t mentioned or demonstrated in any way (unless I missed it- admittedly, I may have zoned out while listening).

What I liked. The book’s focus on mass incarceration and systemic racism that unfairly forces millions of AAs through a biased justice system and the devastating effects it has on the affected families and communities. I liked that Fonny had goals/talent; and he was portrayed as a very nice, caring (innocent) young man who got unjustly caught up. Loved that when the “system” didn’t work for Joe, he made it work for him (in unconventional and illegal ways).