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James Baldwin

Go Tell it on the Mountain (Penguin Modern Classics) Paperback – 4 October 2001

by James Baldwin (Author), Andrew O'Hagan (Introduction)

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James Baldwin's electrifying first novel.'I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal with my father.'Drawing on James Baldwin's own boyhood in a religious community in 1930s Harlem, his first novel tells the story of young Johnny Grimes. Johnny is destined to become a preacher like his father, Gabriel, at the Temple of the Fire Baptized, where the church swells with song and it is as if 'the Holy Ghost were riding on the air'. But he feels only scalding hatred for Gabriel, whose fear and fanaticism lead him to abuse his family. Johnny vows that, for him, things will be different. This blazing tale is full of passion and guilt, of secret sinners and prayers singing on the wind. 'His prose hit me, almost winding me with its intensity. I'd never read a novel that described loneliness and desire with such burning eloquence' Douglas Field, Guardian'A beautiful, enduring, spirtual song of a novel' Andrew O'Hagan

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin UK
Publication date

4 October 2001
Dimensions

13 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm
ISBN-10

0141185910
ISBN-13

978-0141185910
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James Baldwin
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James Baldwin
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Product description

About the Author

Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin had an early career as a teenage preacher. He lived in Paris from 1948-1956 and his first novels, the autobiographical GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and GIOVANNI'S ROOM established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes of his later works, such as racism and sexuality. He became a prominent spokesperson for racial equality, especially during the civil rights movement. He lived in France during his last years. Baldwin died in 1987.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin UK (4 October 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141185910
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141185910
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 202 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #92,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #592 in Religious & Spiritual Fiction
- #3,355 in Classic Fiction (Books)
- #8,161 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3,256 ratings

James Baldwin
4,402
Paperback
21 offers from ₹857.00
James Baldwin
2,739
Paperback
8 offers from ₹348.00
James Baldwin
424
Paperback
21 offers from ₹794.00
James Baldwin
173
Paperback
6 offers from ₹845.00
James Baldwin
1,011
Paperback
6 offers from ₹860.00
James Baldwin
2,401
Paperback
5 offers from ₹757.00

About the author

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James Baldwin

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James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic, and one of America's foremost writers. His essays, such as "Notes of a Native Son" (1955), explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-twentieth-century America. A Harlem, New York, native, he primarily made his home in the south of France.

His novels include Giovanni's Room (1956), about a white American expatriate who must come to terms with his homosexuality, and Another Country (1962), about racial and gay sexual tensions among New York intellectuals. His inclusion of gay themes resulted in much savage criticism from the black community. Going to Meet the Man (1965) and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968) provided powerful descriptions of American racism. As an openly gay man, he became increasingly outspoken in condemning discrimination against lesbian and gay people.

Photo by Allan warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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3 star		6%
2 star		2%
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Debbie Sen

About the black people of America

Reviewed in India on 26 February 2021

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‘Go tell it on the mountain’ by James Baldwin is a semiautobiographical novel. It was published in 1953. The American novelist was an important voice on racism in the mid-20th century.
The novel is about a black family living in Harlem, New York and covers a day in the life of John Grimes. It has many biblical references so non-Christians may find it a hard-read. It deals with deep-rooted social and patriarchal family oppression in the life of fourteen-year-old John.
Baldwin uses flashbacks to tell the story of John’s father, mother and aunt covering the last years of the 19th century into the 1930s. In the last chapter he also uses frames to narrate the transformation of John on the threshing floor of the church. Baldwin’s writing in this last chapter is truly vivid and striking.
He is successful in shouting out from a mountain top about the plight of the black people of America.

One person found this helpful

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Senti

Don't buy on Amazon. Fake product

Reviewed in India on 26 May 2021

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Amazon provides duplicate, terrible print copies that are bought from pirated book markets. Don't buy this book. Not legible and the paper quality is worse than tissue papers

2 people found this helpful

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Tuba Javed

Condition of the paperback.

Reviewed in India on 11 October 2019

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The paperback was damaged. Although I love the book the condition of the paperback just dampened the pleasure of reading.

One person found this helpful

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Vedika Pareek

Seller not recommended

Reviewed in India on 8 September 2020

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Re printed, bad quality, too expensive, took a month to deliver.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Mass Market bad print quality

Reviewed in India on 21 November 2021

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Don't buy the mass market paperback.

Reviewed in India on 24 March 2019

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Book pages look old

Reviewed in India on 29 March 2017

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This is the first work I read of Baldwin. Amazed at the power of his style. Some of his descriptions are so vivid, a video can't be any better.

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T. E O'C

Brilliant ideas, thin on plot

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2021

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I really liked this book. As a a non religious person, I'm always interested to see how people with faith analyse their own belief systems and the questions that can arise.

Essentially telling the story of a 14 year old boy's first religious experience, the book sets up a situation where a child has a vision of God in a church. It then goes back in time to examine how various members of his family found their own way to the church.

Examining the role of religion in post slavery and pre civil rights USA, the book is funny, engaging and has really well rounded characters. Some of the lines need to be read twice because of the subtle nudges and double meanings of expressions (for example the father character telling one of his sons he was going to be seeing Jesus as a threat), but always told with a sense of humour and heart, Go Tell It To The Mountain is well worth a read, and an interesting time capsule for the attitudes to racism in the 50s from the victims side.

One star off because very little happens in the actual "real-time" story line, but a fabulous piece of literature all the same.

5 people found this helpful

Elizabeth Morris

He's the best but this book isn't

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2020

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GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by JAMES BALDWIN

Obviously James Baldwin is one of the greatest writers of all time so I don’t need to preach about his masterful use of language and pacing and characterisation (although I just have 🤣) but I do want to tell you that even if you are an atheist - as I am - you can still take something from this novel. Yes, there were some dense passages on nothing more than the bible and God, and yes, these were a little tedious at times, but the bigger picture here is this family; John’s family, and how they came to be who and where they are now.

I loved how Baldwin took us effortlessly from past to present in order to explore how these characters became what they are in the present day.

I felt unsure and disconcerted while reading this because I was thinking about myself and my own life instead of just reading the words Baldwin had given me. I was constantly thinking about this poor young boy who is gay but will never get acceptance for that. And his religious awakening I saw more as a cry for help. One that will never be answered because the era in which he lives is not equipped to give him what he needs. Very sad. But then I feel this way after finishing any Baldwin novel.

3 people found this helpful

RYAN FIENNES

Important literature

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 December 2020

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This book is recommend, as I feel it is an important piece of literature - not just an important part of black literature.
The writer is very gifted and has produced several great pieces of work; including his essays. I purchased the Everyman's Library Classics Edition of the book, and it is that I would like to recommend.
The Everyman's Library Classics Editions, are really great quality editions, that don't cost the earth. They feature dust jackets, quality binding, and ribbon page markers; and the pages are quite thick, with good size print.

3 people found this helpful

dustspeck

Religion and racism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2020

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I read this book for a book club and so came to it with little knowledge. It took a while to get into but the effort is more than worthwhile. The book covers the topics of racism, religion and family tensions so is not exactly an easy read but is very good. Would be an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 book

4 people found this helpful

LK

Masterful Storytelling and Much More

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 June 2017

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Masterful storyteller. I loved this book and what Baldwin teaches me from a writer's perspective. It is my first time reading Baldwin and he did not disappoint me; not one bit. He writing is raw, enlightening and compelling. If you gain from this book consider reading his short story 'Going to Meet the Man'; it is the most compelling piece of fiction I have read aside from Flannery O'Connor's short story 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.' Both are chilling but Baldwin's is more so. Be prepared for something like you have never read before.

10 people found this helpful

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Go Tell it on the Mountain (Penguin Modern Classics) Paperback – 4 October 2001

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