The novel has more space to weave together the many different aspects of social critique contained within the story. However, I highly recommend reading the book as well, even to those who have already seen the movie. Jenkins’ adaptation of the novel for the screen is certainly admirable. If Beale Street Could Talk received renewed–and much more favorable–attention only recently, with Barry Jenkins’ 2018 film adaption.
Image by Unseen Histories, public domain. Another 40+ years and countless struggles later, we can still say Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite. A 1974 New York Times review, for example, states that the novel’s focus on institutionalized racism should seem dated ten years after the Civil Rights Act. Those that looked more favorably upon the novel emphasized the importance of the topics it dealt with. I highly disagree.Īt the time of publication, If Beale Street Could Talk received mixed reviews, some of which were devastatingly critical. They are much lesser-known and, some critics argue, inferior to his earlier writings. Together with Just Above My Head, these three novels make up the later works of Baldwin. It was published in 1974, six years after Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone. This includes his firm belief in love as a remedy for the ills of American society. Baldwin’s style of writing and his particular perspective on social issues might have seemed old-fashioned and out of touch. Black feminists were recognized as a force in their own right. The Black Power Movement dominated the integrationist approaches of figures like Martin Luther King Jr. New activists and social critics came with them, their work perceived as closer to the pulse of time. A new wave of writers and literary styles arrived in the late 60s and 70s. Towards the end of that decade, however, his success slowly waned. James Baldwin was one of the central voices of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Not surprisingly, then, love is also central to my analysis of If Beale Street Could Talk. Love, its absence, and its absolute necessity for us, individually and collectively, is the fundamental theme of James Baldwin’s work. The love and the laughter come from the same place: but not many people go there. I guess it can’t be too often that two people can laugh and make love, too, make love because they are laughing, laugh because they’re making love.
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