Rating: 
Summary: Compelling look at racism &the struggle for self knowledge
Review: An epic of a novel, Another Country really is two novels in one: the first is the story of Rufus Scott, a black man living in the segregated world of NYC in the 50's, struggling to find a way out of the mire of alienation and self-hatred, while the second is a portrait of the people who are left behind after Rufus exits the stage. The first part is gripping and beautifully realized, while the second is a much more pedestrian look at a collection of confused, tormented folks scanning the streets of Manhattan as well as each other's beds in search of meaning. Baldwin is an amazingly original and insightful writer, yet the novel feels anticlimactic after the first section narrated by Rufus, and the conclusion seems too pat. Still, for its discussion of issues of race, class, homosexuality, adultery, and the struggle for self-knowledge, Another Country, published in 1962, was far ahead of its time.
Rating: 
Summary: AN AMERICAN CLASSIC!
Review: Baldwin offers the most unique insight to race and sexuality in America ever offered the reading public. This book is a must-read for anyone with half a brain (those without, like the customer who thought it "pollutes the mind" with its sexual themes, will do best to stick to John Grisham and Tom Clancy. Fight through the dreary first chapters and let yourself be sucked in by the rich characters' inexplicable humanism.
Rating: 
Summary: noble failure
Review: Baldwin wrote wonderful, perceptive essays, but he lacked the imaginative power to write great novels. This is a very mediocre existential screed, about a young writer, Vivaldo, and his circle of friends. Vivaldo is a blocked writer, and has the weight of sadness on him with a black friend - the soul of the novel and of course a jazz musician - who killed himself. Only he faces his fears, as did some of his friends, does he un-block himself. THe end. It has been done elsewhere, and better at that. Baldwin meant well, but the story is rather flaccid. Not recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Too much flavor has been cooked out of this steak!
Review: Considered by some to be James Baldwin's most powerful and riveting novel, I can only praise the uncut text version. The audio is an indefinite idea, exciting as a snake's hip. In this comtemporary masterpiece, a year in the life of it's main eight characters is not detailed enough in this form. Howard Rollins reading was good, in itself, however (I read the book six times) I found Andrew Simpson's abridgement puzzling. Although some of the best scenes are present and well done, I do not understand why he chose to change the climax by eliminating the final chapter of the book. It needed four audio tapes instead of the traditional two. I've always been struck with absolute fascination by Baldwin's presence - his writing is artistic proof that The Word is Living. The essence of his intensity always suceeds, he sometimes seems to be the Laurence Olivier of literature - however this performance does not endure like Shakespeare. It is a tad short on words and vigor, but don't be discouraged, for those that are exposed to Another Country here for the first time, it can probably still be a somewhat rewarding and tolerable listening pleasure.
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Summary: Another Soliloquy of woe
Review: First of all, I could not really put this book down while reading. I did get lost in the lives and the time and the city of the characters. I cared for them and understood the phacades they felt they had to put on, however, I often found it too over-emotional. Baldwin does make you uncomfortable with his brutal honesty, the horror of exisiting as an outsider always travels with the reader. That's good, and I do enjoy the book. But it takes away after a while. The dialogue becomes very rhetorical and forced. Everything is just layed out, instead of kind of put through with some drama. Now I'm not saying you always have to hide your message in some hemingwayish way in the dialogue, but I find it hard, at times, to believe that these characters are real people because of the stuff they say. Overall, I loved the book, though. It is timeless, yet it paints a picture of a particular time in NYC that is vivid and brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite novel
Review: Gay, straight. Man, Woman. Black, White. Foreign, American. Poor, Rich. Abuser, Abused. This novel deconstructs each of these binaries and challenges so many notions on so many levels it can be called no less than a masterpiece. This book takes the reader on a journey around the world and through the human heart. It asks the reader what it is to love. It speaks to all levels of the human experience. A book one can read over and over finding new things each time. In Book One, we are introduced not only to the white elite of Manhattan, but the homeless dirt poor of that same isle. We are confronted with suicide, domestic violence, and the taboos and non-chalance of a different time. In Book Two, we learn of another character, his lover, and the story of staying true to one's loyal companion while confronting the temptations that come with fame, loss, and familiarty. Baldwin succinctly wraps up this near-epic in Book Three. This book still affects me today. Rocking some of my true hardcore ideals. A must read for anyone with a mature mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip it, definitely not his best
Review: I am usually quite an avid Baldwin fan but I was a bit surprised by why this book got rave reviews. It is certainly not vintage Baldwin: it does not have the quick, emotional power of his short stories, the fire of his non fiction, or the stinging dialogue of his plays. The story and plot are fine, but the dialogue is tedious and over-done and at points, hard to believe. Stylistically, I've read better Baldwin, much better - and for me, that has always been one of the most attractive features of his writing. The ease with which he places personality on character in his other works (e.g. Sonny's Blues) is notably absent in this one. Though it does address some very relevant issues of our times, I don't know if it should be included in American standard fare as many critics contend.
Rating:
Summary: A life-saver
Review: I can only echo the praise of several other of the reviewers here. This has always been my favorite of all Baldwin's novels, one that literally saved my life at the time I first read it. My deep empathy with the pain the characters were undergoing (so like what I myself was feeling at the time) and the gratitude I felt for the fact that they were SO eloquent in being able to verbalize that pain made this book an indelible a part of my life. In the years since my first exposure to it, I have read and re-read it innumerable times and it never fails to have a profound effect on me. As close to Dostoyevsky as any American novel has ever come, in my opinion. No distancing irony -- it's a book that believes deeply and asks you to feel deeply (the ultimate crime, it seems, in these post-modern times when you're never supposed to be caught actually CARING about anything). There's no way I could recommend it highly enough.
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Summary: JB looks at diversity from several angles- insightful.
Review: I felt after reading this book almost as if I had just finished viewing a round table discussion about racial conflict, class conflict, and bisexuality all wrapped in one. I am blessed to have known such rich and visionary literature. This is a very insightful book. Baldwin comes at his subject matter fired up, yet without extreme bias. His pendulum is shifty, and raises quizzical emotions from the reader. Baldwin tackles issues of mammoth social and political porportion with profound insight. I had heard that this book was an insider's look at Homophobia in the late 50's and early 60's- I had heard wrong. This book is a study of diversity, acceptance, and love. It forces the reader to probe the age old query- Is it really possible to be in love with two people at the same time? I can only conclude that juggling 2 or more lovers, like some of these characters do, must be like walking into a pit of fire- the endeavors are certain to scar you, and change your view of love and the world for ever. I think at least one of the characters is in love with the existential high of being wanted and being a lover, more than being eternally and unconditionally loved in general. It forces one to really question norms and prohibitons, how fickle and momentary they actually are- how we change our own prohibitions to suit us personally. This book is a profoundly courageous exhibit of power, rage, societal pressure and persuasion, desperation, and violence. It is not a book that corrupts an OPEN mind, yet a glimpse at all of the corruptive evils that still exist in the U.S. after nearly forty years. It is a glimpse at the journey toward capturing the "brass ring" in one's life, the writing probes the question: Is all of the pain and suffering really worth it? Baldwin leaves this reader feeling that the lessons learned along the way in one's coming of age echo far more deeply into the cavern of one's soul, than obtaining the brass ring itself. This is a profound, ground shattering breakthrou! gh in writing for ANY era. His writing will never go out of style for the intelligent and savvy literary thinker---- An open mind is an estuary, abundantly seeking the richest minerals that the tide has to offer! Read this vividly moving tale with a blind fold, and seek to learn from it.
Rating:
Summary: shattering
Review: I finished this book yesterday, and it took me a while to read it, because I could only take it in 30-50 page increments at a time, it was too intense and I kept finding myself staring off into space, dwelling on these characters. This is book made me fall apart in so many places, it touched on so many emotions, it was so incredible. The back cover says all that one can say about this book when asked what it is about. Men and women, stripped of their masks of color and gender, to reveal passion at its most sublime. How we interact with eachother is so limited based on all these labels that we give one another. And it's not that we want to give these labels to people, we can't help it, because of our surroundings and civilization. People have such fixed ways they have developed in how they deal with different groups/minorities. After these labels are shed away (which don't really exist, except in the idea), you are left with the person that you could love or despise. Who inspires you or thwarts you. How can we live in this world when there seems to be no chance for anything to exist harmoniously with eachother. That other country, where that harmony does exist, where is it? Is it everywhere? Does it not exist at all? Are we capable of communicating without the labels that cover those we interact with? This book made me feel so much. I can't recommend it enough to everyone. It is not a book about black/white, homosexuality, rich/poor . . .it's a book about people. It shows the prejudices that are still very much alive in our culture today, many of which people believe to have gotten better.
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