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Summary: A Book From the Past, for the Future
Review: Black Boy is an enlightening story for those who didn't live during the days when segregation could be found at every corner. It calls to every area of the United States reminding us what our country went through to get where it is today. It screams remembrance and inspires those who read it to act on their beliefs.Richard Wright, the author and main character, begins when he manages to accidentally set fire to his grandparents' house. He was only four years old. Soon his father leaves his family, which shoves the family into what seems like never-ending poverty. Soon he moves to Chicago when the Great Depression hits and everything seems to fall apart. He joins the Communist Party, who soon rejects him, his mother becomes very ill, and everything else is going wrong. How he manages to dig himself out of this never-ending hole is very courageous and shows his strong will. Wright's narrative is similar to many of his other books. These include Native Son, 12 Million Black Voices, and White Man, Listen! They all tell the stories of African-Americans and their difficulties that they suffered throughout the years or segregation. Within the first fifteen minutes of reading, your heart will be touched, and you will be inspired to follow in Richard Wright's daring footsteps. I greatly enjoyed this book, although it was a little monotonous at times. I highly recommend it to not only those who lived through the Great Depression and segregation but also those who don't know what those troubles were like.
Rating: 
Summary: Good history, but somewhat "dry"
Review: An excellent historical book. I had to read it for a history class in college. The reading can be "dry" but portarys an excellent picture of life during the time the book was written. Some of it will shock the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: give it 6 stars
Review: I feel like I travelled with the boy in this story. You made me laugh, cry, confused and hopeful for you.I really loved the part when he accidently lit the house on fire. Wonderful story. I will tell anyone to read this.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst books I've been forced to read
Review: I struggled through many, many books in high school, and Black Boy was one of the worst ones I was forced to read. It was a boring, sad yawner of a tale that ranks in my top 5 worst books ever read. If you are not forced to read this book, don't inflict it upon yourself. If you do have to read it, buy the Cliff Notes or Sparknotes and save yourself a whole lot of trouble and boredom!
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Summary: A true starving artist that struggle in many different ways
Review: Richard Wright has wrote one of the most amazing books that I have ever read "Black Boy". The book starts out with his mother and father married and living togethter in the south, but Richard's father abandons the family which lead to a life of extreme poverty. Richard's mother tries as best as she possibly can to just provide food for her two sons, but many days Richard and his brother go without eating. As the years go on Richard gets use to not eating even when he is starved and is offered food and money by white northerns who come to the south. Richard faces oppression in his family by his aunt and uncle who want to beat him, because they believe his is basically an evil boy because he doesn't want to become saved in the 7th day adventist church. Richard had to pull a knife on his aunt and razor blade on his uncle in order to avoid their beatings, which was unheard of in that period of time. Richard doesn't really feel apart of the family and chooses to find reading as an escape from their oppressive life while tending to his sick mother. Richard finds racial discrimination when he is introduced to the job-market working for white people in the south. Richard is threatened by two white co-workers to the point at an optical shop in Jackson, Mississippi he quits for fear of his life. Then Richards moves to Memphis where he faces more racial discrimination and is determined to leave the south for a better life up north in Chicago. In Chicago Richard joins the communist party and sees how race is not a factor and that he is not judge upon what the communist people see, but rather his being an intellectual. Richard realizes that the communist party is an oppressive organization, because it does not promote individuality or personal thought, but rather everyone is a group that none of its policies should ever be challenge and that no one should ever turn their back to them.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling
Review: Several years ago, I was assigned the first half of this book in an American History class. I sat down expecting it to be only mildly interesting, but by the end of the first chapter I was hooked. I read the whole thing straight through, from cover to cover, in about sixteen hours, furiously scribbling notes on every page. The narrative itself is vivid and compelling, and the style, structure, and ideas in Wright's autobiography subtly echo a fascinating variety of sources, from slave narratives to contemporary sociology to classic British coming-of-age stories (such as Gosse's "Father and Son" and Butler's "The Way of All Flesh"). The book is written in two parts. The first half details Wright's hardscrabble existence and deeply unhappy childhood in the rural & urban South. He is bullied & abandoned by his feckless father, tormented by his sadistic uncles & aunts, taunted & ostracized by his resentful schoolmates, and patronised & menaced by most of the whites he meets. Throughout all these depressing experiences, Wright perserveres in educating himself and planning his escape North. (One thing I learned from the book is how determined Southern whites were to prevent blacks from moving North and trying to better themselves: Apparently, many whites had some weird psychological need to keep a people they despised close at hand for perpetual abuse!) The second half of the book details Wright's escape north to Chicago and his brief, bizarre career there as a Communist Party organizer and propagandist. As in Ralph Ellison's great novel "Invisible Man," our protagonist finally realizes that the Communists don't give a damn about improving blacks' wretched condition--in fact they want to aggravate blacks' misery in order to exploit it for political gain. The great disillusionment comes for Wright when an escaped lunatic arrives at CP headquarters and successfully impersonates a high-ranking party official. In short order, the impostor turns everyone viciously against each other and the true back-stabbing nature of the CP is revealed to Wright. He quits in disgust and sets out on his own to become a free-lance professional writer. Wright's character, as revealed in this autobiography, inspires (in me, at least) admiration for his courage & ambition, annoyance at his contempt for other blacks (the only positive black character is Wright's mother), and ultimately sympathy for a difficult but essentially decent fellow. His vividly detailed account of the constant humiliation and fear suffered by blacks in the Jim Crow South is unforgettable. His insightful depiction of the way blacks often internalized white racism and turned on each other is heartbreaking. I am very glad my professor assigned this book.
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Summary: Raw look at Pre-Civil Rights America
Review: Richard Wright's book Black Boy is a eraw narrative of growing up in Mississippi during the pre Civil Rights movement era. One can only wonder how Wright did not (by all appearances) suffer permanent mental damamge in the face of the internal and external cruelty he faced. Great story of the power of hope and the triumph of the human spirit. By the way, don't buy this without the complete second half of this tale "American Hunger," which was edited form the original 1945 version. This latter tale of his misadventures in the Chicago Ghetto and the Communist Party serves as a warning for those who look for hope in the wrong places.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Black Boy is a fictional Autobiography about Richard Wright. As a youth Richard had many problems. His father deserted the family and left them hungry for many years. Richard had problems living in a society where Blacks weren't accepted, and were treated very poorly. Richard was very intelligent. He wanted to prosper in life with his skills. It was difficult for Richard because he lived in a society where Blacks weren't allowed to prosper.
I can't relate to most of Richard's problems. As an American white girl, living in the twentieth century it's hard to understand how Richard felt, but I can relate to the incident of when his father left them. My father deserted my mother and I when I was a child. I could not understand why my father left or why my mom would cry. Later in my life, just as Richard did, I met my father again. I felt as if he were a stranger to me. I met him and never saw him again. I have no thoughts or feelings towards it. This is how I can relate to Richard.
I honestly loved the book. I liked the detailed way Richard describes his feelings and the places he visited. I like how Richard spoke his mind, which got him in trouble with the white folks. The book is very dramatic, which I enjoyed. It was like reading a novel. The whole book was great.
I would recommend this book to just about anyone. I would highly recommend this book to young teenagers. The reason is young readers can see, through this story how much times have changed for Black people. Readers will also see how cruel society can be towards minorities.
Black Boy is a fictional Autobiography about Richard Wright. As a youth Richard had many problems. His father deserted the family and left them hungry for many years. Richard had problems living in a society where Blacks weren't accepted, and were treated very poorly. Richard was very intelligent. He wanted to prosper in life with his skills. It was difficult for Richard because he lived in a society where Blacks weren't allowed to prosper.
I can't relate to most of Richard's problems. As an American white girl, living in the twentieth century it's hard to understand how Richard felt, but I can relate to the incident of when his father left them. My father deserted my mother and I when I was a child. I could not understand why my father left or why my mom would cry. Later in my life, just as Richard did, I met my father again. I felt as if he were a stranger to me. I met him and never saw him again. I have no thoughts or feelings towards it. This is how I can relate to Richard.
I honestly loved the book. I liked the detailed way Richard describes his feelings and the places he visited. I like how Richard spoke his mind, which got him in trouble with the white folks. The book is very dramatic, which I enjoyed. It was like reading a novel. The whole book was great.
I would recommend this book to just about anyone. I would highly recommend this book to young teenagers. The reason is young readers can see, through this story how much times have changed for Black people. Readers will also see how cruel society can be towards minorities.
Rating:
Summary: Failing to see the main point.
Review: Richard Wright is a communist racist who writes about how terrible he had it. His story is nothing more spectacular than that of any other child growing up in the Jim Crow South. While some parts are interesting, he gives a biased view on life in the south and the book comes off as quite boring to me. Had Wright concentrated on the raw emotion felt during those times and not of his own "hunger" the book would have been much better. I did not symphasize for the character and therefore could not get the feeling of the book. He fails to emphasize the feelings of other characters partially because he was an ignorant boy who cared only about how bad he had it. Mr. Wright did not even write that good. He fails to elaborate his feeling as well as I think he could have. The description of the terrible situtions he writes about are not heartfelt or breathtaking at all. Commenting further on his biased point of view he fails to show how terrible life was in a whole for all of the south and it does not help my feelings that he was a communist when he himself did not really understand the perils of communism. Wright could have created an amazing piece of literature but failed to because of who he was. A northener depicting the life in the south be it black or white could have done a better job. So I guess I really give Richard Wright no blame because he could not help it.
Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Review: This book is very interesting. It lets people know the life of Richard wright. It shows how life was hard for African American people in the 1920s and 1930s. I think that every person that reads this book will have a different view of life. They will see how good life is now for them. I know meny kids dont read as much but this book is highly recommended for teens.
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