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Summary: A wonderful story of friendship and finding oneself
Review: Gaines again writes an outstanding portrayal of a teacher faced with teaching someone who they really are. I quickly read this book (in about 2 days), and loved everything about it. My students read the book for summer reading and even told me how much they enjoyed the read. Gaines shows us what it really means to be a teacher, a listener, and a friend, despite what tugs us the other way. I think we can all see some of ourselves in most of the characters portrayed in this moving story.
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Summary: A thought-provoking book
Review: When I first saw this book in a garage sale ~~ I grabbed it without reading the back of the book. It was an Oprah book and one of my goals in life is to read all the books on her list. However, when I read the excerpt of this book, I have to admit, I was a little disconcerted. I didn't want to read another depressing book. But this book is more than just depressing. It is a thought-provoking book based on the African-American lifestyle down in Mississippi. Jefferson was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death. Grant, a teacher at the plantation near Bayonne, was asked to talk to Jefferson during his last days. Because the prosecuting attorney said that Jefferson was a hog, Jefferson took it in mind that he is nothing more than a hog and should die like one. And Grant was sent to persuade him otherwise. Grant didn't go willing. Jefferson's godmother and Grant's aunt pleaded with Grant to help Jefferson die with dignity ~~ to walk "like a man" to his deathbed. This is such an insightful look into African-American relations with one another and with the whites and the rest of the world. As Jefferson nears his death, Grant spends his time soul-searching for the meaning of life, and asking those deep questions of why it was ok for a jury of 12 white men say it was ok for one black man to die. It goes on with other questions and statements. It is a book that will make you stop and think just about what the author is trying to prevail to you, the reader. This is one of the most interesting books I have read this year. I did have a problem getting into the story line, but once I got into it, the story itself grabbed me by the eyes and soul ~~ and I couldn't let go. It is still haunting me as I write this review. There is so much I want to discuss ~~ but one needs to read the book in order to know what I am talking about. And I can't give away the story either. So grab this book and learn a lesson that may change your whole perspective on things. If you can get through the first few chapters, you will be rewarded by this awesome book!
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Summary: "And that's all we are, Jefferson...
Review: all of us on this earth, a piece of drinting wood, until we-each one of us, individually - decide to be something better." So Grant Higgins, school teacher in an African-American bayou community, tells Jefferson, a young black man sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. While defending Jefferson, his public defender told the jury he was no better or worse than a hog, but his godmother was determined to allow him some dignity at his death. So, she pleaded with Grant to visit him at the jail, to teach him how to be a man. Through their relationship, both Grant and Jefferson learned about dignity, compassion, and how to live both in a world that was unkind and unfair to those of their race. This book is amazing, and should be read by everyone. The ending isn't a surprise - you don't need to speed through the book to see where it is going. But, the writing of the book, and what it reveals about the human condition, are astonishing and should be savored.
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Summary: Just BookIt2001 book club review of A Lesson
Review: A Lesson Before Dying is a must for anyone's home Library. It is definately what one would call a "modern classic". I read this book with an online book club whose name is reflected in the title of this review JustBookIt2001. We had a very poignant discussion on this book. So many themes and issues are evident in this novel. You could debate forever on the subject of capital punishment alone. Mr. Gaines does an excellent job of setting the era and letting us visualize the location that these events take place in. This novel takes you back to a time that unfortunately was not that far into our nation's past, where there is racial inquality and judicial injustice. The question is who really learn's the lesson in this story? And how far have we really come in this day and age?
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Summary: A fast read and an overall, a decent book
Review: I just finished reading A Lesson before Dying, and although I feel that the book was "OK", the reality of the book saddened me. Even though the book is categorized as Fiction, the story within its pages are all too familiar for the Black Man of today. Sadly, Jefferson was merely another example of the Black Man's burden of being tagged "Guilty, until proven Innocent." I always thought that it was supposed to be the other way around. What happened to Jefferson happens all too often, even after all these years, and that, I find, is truly unfortunate.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lesson Learned
Review: In a small Cajun community in 1940's Louisiana, Jefferson becomes an accidental party to a liquor store shoot out in which two black men and one white store owner are dead. Being black and the only survivior, he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In a desperate attempt to keep Jefferson alive, the defense pleas that "I would just as soon put a hog in the chair as this." That word, Hog, puts a dark cloud over Jefferson and the woman who raised him, his "nannan" (grandmother) Miss Emma. She knows she raised a man, not a hog. She enlists (more like forces) her friend's nephew, Grant Wiggins, to teach Jefferson that He isn't a hog, but a man. When Jefferson must die, Miss Emma wants an image of a man walking to that electric chair, not a hog going to be slaughtered. So the difficult task of giving the knowledge and pride he never had is imposed on Grant. By visiting Jefferson in prison, Grant forms an everlasting bond and both come to the realization that heroism is not always expressed by action - sometimes resisting and defying the inevitable is enough.
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Summary: Book review for my english class :(
Review: Well, I thought this book wasn't great. I'm more of a dark fantasy kind of guy, y'know, vampires and other mischievious creatures of the night. I wasn't really too interested in what happened to a black man accused of murder in the 1940's and sentenced to death. I'm not gonna lie and say this book was great, because I didn't think it was. I did like the way that Gaines was able to capture emotions though, like when Jefferson felt like he should just give up and let the white men win or when Jefferson froze in the liqour store in the beginning. Overall, I'd say read this book if you were looking for insight into the way people were in the '40s, otherwise pass it by.
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Summary: Heroes
Review: The story takes place in a small Louisiana town during the 1940's, when racism was a prominent issue in the south. A young black man, named Jefferson, is convicted of killing a white man and is sentenced to death by the electric chair. The question of the book is not if Jefferson will die, but will he face his death like a man or as a hog, as his defense attroney characterized him. Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma, begs a school teacher named Grant to visit Jefferson in his cell and educate him so he could die like a man. Reluctantly, Grant and Jefferson work together and develop a strong bond through Jefferson's writings. This book is about two heroes, Jefferson and Grant, who were able to overcome unbeatable odds and gain respect for a black man in a town full of white supremacists.
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Summary: A Lesson Before Dying
Review: A Lesson Before Dying, written be Ernest J. Gaines, is a captivating story of how a stubborn and selfish teacher named Grant Wiggins and a diminished death row inmate, Jefferson, overcome adversity to form an everlasting friendship and prove to the world how African American men can stand tall in a world where they are oppressed and belittled. When Jefferson is called a "hog" during his murder trial, it starts a chain reaction which ends up the making and death of a friend. Grant must overcome his own personal roadblocks in order for him to reach and connect with Jefferson. The lack of action in the book is easily made up with the amount deep heartfelt emotions that the characters express. A wonderful book that everyone should read.
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Summary: A Little Disappointed
Review: Ernest J. Gaine's A Lesson Before Dieing is a story about two black men who battle racism through the simple act of resisting. The year is 1948 and racial segregation is still very strong in America, especially in the southern town of Bayonne, Louisiana where the novel takes place. Jefferson, a young African-American, is the only survivor of a local store shoot out involing him, two other young black men, and the white store owner. With all the evidence the jury needed found in Jefferson's skin color, he is convicted and sentenced to death, but not before his own attorney claims that Jefferson is no more capable of this crime than a "hog" is. Hearing those words, Jefferson's godmother vows to watch a "man" walk to the electric chair, not a hog. By the request of Jefferson's godmother Grant Wiggins, a local black school teacher, helps Jefferson to become that man. Together they learn that true heroes never give in. On a count of the main conflicts being internal conflicts, I found this novel slow and at times boring. Despite certain interesting details, such as the contrast of the two "heroes" of the novel (ones a well educated man who carries the hopes and dreams of his people, the other an uneducated man whom little if anything is expected from), this novel let me down. The themes of the novel- faith and perseverance- are very strong and powerful but are at times overshadowed by other conflicts and events in the novel. Too much detail is being payed to Grant and the rest of the town and not enough to Jefferson and his struggles. Despite the Jefferson's triumph in the end, I felt a little let down. We see him win, but the variety of conflicts in the novel didn't allow us to see the whole battle, just bits and pieces.
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