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Summary: Ernest Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying is a masterpiece.
Review: My book club read A Lesson Before Dying several years ago and it quickly became one of the best books read for many of our members. Ernest Gaines' depiction of a young man's journey into self as he approaches a wrongful but inevitable death is heartwrenching and powerful. The "Lessons" of courage, strength and unrelenting faith in the face of cruelty is something that not only Jefferson acquires but the reader is compelled to find as well. As the characters of this book learn several lessons of life and death, the reader is moved to find compassion and understanding for a man who, despite the unfair and demeaning name he is given by the townspeople (hog), is very much a human being. This is a very poignant look into the dynamics of capital punishment, racism, our judicial system as well as humanity and compassion for our fellow man. A true masterpiece.
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Summary: I just didn't get it.....
Review: I didn't like the character Grant, nor did I particularly feel captivated by his perception of events. I found him to be very troubled, abusive, especially towards his students, and apathetic towards the whole situation. I didn't like the book. It just seemed strange to me that an entire book could be written about a remark made in a courtroom. Pass the salt.
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Summary: Truly A Lesson¿
Review: Gaines captures the life of a man that's about to be executed with a profound voice that makes you feel like your living in that era. Gaines writes with the pattern of some of the greats.
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Summary: An absolutely PROFOUND novel with universal themes
Review: I had to write a review since many of the reviews of this novel were from people who did not understand it. Jefferson is NOT mentally challenged. The book contains eloquent themes, symbols and juxtaposition which will grab anyone with a love of serious literature. If you want fluff, or beach reading, this is not a book for you. If you want to think and feel, read this novel.
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Summary: The lesson: Oprah could sell a bicycle to a fish
Review: For readers looking for That Death Row Experience, check out "Dead Man Walking" instead. "A Lesson Before Dying" is a tedious exercise in racial pandering, repetitive not only in themes (Grant Wiggins, a black man who has escaped Massah and gotten a teaching certificate, encounters racism from Massah & co. at every turn while wondering ceaselessly whether to blow town and if so, whether to take his married girlfriend with him) but also in language (if I had a nickel for every time Grant called his girlfriend "Honey" in one memorable passage, I would be the new owner of the Redskins). The story plods along blindly until Jefferson, a mentally-challenged inmate who is supposed to learn said lesson, shows us his journal. From that point on, it's compelling and touching. Too bad that's not until the last chapter or so.
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Summary: A Very Important Novel
Review: A very poignant novel, and an important one as well. I like how Gaines never takes the easy way out by sentimentalizing Jefferson or demonizing the whites in the story, as some other lesser writer would. I haven't seen HBO's adaption of it, but I'm looking forward to it.
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Summary: A wonderful book to escape with..
Review: I was prompted to buy this book because it is being made into an HBO Special and I thought that it sounded like a wonderful story. I was not disappointed at all. It seems I can't stop talking about it. I am the mother of two small children and A Lesson Before Dying was a wonderful means of escape to me. Ernest Gaines kept me involved throughout the entire book. As the characters found themselves it allowed me to discover more of myself. An excellent read!!
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Summary: The touching story of an innocent black man on death row.
Review: This book takes place in the American South in the 1940's. A young black man, in the wrong place at the wrong time, was accused of murdering a white shopkeeper. Although he was innocent, the all-white jury sentanced him to the electric chair. Grant, a black teacher, has been asked to help the doomed man know that he is a man, despite the fact that the white men called him a hog. This is a moving story of honor, racism, and what it means to be a hero. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I gave it only 3 1/2 stars (rounded up to four), however, because I found parts of it drawn out and painful to read. The convicted black man, Jefferson, is extremely cruel to his loving godmother. I don't feel it was necessary to draw this detail out quite as much. Also, Grant sees racism in every aspect of his life. After a while, the reader begins to say, "Yes I can see you feel this system is unfair, but do you really need to make it as blatantly obvious?" Still, one can only wonder what it was like to be the victem of this racism, and perhaps it is an honest depiction.
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Summary: Enormously Moving
Review: The book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is a classic American tale of races in the south. This book is based in the 1940's in Louisiana. A young black man named Grant Williams, a teacher at a plantation church, is encouraged to turn a hog into a man. Jefferson, a young black man, is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is accused of killing a white liquor store keeper when he is innocent. He goes to trial and is sentenced to the electric chair. His attorney calls him a hog and worthless and he couldn't have killed a man because he is too ignorant. Miss Emma, Jeffersons grandmother, wants Grant to go turn her grandson from a hog to a man berfore he dies, so he can die with dignity. Grant is reluctantat first but goes along with it. The first few visits to Jefferson do not go very well, he doesn't talk at all and eat nannan good cooking. Then he starts making a breakthrough and starts write in his journal. When he goes to the chair he is the most couragous person in the jail. This book great and fast moving once you get into it.
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Summary: An incredible, thought provoking novel.
Review: I could not put this book down. It is so emotionally powerful in its descriptions of a man's final thoughts before dying. Keep a tissue box handy while reading. I highly recommend this book.
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