Rating: 
Summary: Superb Reading!!!
Review: From the very moment I read the first words, to the instant I set the book down, I was amazed. Here I was with my jaw dropped after every intriguing detail, exclaiming, "Wow! This book is extremely powerful." You don't just read this book you become it. You feel what the characters are experiencing. You visualize what the characters are seeing." They called my boy a hog, Mr. Henri," Miss Emma said. "I didn't raise no hog, and I don't want no hog to go set in that chair. I want a man to go set in that chair, Mr. Henri." A Lesson Before Dying is an extraordinarily unique book. Set in Louisiana in the 1940's, this novel shows the struggle of a young black boy wrongly accused of killing a white man. An unwilling teacher helps this boy overcome his approach on death and teaches him to be a proud, strong gentleman. This spellbinding work of fiction left me tearful and transformed. This book is incontrovertibly memorable and tremendously moving.
The peace in opposition to the traditional discrimination of African Americans resonates and forms this perfect book to be cherished for generations.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Made Me Cry
Review: This is by far the best book I've ever read!! Set in a small town in Louisiana in the late 1940's, A Lesson Before Dying tells the story of Jefferson, a young man sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. Jefferson's grandmother wants Grant Wiggins, the university educated teacher, to teach Jefferson how to die like a man. At first, Grant thinks it's not a good idea but as the book progresses, Jefferson and Grant forge a bond so strong that not even the stronghold of racism can break. I really loved the transformation of Grant throughout the novel. "When you act educated, I'll call you Grant. I'll even call you Mr.Grant when you act like a man." Grant has to realize that sometimes you have to put aside your pride and help someone else. He noticed that everything cannot be about him all the time. This book is very moving, especially at the end when Grant cries because it is then you realize that not only Jefferson learned a lesson, but Grant does also. I recommend this book to anyone who believes in the power of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: A novel that will stand the test of time
Review: This is a great novel for any ethnic group. This powerful and moving novel will touch the hearts of everyone who reads it. A Lesson Before dying will continue to keep the reader interested throughout. Gaines is able to capture the true passion between Grant and Jefferson. He is also able to capture the internal pain and suffering that is afflicting these two characters. This book should be a part of anyone collection and will definitely stand the test of time
Rating:
Summary: A man
Review: What is a man?
What is a Black man?
Could you die with dignity?
Die a man?
Wait for death to come to you, look it square in the eye and know that there was no escape. Sit with your life and say to Death: "I greet you, I face you?"
I both read this book and taped/watched the film. Honor, integrity of spirit is necessary to be alive here, to be real here, to be present in one's life.
Am I a man?
If I'm a Black man am I nothing but a hog as in this book the boy is accused of being? All his grandmother can dois ask Teacher to make him a man, to grow him in a hurry so that a child is not slain, a fool isn't hung but a man says, "I am. Now you may, may, kill this body. For I have been it and left it already."
I cried at the end of this book, barely finished the last few pages because it is both love story and testament to love of self, love of manhood, love of being a man beyond race. But how hard it is to be a Black man, how so hard. Perhaps our man and womanhood can only be faced and accounted for when death seems imminent.
If so, then a man was lead to the chair, to the tree, to the shooting post, for it matters that one dies but HOW one dies.
Read this book then go to Ellison, Wright, Hughes, Morrison, Baldwin, Faulkner, Mailer, Garcia-marquez, etc. al. Please.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson Before Dying
Review: A Lesson Before Dying sets in a segregated Cajun plantation quarter community, in the late 1940's. The novel is narrated by Grant Wiggins a black teacher who lives with his Tante Lou. Miss Emma, Tante Lou's best friend, is the godmother of Jefferson, who is convicted of attempted robbery and murder. When Jefferson's attorney calls him a 'hog', his godmother is filled with sadness because she doesn't want Jefferson to die thinking and believing that he is a hog. This leads her to asking Grant Wiggins to teach her godson that he is a man before he dies. But first she must obtain permission from the local Sheriff Sam Guidrey to allow Mr. Wiggins to 'teach' Jefferson. Event though Mr. Wiggins is skeptical at first because he believes that education is tainted with prejudice, he grants Miss Emma her wish. The local Sheriff thinks that what Miss Emma has in mind is a waste of time, yet he allows Mr. Wiggins to visit Jefferson and talk to him. In the meantime, Grant Wiggins has always wanted to leave the quarter, but Vivian Baptiste, his love interest, is the reason he is still there. Grant and Vivian have a meeting at the Rainbow Café, they discuss Jefferson's progress. Wiggins divulges to her that Jefferson has begun to open up to him. As time progresses Jefferson and Wiggins relationship begin to flourish. Jefferson dies with dignity believing he is a man. Wiggins also learns a lesson from it all. First he learns to care for Jefferson and that he can't escape from his commitments making him as well a man. Overall, the 'lesson before dying' is that we cannot evade our obligations especially the ties to those who love us.
Rating: 
Summary: Gaines Tries But Doesn't Quite Do It
Review: A Lesson Before Dying is well-written and thoughtful. With that said I must interject and say it doesn't quite live up to expectations. Gaines seems almost fearful of tackeling serious issues. When Grant does reach Jefferson, the novel abruptly ends with his death, no great depth. Wiggins doesn't truly try at any one point to assist his imprisioned student so it was rather surprising to find he had reached him. How? By being cynical and cruel? If you want to read a thoughtful drama of African American life in the past, read the brilliant The Color Purple or if you want a compelling case of the unfair way blacks were persecuted in the South, read the compelling and worthwhile To Kill a Mockingbird. This is not near the poweress of Walker or Lee. Sorry Gaines, close but no cigar
Rating: 
Summary: Heart wrenching but difficult language
Review: This book will really pull at your heartstrings but be prepared to do a little translating. The author writes in the dialect used by an uneducated person - so sometimes it was difficult to decipher what was being conveyed. That said, once you understand what is being conveyed, you can almost hear the words being spoken.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson for all readers
Review: This is a tremendous book with significant literary merit- definitely a "modern classic." It must be a favorite among high school English teachers, not only for its power to provoke thought, elicit discussions, and evoke emotions about the big issues in life, but also because it's not a difficult read! This book about the value of life has a lesson in it for all readers.
Rating: 
Summary: great 1st chptr, terrible 160 pages or so, good last few pgs
Review: this book is WEAK. a cool story but written with a formula we already know; the reader always feels ahead of the game... and it becomes unbearable. It's an easy read, accessible to younger and infrequent readers and even might facilitate some good discussion, but it's nothin' to write home about. Examples of strong, proud and heroic, african americans are plentiful in our history, with voices worth listening to, so skip this glossy, over-simplified, book for something true and well-written.
Rating:
Summary: A young man's view
Review: A Lesson Before Dying is an instant classic. It faces racism in a manner that is true on an everyday level and asks the question, "Can a black man receive a fair trial?" The story deals with a young uneducated man named Jefferson who had caught a ride home with two friends. After stopping at a liquor store for a minute, his friends begin to get in an argument with the clerk. In a matter of minutes the clerk and Jefferson's friends have all been shot dead. Jefferson then gets convicted even though there was no evidence to convict him. He has to spend his days on Death Row, but his friend Grant is there to support him. Grant learns to become a sympathetic person, and develops a bond with Jefferson. At the end of the story Jefferson is executed and Grant is left crying. The story has a good plot and much insight to the oppression and segregation of the early 20th century south. One of my favorite parts of the story is how it displays the absolute hypocrisy of the "Jim Crow's" of the south. One good example that I like, is the description given to the school district's superintendent - where Grant teaches. It says while the superintendent preaches cleanliness, good hygiene, and exercise to the black children, he himself doesn't practice what he preaches. In fact, the superintendent is so obese that he struggles just to climb out of his car seat. Gaines' clever usage of the characters and how they themselves are tied into examples of pre-civil rights everyday people is what makes the book good. Give this book a try and I guarantee you'll walk away with a better understanding of the segregation of the 20th century south.
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