Rating: 
Summary: good book suffers from slow plot
Review: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines is a good book; however, it has a very complex plot and very complex themes so the book makes for a slow borring experience. The main character, Grant Wiggins, is engaged in an internal conflict throughout the book between his disires to leave the plantation where he teaches and move to the city with his girlfriend and between his love for his girlfriend and his aunt who ask him to educate a black boy before he dies for a crime he did not commit. Hence the title A Lesson Before Dying. The book was good because of the character devolopment that Gaines used for his characters. For Grant he goes through a rite of passage that will change him forever. The rite of passage is a good and efective way to develop a character and Gaines does a good job of doing just that. the rite of passage has everything from the mentors the symbols to the most important part the ritual. Even though this book has good characterization the slow plot greatly out weighs the good points; therfore, I do not reccomend this book to people expecting an easy read. Unless you can appreciate good characterization i do not reccomend this book unless you want to be borred to death.
Rating: 
Summary: this book blows
Review: A lesson before dying to me was not a very interesting book. My reasoning for saying that is because the book seemed slow. It was like they were trying to focus on one thing for i dont how many chapters. Some good things i liked about the book were the differences that it showed between the blacks and the whites. The book showed good explanation on how the young black children were educated and treated. In my opinion i thought thew book would have been better if it would have been a mystery of what boys were shot or who killed the boy. That would have kept me more interested then the way this story was told.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lesson Well Learned
Review: A Lesson Before Dying is a story about a young black man, Jefferson, that is accused of murder. His lawyer trys to get him off by calling him a "hog." Jefferson is found guilty and sentenced to death. He is going to die not only knowing he did not commit a crime but also convinced that he is a hog. The main character, Grant Wiggins, is forced by his aunt to go visit Jefferson in jail. She wants Grant to convince Jefferson that he is not a hog. Grant finds the task hopeless and does not want to do it. Grant considers his visits to Jefferson are a waste of time to him and he would rather run away from it all. Overall I thought that the book was very good. I felt that the lessons that people could draw out from the book. The book was very adequate about dealing with issues that were common in the 1940s. I would recommend this book to someone that likes books that have morals.
Rating:
Summary: Changing of Emotions
Review: This book was a book that seemed to have lots of changes in the emotional state of the characters because of the fact the someone was going to die. The characters also had a lot of different views from eachother on how they should treat the person that was going to die for if they should speak to him about religion. I felt that this story can relate to a wide variety of different people. A lesson before dying a great book to read as a high school studen because it has many lessons in it, and it isn't just a boring book. It has a lot of excitement espcecially when it comes to some of the characters getting it fights.
Rating: 
Summary: An enlightening read
Review: In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, There is a very good lesson to be learned. The lesson I learned is that if you have faith you have everything you need. In the story, a black man named Jefferson was convicted and found guilty of a murder he did not commit. He was simply present at the time of a shooting in which everyone around him was killed and he was blamed for it because of his skin color. If he had been white there would have been a more extensive investigation. Jefferson was sent to prison for a month or so until his execution. In that time period, Jeffersons' aunt asked professor Wiggins to visit Jefferson in Jail and try to "teach him to be a man" before he dies. Professor Wiggins agreed to help. The first few trips were practically a waste because Jefferson would not say a word out of his depression. But after a while Jefferson opened up to Wiggins and they talked about anything that came to mind. Wiggins could not think about anything to teach him besides having faith and trusting in God. Jefferson learned this and developed his own faith. When the execution day came around everyone was sad and crying except Jefferson because he had faith. It was said that Jefferson was the strongest man in the town that day.
This story was made up but the concept is real about prejudice and the unjust treatment that black people recieved. I liked this book for many reasons but the main reason was the way the author, Earnest Gaines, described everything in such great detail. The author has a way of holding the reader with such interest that no other author has.
Rating:
Summary: No Lesson for the Reader
Review: I'm probably in the minority here, but I did not enjoy reading this book. I expected this book to be a profound study of a relationship between a mentor and a young man ready to die. I was disappointed to find that the relationship took up relatively few pages in the novel. The first meeting between the two in which progress is shown doesn't occur until page 169, which doesn't allow for much time to fully develop the transformation. Instead of fresh insight, illuminating dialogue, and a complex relationship, Gaines tends to lean toward a simpler profoundness, but doesn't really succeed. A perfect example of this is found in the last line of the book. It doesn't end in philosophy or poetry, but only with a simple statement: "I was crying." It's simple statements like this that never satisfy, and are barely adequate.
Much of the novel is wasted focusing on the narrators mundane life, and not on the relationship. Unnecessary conflicts abound between the narrator and his aunt and his girlfriend--conflicts that almost trivialize the death of young Jefferson. The premise is very promising, though ambitious, and it is sad to see the author spend more time creating background noise than developing what could have been a profound and beautiful relationship and transition. My bottom line is don't waste your time. There is nothing profound or fresh to be found here.
Rating:
Summary: Very compelling
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "A Lesson Before Dying" and there were a lot of things I could relate to from the stories my father told of growing up on a Louisiana plantation. The movie I saw about two years ago and cannot really remember it too well, but after reading the book I am going to rent it this weekend. The way Jefferson was potrayed as a hog instead of a human being and a man made it easier for the jury to find him guilty and sentence him to die. The rationale being is that it is okay to slaughter a hog, but to kill a man well that's another subject so instead of addressing Jefferson as a man lets make him into a hog. There were parts of this book that made me feel anger and other parts that gave me hope and promise. However, at the end Jefferson showed even though he was innocent of killing Grope he would take being at the wrong place at the wrong time as a man.
Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: The book gave a good picture of relations between blacks and whites in the South during the 1940's. It touched some on the education of Blacks and how it differed from whites as well as how much education black children received. It also touch a little on how educated blacks were treated and what was expected of both the uneducated and educated. However, I would not say that I was "enlightened." I liked how the characters interacted and I thought that each character was very strong. I recommend this book...
Rating:
Summary: The meaning of life found in death
Review: Gaines is a treasure of a writer. I came to read this book after seeing the author give a reading from it at Rollins College (this was before I was enrolled as a student there). I was greatly affected by what I came to know of the story and the beautiful way its author commands language. I went out and bought a copy that week and finished it in two days. This is a story of racial issues in the south, finding dignity when it's been stripped of you, and a teacher's search for happiness in his own life. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson For Life
Review: This is a powerful, poignant tale about the great evil and ultimately the greater good that human beings are capable of inflicting on each other. Set in segregation-era Louisiana, a young black man called Jefferson is falsely accused and convicted of murder. His godmother, enraged by the fact that he is compared to 'a hog' enlists the help of the local teacher Grant to 'make him a man' before he is put to death. Grant is initiatly reluctant to help Jefferson, as he himself is plauged with doubts about his own racial identity and goals as a teacher. This hence sets into a motion an incredible journey that changes the lives of all concerned forever. What makes this book an incredible read is the fact that it presents its message so effectively. It is a moral lesson without preaching, a cry for justice without propaganda. 'A Lesson Before Dying' compares favourably with other race-relation classics such as 'Cry Freedom' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. One must consider what is written in this book before even beginning to concieve what it means to be American, and for that matter human.
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