Go Tell It on the Mountain

Rating:
Summary: Not enjoyable
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book since I knew it had religious overtones. However, the book tried to tie religious feelings with characters that only on the surface appear to be faithful. At least Baldwin created an interesting struggle with faith and temptation. But the whole idea that repetitive sinners contain the Spirit is hypocrisy! These people just go through the motions of a faithful life and therefore, the character descriptions are incorrect.

Rating:
Summary: This Book was excellently written, but hard to follow.
Review: I am a 10th grader and was required to read this story for English. Although Mr. Baldwin used vivid imigery, it was extremely hard to follow, and seemed to skip around in time a lot. Also, this book was centered to much on Religion, nad not the characters. For anybody who is looking for a easy read this book is not a very good choice. To understand this book, it would be helpful to take your time while reading it and take notes on what you have read.

Rating:
Summary: The struggle between the father Gabriel and John,the son.
Review: I want to stress the fact that John does not want to be like his father,a preacher.the life his father leads is not the one John expects as he wants,for example,to be a movie star.John fears the life his father leads and does not to be as others want him to be.John is somewhat a rebel but a rebel who can not express what he really feels.Thus,the conflict is not only between John and his father but also between John and the church.Besides,John,as, an other,struggles with the system represented by white man[WASP].I want help from anybody who can send me reviews about james baldwin novel GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN.THANK YOU.

Rating:
Summary: Tedious, dense, frustrating, but worth it.
Review: My mother and I read this book together. It was very hard for us to read because it was so tedious. The characters in the book seemed to seek a relationship with God. However, their relationships with God were not joyous, but more almost painful. I think that religion oppressed them. They also had many tensions: -black man versus black man -black man versus white man -man versus woman -sinner versus the saved -inner-self tension

They sought a relationship with God to relieve themselves of this oppression and tension. Songs, which played a major part of the worship service, gave them temporary relief from oppression, but it was nothing more than temporary. John was almost relieved of oppresion when he went to hell and back in the end. However, just walks right back into his house, a harbor for oppression.

One of the reasons it was so frustrating to read was because, like the characters, you became oppressed with all that emotional buildup. There were little bits of relief for the reader, but then it just all started over again. It was like a Greek tragedy- with catharsis, except the final huge emotional release never happened. John was like the hero with a fatal flaw and the tragic fate. Also, the book was filled with intense run on sentences full of modifiers that made it hard to read. Then it skipped back and forth vey unevenly from generation to generation.

You should read it just for the experience. Some of the characters are very interesting.

I have heard that Giovanni's Room is much better.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to follow, at least for this reader
Review: Some time ago, when I received the pertinent Library of America volume, I resolved to read James Baldwin's novel Go Tell it on the Mountain. The book's recent appearance on the Modern Library's "100 best books of the century" list caused me to fulfill that resolve. I found Baldwin's novel slow and difficult going. While its themes -- generational struggles between fathers and sons; the black experience in white America; tension between the religious and secular -- are undeniably "great", I could not say so for the book as a whole. Certain passages and sections, particularly the son John's struggle with and ultimate conversion to his father's church, are magnificent in their writing and power. I found the rest of the story, however, confusing and unengaging.

Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: Like much of Baldwin's works, this book is intense -- but an extremely worthwhile read. This book is a classic.

Rating:
Summary: A walk on the dark side
Review: It's obviously a classic, but the book sometimes gets a bit teadious. The book gives a good view on subjects like racism, religion and the black community in America. If you're interested in that kind of subjects and if you're determined enough to get through the book; this is the book for you. Rolf Donders Twikkelstraat 37 4834 LL Breda- The Netherland

Rating:
Summary: Complex issues presented masterfully by Baldwin
Review: I read this book as part of an English "Out of Class" reading assignment. I must say that if you are looking for a light hearted book- this is not it. It is filled with intense themes of racial relations, family relations, hypocrisy, and the like. I found the style of using flashbacks somewhat annoying at times and consequently, the plot was at times confusing. If you disire complex issues to be presented in a reasonably entertaining fashion, then this is the book for you, but beware if you desire a book of easy reading. Baldwin's skill in handling the situations is quite noticable and makes the whole experience worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I was required to read this book for an English class and I thought that this book was great but the transitions from past to present were not handled well and I would often have to go and re-read the text again to help comprehend the situation. Go Tell it on the Mountain is a wonderful book about self-discovery and familial & religious duty. The characters in this novel are wonderfully full: imperfect, but hopeful. I do disagree with anyone who feels that an extensive knowledge of the Bible is required to appreciate or enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: descriptive or prescriptive?
Review: For me, the central problem of James Baldwin's beautiful and poetic account of growing up in a religious, African American family is the ending. The question is this: does Baldwin take this ending to be merely a description of what sometimes happens or is he implying this is what should happen?

Throughout the novel, religion is seen as a force that stagnates, lies to and weakens the characters. However, by the end, it has become a force that the main character thinks will help him get through all the trials he still must face. It hasn't solved anything. In fact, nothing has been solved at all. We've been merely given a view of all that's come before and how those past events will probably shape the future. For example, John still has to face his unloving step-father - even though he is still unaware that the man isn't his biological father. How knowing he was "saved" will help him is hard to imagine.

The most heart-breaking incident in the book is what happens to John's real father. Though pathos abounds in this book, that is the incident that truly hurts the most.

Throughout, the writing is poetic and precise. Baldwin certainly matured in works like "Giovanni's Room" and developed his themes of homosexuality - a thread hinted at here but left unresolved like all the book's themes.

The problem is just that we're left with so much unfinished. It's almost like Baldwin stopped writing the book in the middle. It seems he wants the import of John's religious experience to make everything else at least bearable. However, how this is to be accomplished in light of such darkness is hard to imagine or even if something else might be more desirable. Moreover, is Baldwin suggesting that all the negatives of religion he has been cataloguing throughout the book are somehow justified?

In any case, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" is a gorgeous book about very ugly things. Good luck sorting out that ending.