Richard Wright : Early Works : Lawd Today! / Uncle Tom's Children / Native Son (Library of America)

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Fascinating, Stimulating, Brutally Honest Writing

Richard Wright : Early Works : Lawd Today! / Uncle Tom's Children / Native Son (Library of America)
Richard Wright
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450666

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating, Stimulating, Brutally Honest Writing.......2000-08-08

The Library of America consistently produces wonderful volumes, and Richard Wright's "Early Works" is a strong member of the set. As I worked my way through this volume, I found myself re-thinking questions I have put aside for a while, challenging attitudes that I have acquired as part of our zeitgeist. I did not find that much of interest in "Lawd Today!" and "Uncle Tom's Children," the first two selections in the volume. Perhaps I will take another look at them in the future. However, "Native Son" was a revelation to me, and I found it amazing.

As a student of Mississippi literature, as well as a native Mississippian, I am surprised that I had not read "Native Son" before. I wonder what response Wright might expect me (a white Mississippian) to have to his work. The answer is not as simple as one might think. Growing up in Mississippi, I worked as a dishwasher. I ran errands for people who looked down on me and wanted me to act stupid and grateful. I felt the harsh sting of minor capitalists zealously defending their tiny empires. Like Wright, I grew up in a single-parent household with extremely limited resources. Like Wright, I never had a feeling that "the system" wanted to do anything but keep me in my place. Like Wright, I looked around to see that my people were limited by their ignorance and fear. For all of our differences, white and black Mississippians have far more in common than most people want to admit. It is part of what makes us such a fertile field for literature.

The easy response for a white person, Mississippian or not, is simply to be reactionary, to allow "Native Son" to confirm easy stereotypes. In "How `Bigger' Was Born," Wright acknowledges that one of the dangers he faced in writing "Native Son" was that those who are pre-disposed to see Bigger as typical of "those people" in general and of blacks in particular would find unequivocal confirmation of their prejudices. Wright must have been constantly tempted to avoid writing with such brutal honesty.

However, it is this honesty that forms the core of Wright's artistic achievement and makes his work enduring, almost prophetic. Bigger Thomas represents a type that still exists in plentitude. In "How `Bigger' Was Born," Wright explicitly makes the point that Bigger represents a type that is both black and white, a person growing up in the land of plenty without prospects or hope, without enough education to replace instinct with rational calculation. Unable to participate and without a place, our Biggers simply want to blot out everything and everyone from the face of the earth. Some of them unknowingly follow Bigger's example and kill what they think is killing them.

I think I see Bigger every day on the black streets of Atlanta. A close relative of Bigger lives in the white trailer parks in our suburbs. Bigger acts every time a teenager commits a senseless murder, every time a child shoots up a school. I hear an analysis of Bigger when a demagogue politician says that we should just lock them up and throw away the key.

The Biggers of the world are irretrievably lost. As Wright clearly shows, there is no way to cure or save or even rehabilitate such people. Even at the hour of their death, they will not understand context, never know why they act as they do, always returning to the basest of emotions for self-justification. They continue to kill out of fear, and we continue to fear them.

People used to think that they knew how to prevent more Biggers from appearing, how we might save those not yet lost. There was hope that we could change things so that there would be no more Biggers. It turns out that we have Biggers aplenty and more arising every day. Perhaps we always will. No one seems to care any more.

Book Description

`My present intention is to clear myself of any suspicion of partiality by presenting the views of the generality of philosophers concerning the nature of the gods.' Cicero's philosophical works are now exciting renewed interest, in part because he provides vital evidence of the views of the (largely lost) Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age, and partly because of the light he casts on the intellectual life of first century Rome. The Nature of the Gods is a text of central significance, presenting a detailed account of the theologies of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, together with the critical objections to these doctrines raised by the Academic school. When these Greek theories of deity are translated into the Roman context, a fascinating clash of ideologies results. This fine translation by P. G. Walsh includes a summary of the Text, and an Index and Glossary of Names.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating!.......2006-06-03

Interesting book! Three public figures and Cicero himself, gather in Cotta's villa around 76 B.C. to discuss the nature of the gods. Gaius Velleius is an Epicurean. Quintus Lucilius Balbus, a Stoic. Gaius Aurelius Cotta, an Academic and pontifex. For a summary of the text see, p. xlvi-xlviii. For a brief review of how this book was received in history, see Introduction, p. ix. The question Cicero raises at the beginning of his work is: "If the gods have neither the power nor the desire to help us, if they have no interest whatever and they pay no attention to our activities, if there is nothing which can percolate from them to affect our human lives, what reason have we for addressing any acts of worship or honors or prayers to the immortal gods?" (p. 4)
Academics promoted questioning of established opinions; Skepticism denied the possibility of attaining ultimate knowledge of things but only high probability and suspension of judgment (åðïêç). Cicero was influenced by Carneades, the founder of the Third Academy (though his principle `voluptas cum honestate' was regarded by Cicero to be too close to Epicureanism) and by Antiochus, founder of the Fifth Academy (very open to Stoicism). Cotta, the Academic philosopher, endorses belief in the gods on the basis of traditional religion and patriotic duty. He criticizes the arguments adduced by Stoics and Epicureans as non-conclusive and faulty in logic. Here are a couple of quotes from him: "I should defend the beliefs about the immortal gods which we have inherited from our ancestors, together with our sacrifices, ceremonies and religious observances. I shall indeed defend them, and I have always done so; no words from any person, whether learned or unlearned, will ever budge me from the views which I inherited from our ancestors concerning the worship of the immortal gods." (p. 109); and: "I have gained better instruction on how to worship the immortal gods, guided by pontifical law and ancestral custom, from those miniature sacrificial bowls, bequeathed to us by Numa and described by Laelius in his little speech which is pure gold, than from the explanations of the Stoics." (p. 122)
On his part, Balbus, as a good Stoic, believed in a world-soul and in providence (ðñüíïéá) governing the world, though not the destiny of individuals. The Stoics' was a very immanentistic world view; they also believed in Fate (çéìáñìÞíç) and in predetermined events. This view of Fate appealed to the Roman passion for future-telling. In Roman society, there were:
1) Augurs = College of 10 and then 15 (from 51 BC) priests: they studied birds' flight patterns
2) Haruspices = Etruscan priests who studied animals' entrails
3) Pontefices = College of 16 priests
4) Diviners = they studied Sybilline books

Poor Translation.......2004-11-22

I admire Cicero and and I like THE NATURE OF THE GODS, but I give it 2 stars because of the poor translation, which renders a lucid book intolerably boring. So, please throw away the PENGUIN edition and check out the same title by OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSCIS translated by P.G.Walsh. After you have compared the two editions, you will realize the weakness of J.M.Ross' translation.

"A Creative-Classic".......2001-12-31

Cicero's "De Natura Deorum" is a work the great orator used to present his own position towards philosophy, the gods, and how they work in the universe and in the lives of individuals. Cicero presents his thesis by opening a dialogue between three distinguished philosophers from the major schools of the first century BC: namely the Stoics, Epicureans, and Academics. Velleius, in book one, expounds upon the general tenets of the Epicureans; in book two, Balbus the Stoic in turn attempts to refute the claims made by Velleius; and finally, in book three, Cotta takes the position of the Academics, which should be understood as Cicero's opinions himself. If judged correctly, Cicero's opinions are quite clear, but they should be left for the reader to discover on his own. As pure philosophy, this book obviously lacks merit; but as for creativity and sheer eloquence Cicero's work will make for an entertaining and insightful read, especially as an introductory to the philosophical maxims during the decay of the Roman Republic. Despite the works lack of philosophical ingenuity, its influence may possibly be greater than what is customarily maintained, since it is likely that "De Naturae Deorum" impacted Boethius in writing his "Consolation of Philosophy." First of all, both works address many of the same issues, and secondly in their literary style they both use prose and verse to convey meaning. Overall, this work will make for a comforting, and at times insightful read; this will be an essential addition to the classical library.

Theology without revelation --it will change your world view.......2001-10-30

If you're like me, you were brought up thinking the ancients understood God(s) in terms of their old polytheistic mythology. In fact quaint village myths didn't make it in the large cities. The idea of a single High God predated Christianity by centuries, and was in fact central to mainstream ancient philosophies / theologies you've probably heard of: Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism.

For us, religion and revelation are inseparable. Christianity, Islam, Bahai-ism, Mormonism are "revealed" religions, based on the God's direct revelation through his Son or Prophet -- Jesus, Mohamed, Bahaulla, Joseph Smith. The Greeks and Romans didn't have "revealed" religions. They had to work out their ideas of meaning and divinity without a solid, revealed, starting place. In a world without revealed religion, the ancient philosophers tried to figure out, What is God? Amazing.

If you're interested in how the ancients understood God, Cicero's book, The Nature of the Gods, is a great read. It's basically a synopsis of ancient philosophies / theologies. It will change your understanding of the history of western religious thought.

Listen to Cicero [106 - 43 BC], a non-Christian, describing God: "God dwells in the universe as its ruler and governor, and rules the stars in their courses, and the changing seasons, and all the varying sequences of nature, looking down on earth and sea, and protecting the life and goods of men."

And, "The divine power is to be found in a principle of reason which pervades the whole of nature."

I particularly like the easy to read translation in this Penguin Classics edition.

worth a read and a reread........2001-06-22

I picked this book up on a whim and read it in it's entirety in one evening, and promptly started over from the beginning. Not only is Cicero an elegant writer, but unlike many of his contemporaries his arguments are logically thought out and easy to follow. Anyone who has ever wondered if God or the gods would be encompassed in a physical or ethereal form and anyone who has ever wondered just how much involvement any god could have in the day to day lives of human beings will find this book surprisingly modern in its thoughts and conclusions.

From Du Bois to Van Vechten: The Early New Negro Literature, 1903-1926 (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies)

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From Du Bois to Van Vechten: The Early New Negro Literature, 1903-1926 (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies)
Chidi Ikonne
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Universal Tale Worth the Investment
A riviting tale about bravery honor and adventure
The first epic hero in the history of world literature
Importance of epic heroism
Great Translation

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0804715890

Amazon.com

This translation is a verse rendering of The Epic of Gilgamesh, the cycle of Babylonian poems preserved on clay tablets surviving from ancient Mesopotamia of the third millennium B.C. One of the best and most important piece of epic poetry from human history, predating even Homer's Iliad by roughly 1,500 years, the Gilgamesh epic tells of the various adventures of that hero-king, including his quest for immortality and an account of a great flood similar in many details to the Old Testament's story of Noah. Kovacs's edition is satisfying both for its engaging verse translation of the poem itself, as well as for the introduction and appendix that provide historical context, and not least for photographs of Mesopotamian art and of one the actual clay tablets. The tablet was broken into several pieces and incompletely reconstructed, demonstrating the difficulty of the translator's task.

Book Description

Since the discovery over one hundred years ago of a body of Mesopotamian poetry preserved on clay tablets, what has come to be known as the Epic of Gilgamesh has been considered a masterpiece of ancient literature. It recounts the deeds of a hero-king of ancient Mesopotamia, following him through adventures and encounters with men and gods alike. Yet the central concerns of the Epic lie deeper than the lively and exotic story line: they revolve around a man’s eternal struggle with the limitations of human nature, and encompass the basic human feelings of lonliness, friendship, love, loss, revenge, and the fear of oblivion of death. These themes are developed in a distinctly Mesopotamian idiom, to be sure, but with a sensitivity and intensity that touch the modern reader across the chasm of three thousand years. This translation presents the Epic to the general reader in a clear narrative.

Customer Reviews:

Universal Tale Worth the Investment.......2004-03-05

The EPIC of GILGAMESH
Translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs

I first learned about The Epic of Gilgamesh in my 9th Grade Ancient History class. At the time, I was intrigued by the reported similarities between Utanapishtim and Noah. I finally decided to give it a read. On the surface, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a simple myth which exhibits similarities to other classic myths and stories. However, despite the many missing lines and lost passages, the story retains a power and universiality which speaks to us even today.

Gilgamesh is a god-like king, but he oppresses his people. To bring him into line, a rival is created in the woods -- a natural man named Enkidu whose path takes him to the city of Uruk to confront the tyrant. Instead of conflict, a friendship blooms between the two men. They adventure together, but anger the gods, who take their revenge on Enkidu. Gilgamesh is left alive and alone to face his own mortality. His fear and grief lead him across the world to seek the only man who has ever been granted immortality, Utanapishtim, survivor of the Great Flood.

Kovacs has done a good job with her translation, which is accessable even though it is fragmentary. One has to be prepared to work with this poem, because so much has been lost since it was written down in 800 BC. But if you are willing to put some effort into reading the (or one of the) oldest surviving work(s) of literature, it is well worth your time.

I recommend this work.

A riviting tale about bravery honor and adventure.......2004-02-22

Gilgamesh is a Babylonian king, two-thirds god and one-third man. He is tyrannical and conceited. Enkidu is a hairy creature, half man and half animal, who lives in the steppe. Enkidu opens a trap set by a hunter, who reports this illicit activity to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh sends a prostitute to put Enkidu to shame in front of the animals. The prostitute brings Enkidu to the city and "humanizes" him. Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet, fight, stalemate, and then befriend each other, "seeing each other in their eyes". Gilgamesh persuades Enkidu to travel with him and fight to the evil monster Humbaba in the tall cedar forest. They go, and Gilgamesh kills Humbaba, but Enkidu is wounded. A maddened goddess Ishtar sends a bull to kill Gilgamesh because he refused her proposal, and Enkidu saves Gilgamesh from the animal.

Enkidu's condition worsens. He prophesies that Gilgamesh's life and world is changed forever, and dies. Gilgamesh mourns and travels to seek Utnapishtim, the survivor of the universal flood, in the hopes that he will be able to bring Enkidu back to life. Gilgamesh is able to get past the Scorpion people at the gate of Mashu, he treads the dark Road of the Sun, and enters a valley. He lives for a while with a barmaid named Siduri on the coast, and she tries to persuade him to stay. He leaves her, however, and in a rage destroys the stone images that might have led him across the sea to Utnapishtim. Ultimately Urshanabi the boatman permits him to cross. Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim and they become friends. Utnapishtim does not like immortality, and tells Gilgamesh about the flood. He later becomes annoyed at Gilgamesh's insistence on finding immortality for Enkidu, and sends him back without his friend. At the last minute, Utnapishtim is convinced by his wife to tell Gilgamesh of the immortality plant at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh finds it, but it pricks him as he grabs it. He places it on the shore while he bathes. Unfortunately, a serpent eats the precious plant while he is in the water. Gilgamesh returns to his city of Uruk, where all have forgotten who Enkidu was. Gilgamesh decides that he must abandon his own grief as well.

The tale of Gilgamesh is interesting because it addresses many of humanity's eternal questions, including the meaning of friendship and the desire to be immortal. It also reflects ancient history, religion, and culture

The first epic hero in the history of world literature.......2003-11-25

The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the third millennium B.C., making it the oldest epic poem in world literature. It is a relatively short work, which explains why over half of this little volume introduces the ancient text of the first ancient hero. The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh was found in the Akkadian-language on 12 incomplete clay tablets found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. The narrative gaps have been filled in, somewhat, by fragments found elsewhere. Historians think that Gilgamesh might have been a ruler in southern Mesopotamia, although there is no historical evidence for any of the exploits covered in this narrative or the five poems written about the hero. Cultural anthropologists believe that Gilgamesh was a great king whose name became associated with pretty much every major legend or mythical tale in that culture.

Unlike some translations that go tablet by tablet, this translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs presents the epic as more of a narrative. The two most famous of these would be "The Story of the Flood," with its obvious parallels to the stories of a great flood in the Bible and Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and "The Coming of Enkidu"/"Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu," which Captain Jean-Luc Picard narrates in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode "Darmok." Both of these are relevant points because in working from the known to the unknown they are both avenues of introducing Gilgamesh to which students will readily await. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the fundamental mythic tale in Western Civilization, but tends to be relegated to the shelf in most classes unless in happens to be included in an anthology. His quests for the Spring of Youth and immortality have been echoed in so many other tales. I have always thought that Gilgamesh is a more important figure than Beowulf (an admittedly minority opinion), but clearly there is much more to "The Epic of Gilgamesh" than a series of fights with beasts.

Importance of epic heroism.......2003-10-14

There are many characteristics that define epic heroes. They are portrayed as larger than life characters who undergo many perils and temptations. The hero many have godlike features, however, he may also suffer a deep wound. Although epic stories are now very old, and their heroes gone, the virtuous attitudes of the hero teach us very important virtues in life.

One important moral value that one learns from this epic is the impact of suffering a deep lost. Gilgamesh suffered from the terrible death of his best friend Enkidu. After killing the bull of heaven, sent down by the goddess of love, Ishtar, the gods decided that Enkidu should be chosen to die because he wasn't two-third god and one third man like Gilgamesh. In the aftermath of Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh deeply suffered from his lack of presence. It has occured to many of us to lose a very special and dear person to us. To endure life without the presence of that special person is hard, sometime almost impossible to bare. Thus, Gilgamesh who refused to live this sadness undertakes a long journey, commonly referred to as a quest, in search of eternal life in order to revive his greatest pal. Unfortunately, he fails his quest. Conclusively, we learn from this part that it is very tough to lose a person who means so much to us. Especially when we know that we will never see them again.
The search for eternal life teaches a very meaningful message. In order to revive his dead friend, Gilgamesh was strongly determined to face the dangers and perils on his journey in order to find the source of eternal life. Despite his strenght of mind, Gilgamesh fails his search. By this failure, we come to know that eternal life is out of man's reach as long as he lives on earth.
One learns multiple lessons from the story of The Gilgamesh. However, the central importance of the story is the portrayal of the epic hero. Epics are intended to teach a moral value through the epic hero. One learns from The Gilgamesh that death is inescapable, although many may try to break away from its bondage.

Great Translation.......2003-08-30

Whatever else this may be it is not boring. Unfortunately, there are holes in the text that one could throw a truck through. Also the mixing of the Babylonian and Sumer texts etc. seem to do it no good. Hopefully, further research will fill in the holes in editions which are closer to the original. Great story that provides insight into a people from whom we are greatly removed.

EXECUTING RACE: EARLY AMERICAN WOMEN'S NARRATIVES OF RAC SOCIETY, AND THE LAW

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EXECUTING RACE: EARLY AMERICAN WOMEN'S NARRATIVES OF RAC SOCIETY, AND THE LAW
SHARON M HARRIS
Manufacturer: Ohio State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814251315

The Hart Sisters: Early African Caribbean Writers, Evangelicals, and Radicals

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The Hart Sisters: Early African Caribbean Writers, Evangelicals, and Radicals

Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0803219849

Book Description

Daughter of a black slaveholder father, Anne Hart Gilbert and Elizabeth Hart Thwaites were among the first educators of slaves and free African Caribbeans in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Antigua. These members of the "free colored" community who married white men and played an active role as educators, antislavery activists, and Methodist evangelicals were also among the first African Caribbean female writers. This exceptional volume offers for the first time a collection of their writings.

Because the records of the Hart sisters are rare and original testimony from black women of the time, they will be of great interest to the modern scholar. Autobiographical and biographical narrative, along with antislavery tracts, hymns, devotional poetry, and religious documents vividly reveal the lives of these courageous women. Their writings illuminate the complex of racial, spiritual, and class- and gender-based divisions, as well as attitudes, of Anglophone Caribbean society. Moira Ferguson's introduction situates the Hart sisters in historical context and explains how their writings helped establish a specific black Antiguan cultural identity.

Ain't but a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings About St. Louis

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Magnificent`
A very good book

Ain't but a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings About St. Louis
Gerald Early
Manufacturer: University of Missouri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 1883982286

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent`.......2000-05-20

This is just wonderful - poetry, fiction, essays, spanning from slavery to the modern day. Early has gathered an important collection of writing, period. Forget ethnicity, forget locality, this stuff is GOOD.

A very good book.......1999-04-01

I thought this book was incredibly entertaining. It has local flair and memorable comments from some of the most famous blacks in history. The essays are provocative, fun and entertaining. A must read.

Speech and Power: The African-American Essay and Its Cultural Content from Polemics to Pulpit (Dark Tower Series)

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Speech and Power: The African-American Essay and Its Cultural Content from Polemics to Pulpit (Dark Tower Series)

Manufacturer: Ecco Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Gloria Naylor's Early Novels

Manufacturer: University Press of Florida
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Early African-American Classics (Bantam Classics)

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A truly remarkable anthology
Interesting

Early African-American Classics (Bantam Classics)

Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0553213792
Release Date: 1990-04-01

Book Description

An essential collection of some of the most influential and significant writings by African-American writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this volume includes Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) and excerpts from W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Harriet A. Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself (1861), Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery (1901), and James Weldon Johnston's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912).

In his provocative introductory essay, Anthony Appiah explores the roots of African-American literature. He points out that writing itself was an act of rebellion for a population that assumed to be illiterate, and explains the distinctive American literary and cultural context of the time, without which these works cannot be fully understood.

Customer Reviews:

A truly remarkable anthology.......2003-10-04

I'm now reading through this book for the third time, and the stories impress me more and more with every read. These are true accounts of the basest villains and the most courageous heroes, caught in the web of the American South's "peculiar institution" of slavery. If only public schools could make American history so engaging.

These tales can be appreciated on a number of levels; for one, they really put my own troubles in perspective, for in comparison to what some of these people went through, my own complaints seem petty and ungrateful. For another, they give fascinating insights into the depths of human depravity and despair, and the heights of courage and strength in the face of adversity. And, of course, it's a tremendously fruitful history lesson, told firsthand by those who lived through it.

It is impossible to know how accurate these accounts are - and there *is* a whiff of hyperbole in Harriet Jacobs' otherwise excellent account - but if only half of these assertions are true, it is clear that slavery was a monstrous institution indeed. Reading of these struggles lights a righteous fire in my heart; it makes me want to go back in time and fight alongside these persecuted people, and bring justice to those who committed terrible crimes against them in the name of God and country. You'll never think of this period in American history the same after reading this book.

Interesting.......2000-10-22

It seemed a good selection (though the two first pieces seem to address the same thing and are similar in content, if not in tone). I was a little bothered by what seemed to me an excessive sentimentality in the "Slave Girl" narrative and the "Biography of Ex-Colored Man", but I would be the first to say that the reading was educational.

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