أبناء العم توم

by Richard Wright, ريتشارد رايت

تلقيت الدرس الأول في كيف ينبغي أن أعيش كزنجي يوم كنت بعد صغيراًز كنا نعشي في أركنساس، ينهض بيتنا خلف خطي السكة الحديدية. حتى المقفار مرصوفة برماد أسود. فلا ينبت فيها اللون الأخضر على الإطلاق. وكان الشيء الأخضر الوحيد الذي يمكن أن تقع عيوننا عليه بعيداً جداً، خلف خطي السكة الحديدية، حيث يقطن السادة البيض.

هكذا افتتح ريتشارد سرد قصة حياته ومعاناته كأحد أبناء العم توم من الزنوج، تلك الحياة التي تعلمه أن من له الحق في العيش الكريم هم البشر فقط -وهم البيض بالطبع- وعليه أن يتعلم ذلك ويستوعبه منذ طفولته، وهذا يعني أن يتيقن بأنه هو وأولاده وزوجته ملك يتصرف به الرجل الأبيض كيفما يشاء منذ اللحظة الأولى التي اشتراه فيها، وبالتالي فإن تعرض الرجل الأبيض له هو أو أي فرد من أفراد عائلته فإن النهوض للدفاع عنه يعتبر جريمة لا تغتفر تضاف إلى سجل جرائمه التي أولها أنه زنجي من أولاد أو أحفاد العم توم. وسيحكم عليه بلا محاكمة بالموت أو الحرق أو يظل طريداً في الغابات أو الأذغال لبقية حياته

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, African American, Historical Fiction, Literature, Race

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of powerful, sometimes controversial novels, short stories and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerned racial themes. His work helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Peiman E iran · Rating 2 out of 5]

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، این کتاب تقریباً از 280 صفحه تشکیل شده است و شاملِ چهار داستان میباشد که در ارتباط با زندگی سیاه پوستانی است که زندگی شخصی و اجتماعی آنها در معرضِ خطرِ تهاجمِ سفید پوستان است و از سوی این سفید پوستان همیشه مورد بی احترامی قرار میگیرند و ستم بسیار به آنها میشود
‎داستانِ آخر، که <آتش و ابر> نام دارد، جداگانه توسط جنابِ <کیانوش> ترجمه شده است و کتابِ آن نیز موجود است... این داستان از نظر موضوعی با سه داستانِ دیگر کتاب تفاوت دارد، چراکه در آن سیاه پوستان و سفید پوستان با یکدیگر متحد میشوند و در تظاهراتی موفق شرکت میکنند تا اعتراضشان را علیه ظلمِ حاکم بر جامعه نشان دهند.. در تمامی داستان ها <ریچارد رایت> میخواهد نشان دهد که میتوان با عملِ جمعی و انقلابی به هدف والا و آزادی رسید، و اینکه : آزادی از آنِ نیرومندان است
‎درکل داستانها موردِ پسندِ من نبود... خسته کننده بود و البته موضوع تکراریِ دشمنیِ سفید پوستان با سیاه پوستان و مبارزه با برده داری
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‎امیدوارم ریویو در جهتِ شناختِ کتاب، مفید بوده باشه
‎<پیروز باشید و ایرانی>

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of short stories has implanted images in my mind that I have never been able to shake. Wright is an incredible writer that grabs his readers by the neck and takes them where he wants them to go. These stories are scary good, and will change the way you see slavery and racism forever.

Pay attention to Wright's use of color.

[Lennie Wynker · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what it's worth I recommend this book to those Quillette and Areo readers who claim to like reason and science and yet would dismiss both if it doesn't fit their worldview. I recommend it to those who argue that black slaves were better off then poor white and never stop to wonder why black people would risk it all for a glimmer of freedom. I recommend it to those who castigate Afro-American for not loving their country and segregating themselves from the rest of society. I recommend it to those who consider that the holocaust was worse than the enslavement of Afro-American and their subsequent exclusion from all sphere of society because according to them Jews had higher IQ. I recommend it to those who decry identity politics, lament over what is according to them the mistreatment of white folk despite their goodwill and yet never stop to think why identity politics can be so attractive to some and grew to the extent it did. I recommend to those who never wonder if their experience and understanding could be so removed from someone else that there could be many things about that someone's life and viewpoints they don't know that don't know.

About a month ago, I read Clarence Thomas' biography. Thomas wasn't exactly pro-desegregation of schools due to his harrowing experience in a white school who accepted black children. At some point in the book, Thomas discuss school desegregation with a white lawyer. During this conversation, Thomas come to the shocking realisation that most white people believe that black people want desegregation because they want to mingle with white even though for most black people desegregation was a mean to get a better schooling system for their children. For me this little episode exemplify most white-black relationship. A saddening lack of understanding.

I have no real hope that any of the people I mentioned would be moved by this book, but yet I recommend it nonetheless. What is likely to happen is that they will rate the book 1 star, and then proceed to explain how black people truly hadn't had it that bad and argue about our laziness, ego-centrism and lack of work ethic.

By the way, I'm far from being pro-identity politics, pro-liberal or anything like that, but I'm tired of the double standard and hypocrisy I keep seeing. I'm tired of being asked to judge people as individuals and yet see that the same treatment is not given in return. I am tired of seeing people being accused of trying to guilt or of being a spoiled snowflakes whenever they want to discuss racism or discrimination. And I'm exhausted of being told that race doesn't matter or that we're pretty much all equal by people who in their daily life most likely have never been treated differently because of their race in the real world.

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dimly she saw in her mind a picture of men killing and being killed. White men killed the black and black men killed the white. White men killed the black men because they could, and the black men killed the white men to keep from being killed. And killing was blood."

"But, Lawd, Ah don wanna be this way! It don mean nothin! Yuh die ef yuh fight! Yuh die ef yuh don fight! Either way yuh die n it don mean nothin…"

A young boy and friends go to the forbidden “whites only” creek to swim, only to find events rapidly spiral out of control.
A man tries to get his sick and pregnant wife to a hospital during a flood, with disastrous and violent consequences.
A woman is raped by a white traveling salesman, leaving her and her husband to deal with emotional wreckage and bitterness it leaves behind.
A preacher must decide whether to march in protest of his congregation dying from hunger because of white officials, or to preserve the peace and his influence with them.
A mother must choose between saving her son’s life by betraying his communist friends or staying silent and ensuring his death.
The common thread that ties these startling stories together, beyond the obvious and terrifying violence of its white characters, is that almost all of the black characters in these stories were doing very little wrong when violence reached their doors. These stories terror is derived particularly from the sense that no matter where you are (swimming in a lake), what you do (saving the drowning wife of a man who just tried to kill you), or what you say (almost all interactions between white and black characters begin and end with yes ma’am or no ma’am), if you are black, white rage and degradation will find you.
One is almost tempted to chalk up the horrible things these characters are forced to endure as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The truth however is that in the 1950s (to say nothing of 2021) there was no right place to be if you were black. Every time was the wrong time and every place held the potential to be your last.
Richard Yarborough writes in the foreword to these stories that even more important than the stories themselves is Wright’s short autobiographical essay called “The Ethics of Jim Crow”, in which he details brief incidents of mutilations, murder, humiliations, and cruelty that he experienced or witnessed at the hands of white people. It is by itself a devastatingly brutal piece of writing, but as a precursor to these stories, Yarborough wants to remind the reader that while these characters may have been fictionalized, but their plights and traumas were pulled straight from an everyday hell black men and women were forced to live through on a daily basis.
The only parallel I can draw for the raw and vicious stories told here is in Langston Hughes collection “The Ways of White Folk”. Both are dripping in injustice and outrage. Both contain characters simply trying to make it through days without interacting with seemingly unbalanced, callous and murderous white people. And much like in Hughes’s story of a black soldier back from the war who is blindsided and viciously assaulted without warning (as are we the reader), Wright’s stories blindside us.
They punch us.
They kick us.
They spit in our faces and refuse to tell us that things will be ok.
They weren’t then and they are most assuredly not now.
Many may pick up this book and want to look away from these pages.
Others will read on and convince themselves that as horrible as these events may be, these white characters are works of fiction.
That they are aberrations that don’t represent what white people were or are today.
So yes we tell ourselves, it is ok to look away.
And yet we cannot.
Wright and these devastating stories he gave to a cruel and violent world, simply will not allow it.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immersive and heart rending stories from the early Jim Crow South written by one of the South's best writers of the 20th Century. Richard Wright brings us five short stories which illustrate the lives of Southern Blacks during the early 20th Century. Big Boy Leaves Home is about innocent young boys caught in the wrong place at the wrong time only because of their skin color. Down by the Riverside is a story of a Black family caught in a natural disaster whose impact was magnified by discrimination. Long Black Song is the blatant unthinking exploitation of Southern Whites and the horrendous consequences rot upon a Black family. Fire and Cloud is the first of two stories where we encounter Richard Wright's sympathies for socialist political ideology and how socialist politics attracted both poor Caucasians and Blacks. This story is also used by Mr. Wright to investigate how religion was used to suppress the Black population. The last story, Bright and Morning Star, deepens Mr. Wrights thoughts and ideas of the role socialism and religion play within society. Each of these stories are evidence of how incredible a fiction writer Mr. Wright really was. Even if you have no interest in the race issues within the United States, I highly recommend this book for the stories themselves.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. As it dealt with racism it was certainly depressing, but it was also very captivating and powerful. It takes a lot for me to enjoy short stories, so me getting invested in this so quickly is a big deal. But I prefer novels above all else and in the end I wasn't quite as affected by this one as I was by Native Son and Black Boy.

[Brett Birdwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels suffocating, dreadful; not how life lives but how it withers; with (maybe) the quickest sliver of light through the quicksilver of the Fight. Something about the People—their might— but I still don’t know who stands as Winner.

[Clayton Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I could never imagine the pain and strife felt by the characters, but the way in which Wright writes makes my heart hurt for the terrible way the African Americans were treated. This is one of the first books I’ve read where the main characters are continually bombarded with struggles; it almost made me claustrophobic to read because terrible instances would not cease to stop. Wright allows helps us to peek into the hopeless reality of what many black people faced, and in different ways, still face today. It was never fair for them, and that’s what was upsetting to see.

As I completed this great read earlier today, I came to the realization that to torment, oppress, segregate, and reject is a result of cowardice. The cruel people in the book (that very much so existed, and sadly still exist) clearly had no indication of what it is like to truly love. Their arrogance and pride blinded them to the hate they were displaying. If we believe in the perfect and whole love that the Holy Trinity radiates, then we ought to know what is right. For the antagonists in the story, they ignored the love God displayed and instead made themselves believe they were the gods. That’s no way to live, and we still see that pan out today.

How do we, as people that are called to love as He did, combat the ones that seem to engulf our surroundings with darkness? Do we submit? Do we obey their commands? No! We look to the Father for guidance and ask him to lead us on paths of righteousness. I loved reading this book because, in the face of death, the face of torture, the ones wrongly treated cried out to God and asked to save them. Crying out to God and seeking his answer is something we do not do enough, and because of that, Uncle Tom’s Children has inspired me.

[Najati Matrook]

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اسم الكتاب: #أبناء_العم_توم
المؤلف: #ريتشارد_رايت
نوع ال��تاب: قصص
مكان الشراء: معرض الكتب المستعملة
عدد الصفحات: 205
الدار: دار المعارف للطباعة والنشر
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بعد قراءتي لرواية "كوخ العم توم" وتأثري الشديد بها .، قررت أن أقرأ هذا الكتاب #أبناء_العم_توم ولكني وجدته مختلفاً عن الأول .، صحيح إنه يناقش أو يتكلم عن القضية نفسها وهي قضية الزنوج ومعاناة هؤلاء الناس ذوو البشرة الداكنة .، لكن هذا الكتاب عبارة عن قصص مختلفة .، ثلاث قصص أيضاً تحكي معاناة الزنوج في أمريكا في تلك الحقبة التي تُظهر طغيان البيض وكأنهم الوحيدين الذين يملكون حق العيش على تلك الأرض .!
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القصص مؤثرة جداً تبين مدى الوحشية والقسوة التي كان البيض يعاملون بها الزنوج .، يمنعونهم من أبسط حق من حقوقهم في هذه الحياة .، تعامل وحشي جداً يصل بهم لحرق الزنجي وكأنه غير إنسان .، إنعدام تام لكل الصفات البشرية وقلوب متحجرة وقاسية .، كل هذا والسبب هو لون البشرة الذي يعطيهم كل الحق في التعامل مع الزنوج بهذه الوحشية .، انتهاك للإنسانية ولأبسط حقوقها .!
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الترجمة كانت سيئة بعض الشي .، قد يكون السبب قدم الطبعة .، قديمة جداً حتى إن أوراق الكتاب صفراء .، ولكني تأثرت لرواية "كوخ العم توم" أكثر من هذا الكتاب .!
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كتاب رقم: 124 لسنة 2017 ❤️📚
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📝 ملاحظة مهمة قررت أحطها مع كل رڨيو: لكل قارئ ذائقة مختلفة .، فأي كتاب يعجبني ما لازم يعجب غيري .، الأذواق تختلف والقراءات تختلف من شخص لثاني .، ف اقرؤوا وقيموا ولا تعتمدون على تقييمات أحد .، اووكي ؟!
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#مثقفات #قارئات #محبي_القراءة #أصدقاء_القراءة #أصدقاء_الكتاب #كلنا_نقرأ #القراءة_للجميع #الحياة_بين_الكتب #تحدي_القراءة #تحدي_100_كتاب_الرابع #كتبي #مكتبي #أمة_إقرأ_تقرأ #ماذا_تقرأ #القراءة_عالم_جميل #البحرين_تقرأ_10000_كتاب #الغرق_في_الكتب_نجاة #أحلم_بشغف #تحدي_الألم_بالقراءة
#أنا_وكتبي #نجاتي_تقرأ
#najati_books

[Sean Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal. A short story collection for Black Lives Matter from 1938. I do not understand why this book is not better known or more discussed.

Wright's project here is to awaken whites to the reality of Black lives in the Jim Crow south. It's the literary equivalent of videos of police beatings and murders. By opening with his autobiographical essay, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow," Wright anticipates and preempts the argument that he's exaggerating the racialized horror of southern Black life: How can it be an exaggeration if it's in line with his direct experience?

An excellent read after Black Boy. His memoir provides an extensive background and context for these stories. The last two in the collection, "Fire and Cloud" and "Bright and Morning Star" are more intelligible once one has read about his involvement with the Communist Party. All five stories are incredible. Each is unforgettable - a rarity for any collection of stories. Of the five, "Fire and Cloud" struck me as especially relevant. Reverend Taylor must struggle with his role as a leader and the consequences of leadership in a time of need and protest.

This goes on the shelf of books that has the power to begin to redeem America, if read widely enough and considered deeply enough. Again, why this book isn't better known or more highly regarded is a mystery.

[Tommy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts with an essay describing Richard Wright's personal education in the South's Jim Crow laws and then we see them play out in five gut-wrenching stories. There's a slight repetitiveness to it since you have individual stories and each one inevitably arrives to racist, violent acts. In particular, "Long Black Song" (probably the only unsuccessful story) seems to demand a quieter, more subtle way of examining these problems but sure enough the angry white mob shows up. That being said the stories "Big Boy Leaves Home" and "Fire and Cloud" are great views of black communities finding strength and resourcefulness under seemingly impossible circumstances.
I think the best is "Down By the Riverside", which not only has the other stories effecting, sad violence, but also offers the pleasures of a suspense tale. It's amazing, and by itself is one of the best things I've read this year.

[LeeTravelGoddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Wright, I think, really didn’t care what his stories made people feel, he just had to get it out. This is precisely why he is my favorite. I never knew such horrid tales about how whites treated blacks (I’ve heard and read stories but nothing this detailed and specific & yes you may say that this is fiction but NO GIRL, it’s not!) and I’m glad that there is a place of reference here. Hatred at its worst, down to the very core of you simply because of the hue of our skin. A quote from E. Cleaver’s Soul On Ice comes back to me now as I type this review; it stopped me dead in my tracks when I read it….

“the price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.” -Eldridge Cleaver

there is always a price. let that marinate.

My hat is off to you Mr. Wright, it’s a tops 💚💚💚

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! How could I have not read any Richard Wright stories before? He is now one of my favorite short story authors. These stories were each powerful and evocative. I am writing a paper and the imagery with water in each story is very interesting and will provide me with many pages.

[Sekab swairjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

مراجعتي لرواية أبناء العم توم - ريتشارد رايت.
يروي رايت معاناته كزنجي من خلال ثلاث قصص مؤلمة تنبش تفاصيل قاسية, في حياة الزنوج, بين جماعات البيض.
رواية مدهشة تدغدغ في رأسي الأسئلة.
إن الطريقة التي يفكر بها الرجل الأبيض مثيرة للجدل, محيّرة و مقززة!
و قد نستطيع غالباً أن نكتب لنلخص حياته , مانشيت " كيف تفسد حياة إنسان بناءً على لونه ".
أي عنصرية تجعله يستعبد إنساناً آخر, لأنه خلق بلون مختلف؟ - سؤال غبي بعض الشيء.
إن الزنجي يولد و هو يعلم تماماً بأن من المقدّر له أن يموت, بشكل وحشي و بلا ذنب.
قد يُقتل دون محاكمة, أو يُحرق, يُشنق, دون إنسانية. لن يسلم من الانتهاكات طيلة حياته.
إنّ جماعة البيض لم يتركوا فرصة لهم, لم يتركوا لأي رجل أسود, فرصة واحدة.
ليس في حياة الرجل الأسود ما يستطيع أن يصونه, أو ينجو به, فهم ينتزعون الأرض و الحرية, ينتزعون النساء و من ثم الحياة!
لقد قتل الرجال البيض, السود لأنهم قادرون على ذلك, يرغبون به, و يستمتعون بفعله, و لكن حينما يضطر رجل أسود لقتل رجل أبيض, فهو يقي نفسه من الموت, و يدافع عن حقه في الحياة.
تفاصيل كثيرة أكثر ما آلمني فيها أن تمنع جماعة البيض الرجال السود من أن يقرؤوا, أو يستعيروا الكتب كي لا يفهموا شيئاً , ولا يعرفوا حقاً واحداً من حقوقهم, و لا أن يتشبثوا ب نصٍ يؤكد ذاتهم التي يحاول البيض إنكارها.
قرأت عدة كتب لكتّاب سود, كانوا الأروع على الإطلاق, و إنه لمن الوحشية أن أصنفهم على هذالأساس, و لكن, ليتأكد لي, بأن من رحم المعاناة , يولد الإبداع.
أصحيح ما يقولون عن ديكسي؟
و هل صحيح ن الشمس تشرق دائماً؟
و هل تزهر شجيرات المنغوليا الحلوة على كل باب,
ويثابر الجميع على التهام الابوسوم حتى التخمة؟
أصحيح ما يقولون عن سواني؟
و هل تسمو الأحلام عند ذلك الجدول؟
أتراهم يضحكون, أتراهم يحبّون؟
كما يرددون في كل أغنية.
إذا كان ذلك صحيحاً, فهنالك موطني.
-أغنية شعبية.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little bit difficult to say that I "liked" this book, but I did think that it was good. I only read a few of the stories (I couldn't bear to read all of them, actually): A Bright and Morning Star, Down by the Riverside, and Fire and Cloud. I would advise reading Fire and Cloud left if you want to go through the rest of your day with a shred of faith in the goodness of human beings intact. I don't cry often when I read books, and even less in front of other people, but I think I cried for about 30 minutes straight at the end of A Bright and Morning Star. It's chilling to see how horrible human beings can be to one another, and that racism is such a powerful and evil (these stories would even lead me to say satanic) motivator. Not for the faint of heart.

[Elana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book is watching a car crash. Long, stark, and horrifying.
Wright writes the pain of the black body in Jim Crow south in a manner simultaneously numbing and jarring, like needles stuck into the flesh that you can only feel when you move and dear God you have to move.
The contemporary reader can only sit still and watch the furtive movements of each character struggling for bare life in a place and time where being born black means morality and beauty are choked out of your air.
And just as each story ends another begins. This is a different kind of horror story.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Wright's first published novel, Uncle Tom's Children (1936), opens with a quote from the author: "The post Civil War household word among Negroes--'He's an Uncle Tom!'--which denoted reluctant toleration for the cringing type who knew his place before white folk, has been supplanted by a new word from another generation which says:--'Uncle Tom is dead!" It is an appropriate opening for a book hailed as marking the beginning of black protest literature. Wright is not only protesting race oppression, but economic oppression. The book was, after all, first published by the Communist Party, the political views of which are apparent in most of the short stories. In its first printing, "Bright and Morning Star," was omitted, so be sure to read the restored text, which includes the story.

Zora Neale Hurston, with whom Wright had somewhat of a feud, said of the book, "a book about hatreds. Mr. Wright serves notice by his title that he speaks of people in revolt, and his stories are so grim that the Dismal Swamp of race hatred must be where they live. Not one act of understanding and sympathy comes to pass in the entire work." True, there is little to be found in the ways of happy endings in any of the stories. However, Wright portrays black life in the South as he saw it, the laws of Jim Crow so ingrained in the minds and hearts of his characters that they are often unable to act or think for themselves, and when they do, the threat of lynching is brought upon them. A bright spot in the message of the author is that despite white supremacy, a united front of the poor--black and white--can disable even the strongest oppressors.

[Giulia Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scene di caccia nel profondo sud degli Usa: cinque racconti preceduti da una breve introduzione dell’autore in cui ricorda che lui, ragazzino nero nato nel 1908 , ha potuto avvicinarsi alla cultura solo presentando una tessera della biblioteca intestata a un bianco per cui lavorava, l’accesso ai libri era interdetto ai neri. Riflessione d’obbligo sulla forza potenzialmente liberatrice ed eversiva della cultura e dell’uso in funzione oppressiva e manipolatoria della sua negazione ( e del suo disprezzo). Detto questo, devo confessare che durante tutta la lettura mi sono sentita nei panni del pubblico che assiste, in Palombella Rossa, al finale del Dottor Zivago, la famosa scena del tram, incitando a gran voce la Christie prima e Sharif poi a a ritrovarsi: Voltati voltati! e .. Corri corri ! ( se non la conoscete, fatemi dire con Moretti che continuiamo a farci del male. E comunque potete rimediare ). Ecco, così ho pensato dalla prima all’ultima pagina: Scappa, ragazzo, scappa, vai al nord, non rimanere nell’inferno. E’ un libro doloroso, denso di linciaggi, orrori, ingiustizie insopportabili, ma anche dignità e bellezza; scrittura lucida e nitida.E comunque la storia raccontata dalle vittime sa rendere l’atrocità con un realismo tale che nessun bianco, in questo caso, anche volenterosamente empatico, può rendere: occorre stare nella pelle delle vittime per sentire e trasmettere la paura come compagna di vita. L’unico debole spiraglio si intravede nel quarto racconto, quando i neri si uniscono ai bianchi comunisti e portano la loro infelicità in una dimensione di rivendicazione collettiva. Altrimenti è solo la fuga la possibilità di salvezza: scappa, ragazzo, scappa.

[Salah · Rating 3 out of 5]

ثلاثة قصص قصيرة تعبر عن ماساة الزنوج ف أمريكا الت امتدت حتى أمد ليس بالبعيد وربما لا تزال مستمرة بشكل أو بآخر. المهم أنها قصص تفيض بالواقعة وتعبر عن مدى سماجة وسذاجة الإسان الذي يظ فسه أرقى لمجر اختلاف لون البشرة. بل ويعامل مختلف البشرة ككائنات مضرة أو ذات درة أدنى. كيف يتولد هذا الفراغ العقلي الذي يتول لهذا العنف التافه؟

بالسبة للقصة الأولى تنبعث مها العنصرية البغيضة في صورة مؤلمة فالأسود يتعلم ويتربى كيف يصبح عبدا مطيعا ليل رضا سيده الابيض، سيده هنا هو ربه في العمل وليس مالكه، ولن يرضى عنه ولو كان نعلاً في قدمه. قصة بيج بوي م أروع ما كتب وتظهر فيها لا آدمة الأبيض حتى مع مراهقين سود لا يملكون له ضراً ولا نفعا. وتأتي النهاية بان تم حرق منزل وتشريد اسرة كاملة وتقطيع جسد مراهق بريء لمجرد الاشتباه فيه! القصة الثالثة والاطول تذكرني برواية أرض أرض لجمال الغيطاي من حيث الأسلوب وإن كانت الترجمة سيئة للغاية، ولكن ما وضصلي منها كان كفيل بإبداء رأي. فيها تظهر كيف يستوي الإنسان في المحن لا فرق بين أبيض وأسود ولكن بمجرد انقشاع المحنة عادت العنصرية من جديد. ولم يشفع لمان انقاذه لمئات الأبرياء، ا يغفر له قتل خطأ حدث في حالة دفاع عن نفس. بل لم يتم معه تحقيق أو سماع أقواله شهادة طفل أبيض كانت كفيلة با ترديه حثة هامدة.

للسف سيظل الإنسان كائناً متدنياً طالما بقيت في حياتنا "ثوابت".

[713Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this book was very well written and equally horrifying. It did a great job of showing how unjust and scary life was for African Americans in the south in the Jim Crow Era. I was especially engaged with the story about Big Boy. Having to sit in a ditch while strangling a dog and hearing your friend dying without being able to do anything it must have been the worst feeling in the world.

[Amyg1024 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hard to read. It's very grim.

That is not to suggest it's not well-written; the author's style is very powerful. And, the plots are, unfortunately, completely believable.

These stories were first published between 1936 and 1940. To think the Civil Rights Act was not enacted for another quarter century...there are some very dark hallways in American history.

[Jassimhosfoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

ثلاث قصص في هذا الكتاب المسمى (أبناء العم توم) لمؤلفه ريتشارد رايت قرأت الطبعة الثالثة سنة ١٩٧٧.
القصة الأولى تحت عنوان (بيغ بوي يغادر البيت) تتحدث عن الفتيان الزنوج وما واجهوه من مصاعب مع البيض.
القصة الثانية حملت عنوان (هنالك، على ضفة النهر) القصة تتحدث عن عائلة زنجي اصتدمت مع الكارثة الطبيعية بارتفاع منسوب الماء، وصعوبة معاملة البيض لهم.
القصة الثالثة وهي (أغنية سوداء طويلة) رب أسرة تتكون من زوج وزوجة وابنتهم الرضيعة وهم في منزلهم تأتيهم متاعب البيض.
القصص تتحدث عن طبيعة علاقة البيض بالسود أو ما يسمى الزنوج وكيف أن البيض يتعاملون معهم بطريقة غير آدمية وكيف تسلب انسانية الزنوج من قبل البيض.
اقتباس:
إن جماعة البيض لم يتركوا لنا فرصة ما، إنهم لم يتركوا لأي رجل أسود فرصة واحدة، وليس هنالك في حياتك كلها شيء واحد تستطيع أن تصونه منهم، هم ينتزعون أرضك، ينتزعون حريتك، ينتزعون نسائك، ثم ينتزعون روحك.
ص ٢٠٠

[alanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh god i feel sick at that ending, it’s so gorey and visceral but effective in all the ways it needs to be to get the point across.

Overall, really important in terms of theme and as a portrayal of real history. Especially because a lot of the bullshit that was happening then is still happening now but in more hidden ways. The style is really interesting too. Lots of semicolons, and an interesting interplay between narration and dialogue in a way that kind of resembles stream of consciousness, but also kind of not (that doesn’t totally make sense but don’t ask me anything that requires thought right now i am dying).

I think this would have been so much better if I could have read it slower and at a different time. I definitely would have picked up on more. Also if my english professor wasn’t messing around and testing my final nerve…

[Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 - 52 Weeks of Short Novels, A Buddy Read

From the book: A Year of Reading - Briefly Great Short Books by Kenneth C. Davis

Week #6: Big Boy Leaves Home

[Corbin Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read in African American literature. It’s a brutally honest telling of the African American experience in the Jim Crow south. Each short story brought out a visceral reaction within me. Wright does not shy away from telling the truth despite how polarizing it may be.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one should go over well next Thursday. Lotsa classics, including "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." The only question, of course, will be the old bugbear of naturalism: is RW's stuff too deterministic? We shall let the readers decide. One helpful hint I've discovered for teachers: make 'em read "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" AFTER they read the stories. (JC comes first, as a kind of intro to the fiction). Going with stories over essays for initiates gives folks a little more elbow room for their own interpretations.

UPDATE: All right---so I muffed this one. "The Man Who..." is from EIGHT MEN, not UTC. I wasn't thinking. But the discussion was good; the class was able to see beyond the simple criticisms of RW's leftism and sexism and come up with alternative interpretations that give the stories a bit more oomph that their leaden reputation would allow. All in all, a good night.

[Christian Gompert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of gut wrenching tales that thrust the reader into the desperation and helplessness of 1930s African-Americans whose ill fates are predetermined by the racist and oppressive regions in which they live. The heavy outcomes are nearly all a result of characters having to choose between an awful circumstance and another even worse.
Wright has painted, through incredible psychoanalytical introspection both simple and profound, a bleak portrait of different characters that show the bitter and hateful irrationality and devastation of racism. Although his stories are made up, they are perhaps as effective at letting the reader witness this world first hand as the earlier real slave narratives a few generations prior.
Take patience and willingness along with you while you read, and the characters personalities and plights will be unveiled in a captivating and memorable way.

[Bernice Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories by Richard Wright were described as protest literature. They screamed loudly about the oppression of blacks and their sufferings in the Deep South. Each story I found more heartbreaking than the next. I found myself searching for a human survival formula that would connect each narrative to the next. How does one continue on with life, if allowed, day by day under the hands of an exploitative social system? The abuse by racist antagonists were at times a bit much to bear. Wright's writing was powerful and the imagery was vivid. His characters survived with strength, faith, and strong self-will. Those who did not gave up the "ghost" with cheer knowing God received them with open arms to a better place. I read this book in a few days. Could not put it down!!!!!

[Leif Kurth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting visions of the Jim Crow South whence Richard Wright came. His stories are deep in meaning and portrayed through unspeakable acts of violence and hatred, by the wrongdoers, and selfless and audacious loving deeds, from the courageous protagonists. In his introduction, titled The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, Wright prepares the reader for what follows in Uncle Tom's Children. These notes are a piece of history that should be juxtaposed with present-day realities; the reader might find patterns that raise questions about our society's inability to make significant progress in relations between People of Color and White folk.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories. Each features an African American character striving to live in a harsh world where they have few choices and few freedoms, and where dignity has to be fought for every minute of every day. We have stories of young men, old women, and all ages in between. The stories feature moments of high drama, where the characters are tested again and again and where no one really wins but some survive. Very powerful stories. There is a mythic feel to many of these tales and they are, in a way, constructing a powerful narrative that tries to make sense of something that really makes no sense. I was moved by each of these stories and characters.