Bright Young Things discussion

Welcome to September's fiction group read of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson.

Enjoy!

Started this yesterday, think it will be a quick read as I'm already 25% done and I wasn't reading for very long. So far, so good. I expected to like the racial aspect of the story, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the writing style too.

I've just started this too and agree, Pink, the writing style is excellent.

I'll start this once I've finished early Israelites book that I'm currently reading and have almost completed.

I finished a factual book on black people in art, music, theatre and literature from the 1700s - early 1900s recently (check my 'read' list) which if you have not read, I highly recommend that you both do. Especially the detailed bibliography.

I will definitely go back to that list.

I was a bit disappointed because I tried to order the Vintage edition with an introduction by Henry Louis Gates Jr secondhand (seems to be out of print), but when it arrived it was a Penguin with a different introduction, by William L Andrews - still looks as if it will be interesting to read after I finish the book, though.

Has anyone else got the edition with the Gates introduction? I remember reading another short book where he had written a massive introduction which was almost as long as the book, which was very interesting, so I was rather hoping for the same again here!

Hang on a minute, let me check...

No! Mine is Dover 1912 edition with a preface by the publishers.

My kindle copy contains a preface from the 1912 edition.

Thanks, Roisin! I've just been looking in your 'read' list - is the book you mentioned Aspects of British Black History by Peter Fryer ?

I too have the free kindle edition, with just a one page preface by the publishers.

Ah no but that is fascinating book too. Hang on...

Mine's the same introduction as yours Judy.

I totally forgot it was September already. I'll be starting this one soon!

The Negro in Art and Literature in the United States by Benjamin Brawley.

All the free editions seem to just have the 1912 preface.

Me too Bronwyn!

Thanks Roisin. That makes sense - I was thinking it would probably be a US book to go with this read.

Thanks to whoever nominated this - I'm liking it a lot so far. Great that a few of us are taking part.

I do have the 1912 preface in my paperback too. There's also a "note on the text" saying that in the 1927 edition some spellings were changed by the publisher, Knopf, and in particular the UK spelling of "coloured" was used. Some editions still use this spelling.

Good to hear! Look forward to reading this. Was it Pink who recommended it? : )

Yep it was me. I'm 60% through now and things have taken quite a turn since his childhood. Very intrigued to see how it ends.

Finished now. I enjoyed this to the end, though it did wander a little in the middle. I thought it was very well constructed and it raised lots of interesting points that are as relevant today. I had to look up Johnson's life afterwards, to see how much of it was based upon his personal experiences. The little I found out from Wikipedia made interesting reading too.

I've finished it too and agree with your comments, Pink. The Penguin introduction includes a short biography and it's clear that quite a bit is based on personal experience, including the passion for music. He did publish a memoir, Along This Way: The Autobiography of James Weldon Johnson and it sounds as if that would be very interesting to read too.

Yes I've been considering his memoir, it sounds like he had a very full and productive life, as did his wife, who sounds just as interesting.

I thought he must have some connection to music, as he writes about this so well in the novel.

There is short biography and critique of him in Benjamin Brawley's The Negro in Art & Literature in the United States. I'll check wiki to see what it says.

Yes I agree with you both. He clearly used some of his own experiences as inspiration. I'm on Chapter 5 at the moment. Some beautiful writing.

Yes beautiful writing, really quite captivating. I believe this was his only novel, though his poetry might be worth a read, as well as his biography and non-fiction pieces. I'm not sure how easy these are to get hold of though.

Hmm? Hang on a moment...

http://www.poemhunter.com/james-weldo...

This site has his poems. iBooks has his works.

Found this article about the book.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...

Very interesting article, thanks Roisin.

Thanks Roisin :)

Interesting that this reviewer, Nathaniel Rich, argues the narrator is very conceited because of the way he repeatedly describes his own brilliance and talents - he's the best ragtime pianist, Spanish speaker etc.

I can see what he means, but it hadn't struck me that way when reading the book - I felt more that he had to be good at many different things so that the book can be so wide-ranging.

Also there are some things he isn't particularly good at, such as gambling!

Hahaha! Yes, I wondered about that. I felt that he was showing that he (and other black people) are talented and can learn. There were still people even when this was written, that thought that teaching black people was a waste of time and unnecessary. The point about Uncle Tom's Cabin being about what white people expected of a black person, the stereotype, is something that he clearly disliked.

I'm about halfway through this. I agree that the writing is really beautiful. It seems poetic in a way, so hearing he was a poet too isn't surprising.

I was noticing that he seems good at everything (speaking Spanish better than the Cubans, really?), but I do agree with the last comment (Roisin? Sorry, can't look while replying on my phone) that he kind of has to be.

I'm really enjoying this. Thanks for the nomination, Pink. It's one I'd never heard of before. I'm really glad to be reading it.

Judy wrote: "Interesting that this reviewer, Nathaniel Rich, argues the narrator is very conceited because of the way he repeatedly describes his own brilliance and talents - he's the best ragtime pianist, Span..."

Hhm, in this article he starts out by saying the hero needed to be a conceited ass, but then he gives a great account of the reasons why a strong and talented narrator made this book so good. I'm not sure I agree he was conceited, I thought he was more of a talented man, though certainly flawed and not nearly as exceptional as Johnson himself.

Yes, I suspect your right Pink. If one is good at something and they admit it, a person can come across as arrogant. Our character is talented and competent, but can admit his weaknesses. He talks of not being a good accompanist. That suggests self awareness.

: ) Bronwyn - Ha! Technology!

Speaking Spanish better than the Cubans. I think he is possibly overemphasising the fact that non-whites can be talented and that to be a 'reader' he has intellect, things which many whites (and many blacks) were brainwashed into believing that black people didn't have.

This was still a dangerous time for black people, particularly in the South. I think the lynching of a woman and her children from a bridge, which clearly had an impact on Woody Guthrie, who wrote an anti-lynching songs and his father was involved in this lynching, I think happened a year before the publication of this. I think??

Yes Laura D Nelson was murdered in 1911, photos were sold as a souvenir. Just awful...

I read a few of his poems today, which I thought were okay, but I'm really not a huge fan of poetry, so it's hard for me to say whether they're any good or not. I wanted to find his essay "Negro Americans, what now?" or his autobiography but can only see them in bind ups to buy, which I don't really want to do. Nothing at the library.

Can't see it on Gutenberg...

No i had a quick look there and googled to see if I could read online, but couldn't find anything for free. I did find some other essays, but not that one.

Your local library, if you do it as a reservation they should be able to get you a copy of this essay from another library, for example the British Library.

The British a Library has a copy of The Essential Writings of...which contains that particular essay. Your library could request it.

Ok that might be an idea, nothing shows up on my online library system. I haven't been using the library lately (trying to get through the books on my shelves) but I'll make a note to ask them next time I go in. Thanks for letting me know about this :)

I'm up to chapter 4. I haven't gotten to his speaking Spanish yet. The comments make me think of how even now African Americans or women of any color have to work twice as hard to be thought of as not nearly good enough.

Yes, having to go above and beyond, just to be considered on the same level. This is still a problem, but slowly getting better.

Me and my husband watched a very good film presented by Chris Rock on black hair. What was shocking were the comments from some black women who thought that if they had natural hair (not relaxed, weaved etc) they didn't think that they would be taken seriously, only with Europeanised or real hair extensions from ( quite often ) Asian women.

You are right, black people do have to work quite often twice as hard to be seen as successful or taken seriously.

Here is the trailer for the film:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-4qxz08So

Do try to watch it if you have not seen it. Very good!

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/a...

Found the above article on white people passing for black. Quite interesting. In America this makes sense especially when it was illegal in some state to be married to someone who was black.

Something that occurred to my husband when reading some very vitriolic comments about Ms Dolezal by Piers Morgan, was the negativity towards looking naturally black and how this isn't valued, or considered beautiful. Lusitania Nyongo has meant that some ad campaigns do feature naturally black looking women. So much was made about her trying to look black, but do people pass judgement on black women trying to look, white? Through relaxing hair and skin lightening products.

Perhaps it's time for a return to the 60s "Black is Beautiful" attitudes when Afros were in.

Not to mention focusing on inner beauty, rather than externals...

I was amazed watching the trailer that Roisin posted....human hair is India's #1 export??!

My daughter was married to an Indian for a while and knew many Indian and Pakistani women. Without exception, they used skin lightening products. They were already so beautiful, but felt compelled to look whiter.

Too bad we can't love ourselves as we are.

OK, off my soapbox now.