Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Our May NF book is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. The book won many awards after its release in 2010 and details the life-changing migration of African Americans from the southeast to western and northern areas of the country from ~1915-1970 in hopes of better lives. Focus is placed on three real people who started in and moved to very different places - 1937 Mississippi to Chicago; 1945 Florida to Harlem; and 1953 Louisiana to California. Note that the book is generally about 600 pages, but audiobook options are also available.

For more information on the Great Migration:
https://www.archives.gov/research/afr...

https://www.history.com/topics/black-...

https://depts.washington.edu/moving1/...

https://ge.usembassy.gov/what-was-ame...

It’s about 543 pages when you subtract the notes and index.

I did start early and it is very good so far. As a New Yorker quote on the back states, it is narrative nonfiction, so, a very readable style. I find the writing quite elegant.

She does follow the three people, starting with their early years in their respective childhood towns in the 1920s and ‘30s and it creates a nice framework and intimate feeling. But she also fills in with bigger-picture history. For example, I’m on page 139 now and the author is now delving into the effects of WW2 on US life.

Jen, thank you for sharing how long the actual reading content is, because nonfiction is often deceiving in length and that it's written as narrative nonfiction.

Hearing that Wilkerson worked in other parts of the larger picture historical framework is great. That could help to better understand each of the three people's stories.

I read this a few years ago and highly recommend it. As Jen said, it's very readable.

I too read this a few years ago and was really impressed. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nice review- five stars! I'm reading now about the migration paths in relation to the major train lines and am also finding this interesting. I also found interesting that some major train lines were extended for the Civil War (transporting artillery and such) to more out-of-reach towns- New Orleans for example- and this ultimately opened up the possibility for escape for people of these areas.

The narrative style is really effective. I am often filled with suspense as the three personal stories unfold. Two men have left their southern homes and promised to send for their wives when they're situated. I'm anxious for reassurance that all bodes well for their relationships.

I like your review! I actually wrote a "real" review for this book when I read it back in 2016 (often I just write little things) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've read another book on this but it was an academic book and focused on one part South Side Girls: Growing Up in the Great Migration

Karin, to answer a question posed in your review, I don't remember this type of social history being taught during my school days in the late 60s and early 70 or in my sons' school days in the 90s and early 00s.
But back then my sons didn't communicate with me much about school curricula issues - or anything, really.

It could be different now - in some states, but certainly not in others. But it still would just be a paragraph in a chapter on social history of the time between the wars, and possibly again in the immediate post-war migration that also included many whites going to California for jobs and 'warmth.'

Speaking from the southern perspective and having graduated high school in 2006, I recall being taught about the Great Migration in the context as it connected to the Civil Rights Movement and the entire Jim Crow Era in the south. I remember these lessons occurring during 8th grade and in high school. Obviously, growing up in southeast Louisiana meant my area was directly impacted by all these pieces of history and usually in negative lights (appropriately so).

Fun fact of the Civil Rights Movement: the first bus boycott was actually in Baton Rouge, LA, but the Montgomery Bus Boycott is more famous. I believe its greater emphasis lies in it lasting much longer and making a larger impact on the movement as a whole; in short, it was more successful.

Samantha wrote: "Speaking from the southern perspective and having graduated high school in 2006, ..."

Thanks for the info, Samantha. Yours is a valuable perspective. It's nice to know the subject was covered.

Yes, appreciate hearing that, Samantha. I certainly don't remember anything about it from my curricula in the 80s/90s... It's pretty embarrassing about US schooling...

Y'all are very welcome. I also remember discussing the Great Migration again in undergrad in an American lit class and later American history class. My undergrad yrs were 2011-2016.

Brian E wrote: "Karin, to answer a question posed in your review, I don't remember this type of social history being taught during my school days in the late 60s and early 70 or in my sons' school days in the 90s ..."

It wasn't taught back then in Canada or the States and was still happening--it lasted until some time in the 1970s.

I liked Caste by Wilkerson very much. I would like to read TwooS.

Samantha wrote: "Our May NF book is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. The book won many awards after its release in 2010 and ..."
I am almost to the end and have really enjoyed reading it. I really like the narrative fiction style and it is well written. I don't think this particular story could have been written better. Narrowing the story of thousands down to the story of three people was a stroke of genius.

Samantha wrote: "Speaking from the southern perspective and having graduated high school in 2006, I recall being taught about the Great Migration in the context as it connected to the Civil Rights Movement and the ..."

I actually saw the tail end of the Jim Crow era in Louisiana. My father was from Natchitoches La. He grew up there in the 20's and 30's. His family was white but every bit as poor as some of the people described in the book . Every day saw a scramble for food. It was not far above a hunter-gatherer society. They of course did not have to suffer the hate, physical violence and deprivation of rights and dignity suffered by the Black residents. The book describes the separation of the races on the trains and my mother saw this on a train south in the 40's. When it crossed the Mason -Dixon line the Black passengers had to move to their own car. When I first traveled there in 1964 there was a statue of a Black man tipping his hat in the town square with a plaque which said "dedicated to the good darkie" . On my next trip back in 1968 it had been removed.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/200...

Wow, Jeremy, that's some interesting history you and your family members experienced. My mom, born in 1951, grew up in Natchez for the first 5 yrs of her life. Then, her family moved to south central Illinois where her parents were from. She has told me stories of coming back down to visit while growing up and not understanding why people had to sit in separate area inside theaters.

Thanks Samantha.

Jeremy wrote: "Samantha wrote: "Our May NF book is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. The book won many awards after its rel..."

I also find her work here brilliant. I just can't fathom the work and research that must have gone into this and the end result, though long and exhaustive, is so readable, so well presented. It's impressive. And it's nice to see someone else joined for this read here :)

I read Warmth of Other Suns a couple of years ago. The information after the Epilogue boosted my rating from 4 stars to 5. I encourage everyone to read the last pages to discover how hard she worked to write this book.