Status Updates From Native Son

"It was no longer a matter of dumb wonder as to what would happen to him and his black skin; he knew now. The hidden meaning of his life—a meaning which others did not see and which he had always tried to hide—had spilled out. No; it was no accident, and he would never say that it was. There was in him a terrified pride in feeling and thinking that some day he would be able to say publicly that he had done it."

I shouldn't have started this right after finishing "If Beale Street Could Talk." To say Baldwin is a better writer is a huge understatement. His characters are also so much more nuanced.

I know this is a classic but it's ... not good.