“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME is not an easy read. I spent more time than usual re-reading passages and looking up definitions. I’m pleased that my vocabulary is now enriched.
The descriptions of the treatment the author, his family, and his friends endured because they are black, are painful, especially for a white woman as privileged as anyone Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about in his brilliant, Pulitzer prize winning book about black “disembodiment”. Blacks have been disembodied (lost their bodies to untimely death due to mistreatment or to murder) for as long as they’ve been in this country, and Ta-Nehisi Coates is angry about it.
I’m writing a novel about southern blacks and whites. One of my antagonists is an enraged black woman, determined to wreak havoc on her white ex-college teacher’s life. I remember a writing conference where two authors argued about how writers should depict our “bad” fictional characters.
One declared that we have to love our Meanies, feel compassion for them, just as we need to do in real life. The other disagreed. He believes evil is such a powerful force that writers need to call it for what it is, with no sugar coating. Good needs to conquer evil in our writing, in a no nonsense way.
I lean toward the first stance, and BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME strengthened that. It’s pretty impossible to truly “get” what it’s like to be someone from another culture, but Ta-hesi Coates writes with an honesty and a strength that bring me closer. I’m working on my antagonist, Glo-Girl’s, back story, imagining the hurts she met, and she’s already a stronger character. Ta-Nehisi Coates would be incensed if I let her off too lightly, so his observations help me keep her real.
When I recommended BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME to Ed, he said, “How angry is the author?” He’d been immersed in disturbing reading about Oregon militants and was looking for something less harsh.
I thought about it. “Angry enough,” I said. And then I told him that what keeps Ta-Nehisi Coates out of bitter, attacking mode is that he’s writing to his fifteen year old son, Samori, with all the passion of a father who loves and aches for and wants better for, so much wants better for.
I read and re-read elaborations on statements like “Race is the child of racism, not the father,” and “White people are not white,” and I found them disturbing and true. White people only think they’re white, Ta-Nehisi Coates says. We’re all mongrels, really, and unless this world gets less racist, we’re all be in trouble.
We may be in trouble, but writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates make it more likely we’ll face the trouble in innovative, progressive ways. I highly recommend BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME.
The descriptions of the treatment the author, his family, and his friends endured because they are black, are painful, especially for a white woman as privileged as anyone Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about in his brilliant, Pulitzer prize winning book about black “disembodiment”. Blacks have been disembodied (lost their bodies to untimely death due to mistreatment or to murder) for as long as they’ve been in this country, and Ta-Nehisi Coates is angry about it.
I’m writing a novel about southern blacks and whites. One of my antagonists is an enraged black woman, determined to wreak havoc on her white ex-college teacher’s life. I remember a writing conference where two authors argued about how writers should depict our “bad” fictional characters.
One declared that we have to love our Meanies, feel compassion for them, just as we need to do in real life. The other disagreed. He believes evil is such a powerful force that writers need to call it for what it is, with no sugar coating. Good needs to conquer evil in our writing, in a no nonsense way.
I lean toward the first stance, and BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME strengthened that. It’s pretty impossible to truly “get” what it’s like to be someone from another culture, but Ta-hesi Coates writes with an honesty and a strength that bring me closer. I’m working on my antagonist, Glo-Girl’s, back story, imagining the hurts she met, and she’s already a stronger character. Ta-Nehisi Coates would be incensed if I let her off too lightly, so his observations help me keep her real.
When I recommended BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME to Ed, he said, “How angry is the author?” He’d been immersed in disturbing reading about Oregon militants and was looking for something less harsh.
I thought about it. “Angry enough,” I said. And then I told him that what keeps Ta-Nehisi Coates out of bitter, attacking mode is that he’s writing to his fifteen year old son, Samori, with all the passion of a father who loves and aches for and wants better for, so much wants better for.
I read and re-read elaborations on statements like “Race is the child of racism, not the father,” and “White people are not white,” and I found them disturbing and true. White people only think they’re white, Ta-Nehisi Coates says. We’re all mongrels, really, and unless this world gets less racist, we’re all be in trouble.
We may be in trouble, but writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates make it more likely we’ll face the trouble in innovative, progressive ways. I highly recommend BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME.
#