If Beale Street could talk

The aspect of If Beale Street Could Talk which most deeply hit me was realising that James Baldwin's novel was set in the early 1970s - and published in 1974 - yet it appears to be just as illustrative of Black America today as it was then. Nothing has improved with regards to police racism, in fact, from the news reaching me here in the UK, things may even have gotten worse.

Baldwin's sharp prose throughout If Beale Street Could Talk kept me glued to the story from its first page to the last. I loved how deeply he portrayed his characters, within what is a relatively short novel, and how those people interacted so realistically. The young 'Romeo and Juliet' couple at the centre, Tish and Fonny, should be at the happiest point of their lives together - they are planning to get married and Tish is expecting their child - but for the prejudiced realities they face every day. I got more and more angry at the unfairness and injustice they encounter as the novel progessed, partly fuelled by how Tish and her family took everything in their stride so pragmatically. Their normality should not be normal for anyone!

If Beale Street Could Talk was the first of Baldwin's novels I have read and I admit that I did not expect his work to be so shockingly relevant after almost fifty years. He is such an observant author and I was impressed at how naturally he made his points within the story. This is brilliant political fiction.

I read Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room before this, so the voice here feels very different. But I liked it! I felt drawn in by Tish’s narration.

I appreciated how loving Tish and her family are with each other. I think that can potentially be seen as unrealistic, but it felt supportive in a way my own family feels. You don’t always need tension within a family to be literary - there’s plenty of conflict outside of that in this story.

I think post #MeToo, this story feels even more tense. The intersectional aspect of it here - with a poor Black man being accused - complicates it. I thought it was handled pretty well for all that. Victoria is mostly not villainized, but seen as another victim of broken systems.

However, I do think there’s a streak of misogyny in here. Often of the “protector” type. I wasn’t sure how much Baldwin was interrogating that vs buying into it. I tried to do some research into it, but didn’t have much luck finding commentary on that. It may be a mix of both. It definitely makes it a thought provoking book.

Overall, I think the story highlights how Black love and family is so unjustly hurt by systemic racism, as well as the power that exists despite that - best put by Tish about Fonny: “He’s beautiful. They beat him up, but they didn’t beat him—if you see what I mean. He’s beautiful.”