Between the World and Me

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Synopsis

In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes an intimate letter from a father to his son about his concerns for him and what the future might hold. He delves into our nation's fraught history and the concept of race to explore what it's like inhabiting a black body when all throughout history and even today those bodies have been exploited, imprisoned, and killed out of proportion. Through a series of enlightening experiences within the halls of Howard University, on Civil War battlefields, the streets of Paris, and beyond, he weaves an emotionally charged personal narrative that confront the past, dwells in the present, and imagines a path into the future.

Review

Between the World and Me is a relatively short book that is written as a letter from the author to his teenage son. In it, he explores the idea that "race" is a damaging and false construct, where most of that damage is wreaked on black and brown bodies that have been subjected to slavery, segregation, police brutality, and being locked up in prison in disproportionate numbers. He also discusses what it's like living inside a black body and all the fears and burdens that come with that. As he grapples with these concepts, he has enlightening--and occasionally joyful--experiences in the various places he visits or sojourns, such as Howard University, Paris, Civil War battlefields, New York City, and his hometown of Baltimore, as well as with the people he meets along way. While weaving together this personal narrative, he confronts both the past and present and imagines a path into the future.

Lately I've been seeking out more "own voices" stories, both fiction and non-fiction, because I want to learn more about what life is like from differing perspectives. Since hearing all the praise for it over the past several years, I'd been eagerly wanting to check out Between the World and Me. Overall, it was a good book, but one that I struggled with a little for a couple of different reasons. I'm not quite sure what I expected going into reading it, but I think perhaps I was anticipating more of a straightforward narrative of events in the author's life and how those things shaped his views. Some of that is present, but it's also steeped in a lot of symbolism and metaphor, which isn't entirely my cup of tea. I'm not sure why, but I think I have a block in my brain when it comes to this type of writing (it's why I don't read much poetry or other writings that rely on symbolism), so I didn't get as much out of it as I might have if it had been written in a more plainspoken manner. Also I knew a little about the author ahead of reading it, so I was aware it wouldn't be light reading, but it ended up being a bit heavier than I anticipated. Mr. Coates has a rather grim and cynical viewpoint that at times seems to despair that things will ever change. Now don't get me wrong, I completely understand where he's coming from and why he would feel that way. There are days when I feel like that, too, but at the same time, for me, hope is life. I have to find hope in the small things or I'd be emotionally crippled, and from what I could tell, there wasn't much hope within these pages.

These are my personal views, though, and I don't want to discourage anyone from reading Between the World and Me or to make anyone think that it is in any way a bad book, because it's not. My brain may have trouble processing metaphor, but I could still tell that underneath the words that I was struggling to understand, it was a beautifully written book. Readers who don't have my little handicap will probably adore it. In spite of my struggles, I picked up on some very quotable passages and truly lovely turns of phrase that left me breathless. And even though the tone leans more toward the negative side, I one hundred percent validate the author's feelings even though it was perhaps a little too raw for me personally. Unless you struggle with metaphorical writing and/or negativity in the same way I do, please take my review with a grain of salt, and by all means, pick up Between the World and Me and give it a try if you haven't already. This is one of those rare cases where I fully believe that my inability to gush over this book the way I wanted to is more reflective of me and my shortcomings than the author's.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates