Another Country

Why I love Reading the RA favorite books is because they vary so much in depth and topical area.  Another Country by James Baldwin is the story of an African American male living in the Greenwich Village-area (circa 1970s) that is fighting something within himself, especially his race and his sexuality.  This is the theme of the book throughout, finding oneself and dealing with the various stages of friendship, admiration of others, the demons within, infatuation and the urge to act on it. Rufus is a complex character, as are all of Baldwin’s characters in this story.  Rufus falls in love with a white woman who recently left the South after escaping a failed marriage.  Rufus is overcome by past relationship issues and eventually falls into a ritual of physically hurting the ones he loves.  Rufus has a core group of friends, all artists of some sort (actors, writers, and musicians).   Rufus, after losing his latest love to an asylum, determines life is not worth living and jumps to his death via the George Washington Bridge.  His remaining living friends, including his sister Ida, come to each others' support trying to figure it all out.  What happens is a series of love trysts between women and men, men and men, crossing race and breaking up marriages and alliances.  What a very complicated read strewn with characters that do have some level of reality and despair.  The characters are actually pretty intriguing though their motivations and drive seem somewhat inconsistent with their development by the author.   It reads as if it should have been set on some commune where the characters are “taught” this is the way we live to succeed.  While this in no way was a book one could have guessed how the story would end up, it led me to say “ok, so what?”  I understand the timing and how the era makes for a fitting story, I just didn’t get to feel a sense of care when it wrapped up.  Probably would have made it as a made-for-TV weekly movie.  Certainly not a boring read, but somewhat unbelievable.  Wasn’t really sure what the author wanted the reader to get out of this one.  Not my favorite read, but could see how this would be a good read for people questioning sexuality or even how to commit themselves in a relationship.