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Product Description
Book Description
Richard Wright's brutal and gripping novel was a huge hit - selling at a rate of 2,000 copies a day - on first publication in 1940.
Product Description
Gripping and furious, Native Son follows Bigger Thomas, a young black man who is trapped in a life of poverty in the slums of Chicago. Unwittingly involved in a wealthy woman's death, he is hunted relentlessly, baited by prejudiced officials, charged with murder and driven to acknowledge a strange pride in his crime. Native Son shocked readers on its first publication in 1940 and went on to make Richard Wright the first bestselling black writer in America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, once picked up it's impossible to put down. If it's a fairy tale ending you're after, this definitely isn't for you. Descibing vividly the poverty, deprivation and oppression suffered by the black people of 1930/40's America, a special message is conveyed through a host of disturbing truths that are certain to hit the reader hard. The central character, Bigger Thomas is portrayed as both murderer and victim in this cleverly devised masterpiece. The sufferings of an entire race seem subject to the future of Thomas, the 20 year old man who's life has been predominantly controlled by a cold and fierce people. This WHITE blanket that smothers the BLACK world that Bigger grows to hate provides the reader with a situation they undoubtedly become passionate about. By the end, the reader is left feeling subdued; resentful yet compassionate and merciful. The only criticism i would have, is that the book does depend a lot upon the reader being able to empathise with Bigger, which is something that i personally found quite hard to do. Neverthless, another must read from Richard Wright.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although "Native Son" is not written in the first person, the narrative concentrates almost exclusively on the central character, Bigger Thomas. This gives the story all the intensity and focus of a first-person account, but enables the author to use a more articulate voice than his subject would have been capable of. Few novelists have employed this technique in such an uncompromising way. We are with Thomas every breath, every step. I think few readers will get to like him, any more than Wright himself does, but we get to know and understand him. He is a product of 1930s America, of deeply ingrained racial prejudice and extreme economic disparity. Wright does not suggest that this excuses Bigger, only that it explains him. The writing style is lean and muscular, sparse and direct. We are given only bare descriptions as Wright allows action and dialogue to carry the story.
The plot is sound, the only really implausible element being the gathering of the entire cast of characters in the prison cell, something Wright himself acknowledged could not happen in reality but for which he allowed himself dramatic license. It is true though, that the final phase goes on too long and the long diatribes from Max are unconvincing. Another socialist writer, Upton Sinclair, suffered from the same tendency to preach instead of relying on the story to carry the message. Despite these reservations, "Native Son" remains an important social commentary and a forceful and compelling portrait of a lost soul.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This astounding novel pounds like a sledgehammer. It reads at breathtaking pace, and transports you into another person's head in the way that a good book should - you will not notice your surroundings (I read this on the commute on the Tube to work) - you will find it difficult to put down. You think you know the injustices of this time. Read this to feel what it really felt like. Enough to give me chest pain at the end of every journey - especially when I missed my stop...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
loved it
I read Black Boy a few years ago and loved it. Richard Wright is an amazing writer and his description of Bigger and his thoughts, fears and life are well written. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Aieshea Wheeler
Even before James Baldwin...
... there was Richard Wright. He wrote this book some 75 years after the ending of America's "original sin," slavery. Read more
Published 16 months ago by John P. Jones III
Speedy delivery, great condition
One of my all time favourite books and so pleased to receive it so fast and in such pristine condition. Well recommended.
Published 20 months ago by Sairah
A worthy effort
Bigger Thomas is a deeply disaffected black man living in post-Depression pre WW2 Chicago. He hates the white world as much as most of it appears to hate him and this novel... Read more
Published on 5 April 2009 by Officer Dibble
a compelling read
This book is very user friendly and the type of dramatic realism that can't fails to grasp one's attention. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2003 by CESP
If you want to understand predudice read this
This book encapsulates perfectly the feeling of hopelessness felt by people in poverty and in particular black people. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2001
The Good, The Bad and the Tedious
I'll give it three.
The good:
This was first published in 1940, and began to set the issue climate for the civil rights movement. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2000
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