Book Review - Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

3.5 / 4.0

This book is lyrical and beautiful, and filled with humans/characters you can love, or despise, or somewhere in between.

So why the 3 star rating? A large portion of the narrative force of this book deals with religious topics, such as redemption, salvation, and the struggles of faith inherent in worship. I think if you are strongly religious, you will feel a much greater connection with this book than I did. My two cents, anyway.

Where Baldwin nailed it, and why this novel, I feel, has earned its enduring place on the classics bookshelf, is bringing to light the tragedies that happen to the characters in a semi-autobiographical novel, which gives those tragedies just that much more punch. Also, even though the religious struggles didn't resonate with me, they will resonate with many a reader and elevate this book for them.