Customer Reviews

Fatheralong: A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am astounded by how many of the present reviews here state that this book dwells too long on race. They seem to miss the point. It is all about race and how that is interpreted within American society. Race as it relates to power, power of white over black. Its history continues to have huge resonance within the society to this day. Fatheralong dwells on the impact of racism felt within the fabric of African American families - particularly focusing on how it translates from father to son. A subject that is not happy or pretty, but is conveyed in a poetic, thoughtful, confrontational and heartfelt way. Nothing will change unless people grapple with the enormous fallout of racism. This book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the dynamics of racism.

Being a South African i see the effects that the ideology of race has had every day. Yet Fatheralong took my breath away and left me feeling very sad and ashamed but not without hope for the future. Widemans' use of prose is both eloquent and angry, which is also reflected in the structure of the novel. Short bursts of anger are alternated with more lengthy contemplative passages. The flow in prose (and the lack of distinction between him and his father) creates the impression that now, once Wideman is a father himself, he and his father have become one. The seperation that once existed is now erased and the bond between father and son can be mended. But race is not the only issue that gets tackled here. Like Susan Faludi, Wideman is also talking about a generation of men who had fathers who weren't so much absent as silent.

When you look past the curse words, and incomplete sentences this book makes a little since. Wideman's book makes you look deep down into your soul, and makes you discover that you are a little raciest. The book also reinforces how important a strong family unit can be in the development of a person. In this time, when people are searching for the causes of why our society has so many problems this book brings answers. 412587

We can spend and waste our time with many things. We can try to lay blame where we may. Still things are the way they are and will stay that way. We need to change the things we can change and except the things we can not change.I feel the author really did not like anything about his past. I hope his future is better and brighter now that he has gotten his past feelings out in the open. If we look far enough we all have been discrimnated against. It is our choice what we choose to believe in and who we want to be.

We can spend and waste our time with many things. We can try to lay blame where we may. Still things are the way they are and will stay that way. We need to change the things we can change and except the things we can not change. I feel like the author really did not like anything about his past. I hope his future is better and brighter now that he has gotten his past feelings out in the open. If we look far and hard enought we all have been discriminated against. It is our choice what we choose to believe in and who we want to be. NBC

I didn't like the book very much. I was surprised to find out that I had to read it for an English 101 class. It brought out some controversial issues. I would have liked it better if I had read the ending first, then read the rest of the book!

I thought the book was very confusing but I liked the way it protrayed the father-son relationship. I thought that Wideman used many stereotypes of whites in the south that he really didn't need to write about. overall the book was decent but it seemed to jump around a little too much for me.

I found this book difficult to read from the very beginning. The setting jumped around too much to keep up with the story. After the first chapter I was already tired of Wideman's racist comments and his hipocrisy. I would not suggest this book to any of my friends. The only reason I read this book was because it was assigned for an English class. I figured I would give it a chance, but I never really had a high opinion of the book.

I enjoyed the book and the story it told but I think he dwelled too much on the issue of race. Wideman has very strong views on race, which he is entilled to. But I feel he ties it in with everything he does in his life and that is unnecissary. I think he needs to stop looking at race for an answer to everything. The story of Wideman's trip is an intersting one. Even though it tends to get very monotomous. Overall it was an okay book, but I wouldn't really recommend it to a close friend.

John Edgar Wideman is a total hipocrite and no different from any of the things he wrote about. I stongly disagree with his interracial marriage, and maybe that gives bias to making me not like the book, but how can he go on and on about white people treating black people so badly only to marry a white person? Wideman writes as though white people today owe him something, and that is certainly not true. I am only 19 years old and was not around during the Civil War and the 1970's. It is not my fault,nor his,that white people back then did what they did. Wideman is so pessimistic about life and everythng in it. Life deals out cards to people, and in turn, each person must play the card he is given. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. Maybe if he changed his attitude and brightened up a little he would feel beter. It is sad that he and his father couldn't have the relationship that he'd wished for, but he is a grown man and should not dwell on the past. This book was so boring and went in one ear and out the other. Basically to restate myself, John Edgar Wideman is a hipocrite, and I don't appreciate this book at all.

I also didn't appreciate some of the language he used. He could have expressed himself just as easily without using curse words. The incomplete sentences were hard to follow and not fun or interesting to read. Some of the things he wrote about could have been left out and the story would have been the same. I just don't like the book!