Customer Reviews

The Fire This Time

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

 

 

Randall continues to show how important dialog is amongst African-Americans. He is one of the great thinkers today. This book is a must read.

Randall Kenan has written a classic. Using his deep erudition, years of travel around the country studying the state of African-American affairs, and using evocative illustrations from contemporary lives - both his own and those of others - he has written a timeless work that will deserve its own response 50 years from now. As the father of a young African-American son and daughter, I hope that one day my children will read Kenan's book with profit. If there are no pat answers, if the "take-home" message is subtle, it is because the state of race relations in America today is subtle. And while it is true that at times I had to read his long sentences twice over to make sure I got them all, I began to wonder mid-way while reading this book, "Is Kenan deliberately echoing Baldwin's style?" Randall Kenan is a linguistic chameleon - read his novel "A Visitation of Spirits" and the incredible short story collection "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead" where almost every story has a different style and voice. I had not read Baldwin in years, and sure enough, when Kenan reproduces an entire paragraph of Baldwin at the end of the book, I knew it: Randall Kenan is paying homage to Baldwin even in his style. I especially loved Randall Kenan's metaphor of the Raven for the next generation of African-Americans. What is it? You'll have to read the book to find it; it is too subtle. I'll only ruin it by trying to paraphrase it here. Suffice to say, I hope my children will be ravens. You go, Randall Kenan Raven!

Reading Kenan's, The Fire This Time, was challenging in many ways. The first of which was the expectation to which the title alluded. I was thinking of a 21st century follow-up, re-check, update...to Baldwins, The Fire Next Time. Instead, I found myself in the midst of a Kenan memoir. I kept checking the book to make sure I ordered the right book. I finally did some minor research on Kenan, and discovered that he is an accomplished writer. However, The Fire This Time was all over the place and no where at the same time. The verbosity of the language, his voice and writing style were mismatched with the title and implied subject matter.