Customer Reviews

Not Without Laughter

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite his considerable output of poetry, short stories and autobiographical work, this is Langston Hughes' only novel. It is the tremendously crafted story of Sandy, a black child of the 1920s in rural Kansas. In poignant tightly written chapters, Hughes' depicts various events in Sandy's life often slipping into the perspective of those closest to him. Sandy lives most his life with his strong-willed and deeply religious grandmother Aunt Hager. She is a benevolent woman who desires peaceful racial relations despite the overwhelming amount of racism and discrimination professed by both white and black community members. Sandy's mother Annjee is a loving and hard working woman eternally devoted to her husband Jimboy who is a good hearted man constantly on the move. Sandy's aunt Tempy is a well-off woman trying to immerse herself in white society and denigrating her own race in the process. His other aunt Harriett is a wilful woman who turns from the church for a different kind of existence. Through these expertly drawn characters, Sandy views their examples and he must make the choices that will effect his future. The novel is a tremendous chronicle of the struggle of a family to survive financially. It gives accounts of the psychological dilemma created by growing in a racially divided society and the diffuse joy in life that can be found even in troubling circumstances.

Maya Angelou wrote of Not Without Laughter: "This book was written when preachers had to be poets and poets were preachers, because they needed to be available to all the people all the time." The messages this novel gives are not subtle. But, through its varied perspectives and eloquently written prose, it envelops the issues it preaches with emotionally edifying ideas. It leaves the reader with a feeling of deep connection to all the characters, particularly the beautiful Sandy in whom we invest our hope and trust to fulfil his potential to become a good, intelligent and strong man who does not feel limited by his racial heritage despite any restrictions society may attempt to place for him. Although it may be a shame that Hughes never wrote another novel as he aptly demonstrated his skill in this one, Not Without Laughter stands as shining work be a skilled artist.

Langston Hughes is a truly gifted writer. In this story he shows six different characters, all afflicted by racism and the numerous tactics each devises to combat its force. Their methods include,hating white america, enduring the blow, assimilating, laughing in the faces and then there is Sandy...He is slowing coming of age amidst all of these adults that he loves and admires, but soon he shall have to pick a path of his own. He knows that he must fight against the threat of racisim with out developing so much anger it consumes him as well. He knows must stand up for the race and culture he loves and some how advance his people with the power of his life. This story, is one of the best depictions of a black family that I have come across and can relate to. I miss Langston, and I love his legacy.

If you're not a Langston Hughes fan-once you read this book you'll be a fan for life. I guarantee you'll want to read everything he's ever written. Wait until you discover" Simple". Not without Laughter took me back in time to a small southern town and the loving, secure, life defining relationship I shared with my grandmother.

Such heart! I have read his poetry, but I had never read his prose. So smooth, so wonderful. I adore the characters. They followed me throughout the day. This is written so well, I really felt like I was right there. I also ran through a gamut of emotions while reading this. That's what a book should do - make me feel, make me think, make me wonder... This book did that for me.

Book was interesting and provided a genuine sense of life for blacks during the early part of this century. It started slow but towards the middle of the book the pace picked up and I enjoyed it more.

I cannot stress enough how much I like this book, and all of Langston Hughes' writings. He is my favorite author, poet, playright and I always enjoy his work. No mattter what race you are (I myself happen to be white), you should be able to realize the social importance of all of Langston Hughes' work. This particular book really sheds light on the plight of so many black people that really isn't tought to young people. The progression that all the characters make in this book is really written quite well. I liked the fact that the book took place over a long period of time. Also, there are some events and plots that are unexpected, but definitely realistic.

Okay, I had to read this book for school. From the description on the back I didn't think that it would be very interesting. I was wrong. It held my attention with it's colorful words and characters and kept me guessing about some characters. Anyway, overall it was a very good book. I only wish that the ending was developed more and wasn't one of those "use your imagination" endings.

"There ain't no room in this world fo' nothing' but love, Sandy chile. That's all they's room fo' -- nothin' but love."

In the above passage, Aunt Hager Williams gives her thoughts on the slavery she experienced in her youth to her young grandson, Sandy (James) Williams in the climactic chapter of Langston Hughes's remarkable coming-of age novel "Not Without Laughter" (1930). The novel offers a picture of African American life in a fictitious Kansas town, modelled on Lawrence, beginning in about 1911 and concluding with the end of WW I in 1918. "Nothing but Love" is a fitting summation of the book as a whole.

Hughes' partially autobiographical novel tells the story of young Sandy Williams between the ages of 9 -- 16, and Sandy and his family are the main characters. The boy's aging grandmother, Hager, is the titular head of the family and inspires the boy with her ambitions for him to make something of his life. She earns money for the family by washing clothes for white people. Hagar's daughter and Sandy's mother, Anjee, works as a domestic for a demanding white family. She is married to Jimboy, an itinerant guitarist and singer who spends little time at home but rather wanders throughout the country looking for work. Hager has two other daughters. Tempy Siles has made a successful marriage, moved into the black middle class, and tends to look down upon the rest of the family. The young daughter, Harriet, has a restless streak. She dislikes white people and religion and spends a great deal of time singing and dancing in disreputable parts of the town. After a time as a prostitute, she succeeds as a blues singer.

The novel tells the story of how Sandy learns from his family and from other largely African American people in the town and, in the final scenes of the book, in Chicago. The book and its plot begin slowly, but I soon was engaged with the lives of the characters. Hughes gives a rare realistic and enthusiastic look at African American life during the early 20th Century in its variety, difficulty, and hope. There is, of course, great emphasis on the pervasive discrimination African Americans suffered in the American midwest, as most of the institutions in Kansas enforced rigid segregation and discrimination and most of the whites had racist attitudes. But there was much hope and strength in the African American community as well. Sandy receives his greatest inspiration from the strong Aunt Hager who speaks in dialect, as do many of the characters, is deeply religious, and wants Sandy to make a contribution to uplift the race. Hager is an admirer of Booker Washington. Sandy is exposed to the world of learning from Tempy, who raises the boy after Anjee leaves the family to live with her wandering hustand and after Hager dies. Tempy is an admirer of DuBois, but she presses Sandy in the direction of rejecting the African American culture which the young boy, and Hughes, are unwilling to do.

Besides the emphasis on educational uplift, there is much in Sandy's world of guitar playing, music, the blues, and poetry, as songs such as "St. Louis Blues", "Easy Rider" "John Henry" and many more get a great deal of attention and quotation. The book is in the language of poetry and dialect. Scenes take place in dance halls, barber shops, carnivals, and pool halls, as well as in schools, churches and the home. The town "bottoms" -- the home of prostitutes and gamblers -- is described as the only location in the community that is free from race discrimination. The book describes the importance, and frequent repression of sexuality, in the budding awareness of Sandy, and in the experiences of the other characters. Hughes offers a complex and varied perspective on African American life. He emphasizes the importance of knowledge and empowerment. He also treasures the distinctive features of African American life in its poetry, dance, and music and emphasis on family. He suggests to me that African American life can develop its own culture without merely adopting that of white America. The overall tone is one of laughter, love, and forgiveness.

Hughes' novel won the Harmon Gold Medal in 1930, a prize awarded between 1925 -- 1930 for high achievement in African American art and literature. The novel is not as well known today as it deserves to be. It is a precious story of African American life and of growing up.

Robin Friedman

This book by Langston Hughes captures the life of the Midwest through the eyes of a young growing by in the early 1900's. I thought the portrayal of that life, the struggles and hardships, and the community love despite thiese things, was excellent. The writing was simple and provided a good flow to draw me into the story and to be placed in the time frame. This is a keeper for the library collection.

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 - May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. (quoted from wikipedia)
This novel, published in 1930, covers the life of a colored boy in Kansas, during the early 20th century. It is mostly plain but beautiful prose, but sometimes it derails into blues texts and other songs. The poet can't deny his calling.

Storms!
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. I picked up this book from my Mount Readme for no better reason than Irene battering the east coast and super- taifun Nanmadol approaching East China. It seemed the right time to read a novel that starts with a twister which carries grandmother's front porch into orbit, written by a man from Joplin, of all places.
A secondary motive: I just read O'Neill's lamentably flawed play `All God's Chillun Got Wings' and felt like getting a more competent look at chillun from somebody with more insight.


Poverty and racism are parts of this life, but it is not all misery. This life is not without laughter, ambitions and successes. Music and church are core elements of life. Music means the blues, it means dance music, and it means gospel. The family is divided in Christians and sinners, thinks grandmother. She had been born in slavery and now lives a precarious life as a washer of white people's dirty laundry. She is a magnanimous soul. (... I's been sorry fo' white folks, fo' I knows something inside must be aggravatin' de po' souls...).
Sandy, the boy, grows up in his grandmother's house. The father is often absent, working or bumming elsewhere. Papa is a bit of a rolling stone, full of blues and good with his guitar (wherever he laid his hat was his home). Sandy's young and beloved aunt is part of the sinner faction. She runs away with a carnival, hoping for a career as a singer. Sandy's mother then leaves too, to join her husband in Detroit. Sandy stays alone with grandma', who wants to raise him to become a man who accounts for something.

Direct exposure to Jim Crow racism comes in small daily doses, like being sent to the back row in the cinema or being teased by the white kids in the street, or, worst of all, not being allowed into a new amusement park despite free entry tickets. The adults tell other tales on the porch at night, of worse troubles. Like unions that don't allow blacks to join. Like a case of a whole black village burned down and the people expelled.

`Does anybody understand the earth ... among you high yellers, you jelly-beans, you pinks and pretty daddies, among you sealskin-browns, smooth blacks, and chocolate-to-the-bone...?'

(Thanks to RF for this recommendation!)