Customer Reviews

Passing (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

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Nella Larsen's 1929 novella, "Passing," is an incredible, dark exploration of the lengths to which people go to secure personal happiness. Coming out just four years after "The Great Gatsby," "Passing" can be seen in more than one way as the Harlem Renaissance's response to and a parallel text of Fitzgerald's acknowledged masterwork. Not to limit Larsen's skills by strict comparison to "Gatsby," "Passing" should of course, be considered on its own merits, which are considerable. Difficult to place as simply the work of a talented black woman writer, Larsen's "Passing" is a novella with carefully nuanced and complicated views of racial, sexual, economic, and more generally personal and national identity. Indeed, the narrative is right to sugges that these are inextricable and forces the reader to adjudicate the struggle.

"Passing" begins with a letter received. By inviting us to peer into the contents of personal correspondence in the grand tradition of the epistolary novel, then denying us the full contents, the reader must come to terms with a limited, and even deceptive narrative style. Irene Redfield refuses to open a letter she has just gotten from a childhood acquaintance with whom she has had only brief communication with since, Clare Kendry. Irene then reflects on the time, two years ago, when she happened unexpectedly upon Clare at a rooftop restaurant in Chicago. As 'black' women who can 'pass' for 'white,' they meet at this decidedly white restaurant, after gauging each other in confused silence. Renewing their acquaintance, Irene is shocked to learn that since her young adulthood, Clare has 'passed' as white, even marrying a wealthy white businessman, whose violent racism forces Clare to disavow her ethnic 'identity.' The remainder of the novella details the strained relationship that forms between Irene and Clare, and the differences as well as striking similarities that structure their personal and social adult lives.

The ways that minor characters interact with the two heroines force us to question the long standing American discourse of racial 'identity.' Brian Redfield, Irene's husband, and Jack Bellew, Clare's husband, for instance, seem on the surface to be drastically opposite characters - Brian, fed up with the way that black people are treated in America, has a long cherished fantasy of relocating his family to Brazil, the ur-text, if you will, of African slavery in the New World, where he believes his sons can be raised without the torments of ethnic conflict in post-reconstruction and post-World War America. Bellew, an avowed white racist, detests the very thought of black people, and his pet name for Clare, "Nig," troubles for the reader the very notions of Bellew's construction of his own identity. Irene and Clare's marriages to these two men challenge them and the reader to consider the strained family dynamics of the 'traditional' marriage, and their own awkwardly constituted and expressed relationship with each other.

"Passing" manages to both cover and conceal a wealth of issues facing America in the decades preceding the national Civil Rights, Anti-War, and Sexual Revolution movements of the latter half of the 20th century. In the short space of a novella, Larsen produces a work of extraordinary power and indeterminacy. That the issues she addresses are still of a piece with our own present-day social landscape, so "Passing" remains a vital and important literary artifact.

It only takes Nella Larsen one hundred and fourteen pages to produce a thought provoking and imaginative story about the Black bourgeoisie in 1920s Harlem. At a time when men were the prominent literary figures, Larsen was the first writer to explore the issues facing the fair skinned middle class. Larsen confronts racy issues such as sexism and racism while using language so potent it sparks rivers of curiosity to flow from the reader's mind. Through the provocative relationship between friends Clare and Irene, Larsen manages to captivate the audience with a story full of jealousy, lies, and ultimately betrayal. The story revolves around the protagonist, Irene Redfield's, encounters with Clare Kendry. Irene and Clare are both of mixed ancestry, and as a result have very fair complexions. Clare uses this to escape what she perceives as the"burden" of being a part of the African-American community so that she can advance socially. "You can't know, 'Rene, how, whan I used to go over to the south side, I used almost to hate all of you. You had all the things I wanted and never had had. It made me all the more determined to get them, and others" (26). After not seeing Clare for years, Irene inadvertently runs into her. Irene eventually discovers how Clare chose to ignore her Black heritage, and even married a white man who assumes Clare is white. Following an awkward experience with Clare and her husband, Irene returned home, under the assumption that Clare would never again be a part of her life. This holds true until a letter from Clare leads to Clare making habitual visits to see Irene and her family and accompanying them to parties whenever she can escape her husband's grasp. This eventually propels Irene to becoming conflicted between her jealousy of Irene and her loyalty to her race and family. Larsen convincingly depicts this crisis existing within Irene by using such stirring language that the reader is full of curiosity and fear as to the possibilities awaiting Irene. The suspense Larsen produces in her writing forces you to keep reading to find out what will happen next. "And if things were taken out of her hands-Even if she was only alarmed, only suspected that such a thing was about to occur, anything might happen. Anything" (108). Within this fascinating story are issues such as racism and sexism which profoundly affected women of the Black bourgeoisie. Larsen tackles these issues so effectively because being of mixed ancestry herself, she too confronted the problems facing Irene and Clare. So in creating a character like Irene, Larsen adroitly displays the conflict facing her. "For the first time she suffered and rebelled because she was unable to disregard the burden of race. It was, she cried silently, enough to suffer as a woman, an individual, on one's own account, without having to suffer for the race as well" (98). In addition to addressing the pressures facing Black Women in particular, Larsen also examines the effects of race as a whole. Through the different conflicts taking place in Passing, Larsen shows how race is at the core of all emotions and actions. Throughout Clare and Irene's encounters, the one bond that can never be broken is their racial ties. "She had to Clare Kendry a duty. She was bound to her by those very ties of race, which, for all her repudiation of them, Clare had been unable to completely sever" (52). Larsen creates a story which despite its thin appearance, is full with large and small issues alike. Passing is a monumental novel which still applies to the issues that affect us today. Although the conclusion is rather vague and unclear, it is this author's opinion that the conclusion only adds to the experience of reading and interpreting Passing for yourself. Larsen confronts many substantial issues while using such potent language that everyone can find joy in discovering Passing for themselves.

Written in 1929, PASSING is a product of the Harlem Renaissance. Nella Larsen, a biracial woman, relates the story of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Both are fair skinned black women who can pass for white and grow up together in a black neighborhood. When Clare is orphaned she moves with white relatives and deserts her black heritage. She sees it as the only means of escape from the poverty that she destest. She marries John Bellows, escaping her past and could have disappeared into the white world.

But through a chance meeting, where Irene is also passing for white, they meet after many years of separation. Irene has married a black doctor, who wants to move to Brazil and in effect pass as a latin American. He wants physically out of America while Irene wants out of the racial tensions of America.

Clare is drawn back to her racial roots by some mystery. She can't let go even though she knows it will be the end of her marriage and perhaps the loss of her daughter.

Clare's husband, John Bellows, is a avowed racist who calls Clare "Nig" because he jokes that she is getting darker, totally unaware of her race. Irene and another friend who is also passing endure Bellow's racist remarks but do not respond.

The book takes place over about a 2 year period as Clare flirts with the danger of discovery and also Irene's husband. Irene is in conflict as to whether to reveal the truth to John, which would get Clare out of her life. But she can't bring herself to do it.

The book tells of the conflict of being black and living white; it tells of the interracial circles of Harlem of the 1920's. It's a period of high racial tensions, but yet whites flock to Harlem because some see it as in vogue not because they seek an interracial culture.

Although Irene lives black, she has created a white world around herself. She doesn't want her sons to know about lynchings and racial issues.

At the end Clare makes a tragic choice. She chooses death over admitting that she is black. Of course, maybe that is what she wanted all the time - out of this false world. Irene gets her wish, she gets Clare out of her immediate life but she will never get her out of her memory.

Does skin color still matter? Welcome to a world, not too long ago, when it did matter. To get out of the hot sun one day, a fair skinned black woman walks into an upscale cafe and orders a coffee, forgetting to mention that she is black and this is the 1920s in America. Civil Rights are still forty years away, and all cafes, like everything else in the country, are segregated; blacks go here, whites go there. She has crossed the color line, but is so fair that no one even notices. Then she hears her name being called. It is someone from her past, her black past, someone who knows her true ethnicity. Someone who is also passing. But where the protagonist is only passing to get out of the sun for a few minutes, she discovers that her old friend whom she hasn't seen in years now LIVES her entire life as white and has in fact married a white man, who does not know her true ethnicity. Wow. This book raises many interesting questions as it explores black pride and the true nature of race relations in America. A must read.

Written in 1929, Passing is a story of two friends, both of whom are African Americans but are so light-skinned that they can pass for white. Clare chooses to do so, cuts herself off from past relationships, while her friend Irene, chooses to remain within the culture of her birth, married a black man and gives birth to 2 sons. Clare's choice is complicated when she married a white bigot who has no suspicion of his wife's origins. Irene's is complicated by her desire to put the violence of her racial past behind her.
By chance, the two women meet again, and hypnotic, powerful Clare moves into Irene's circle in ways that threaten both of their lives. More than a story of passing, hypocrisy, and adultery, Passing is a complex story of origins, history, and acceptance.

You now have the opportunity to experience the lives of those who choose to live as another race and to forget about their past and culture. Take this opportunity and become enveloped in a world full of lies, sorrow, agony, hatred, fear, and death. In Passing, one of two literary acclaimed works by Nella Larsen, the reader walks the thin line between black and white while struggling to keep out of the gray which we all eventually fall into. Narrated by Irene Redfield, a light-skinned African American woman, Passing describes a series of encounters between Irene and Clare Kendry, a woman who has chosen to use her fair skin to "pass" from the black community into the white's. The anguish that Irene suffers while Clare is present in her life is not resolved until an unexpected ending highlights the author's masterful plot. Drawing on her own experiences during the Harlem Renaissance which she weaves into her novels, Nella Larsen is able to place us directly into this setting of budding American culture. Born to a Danish mother and a West Indian father, Larsen puts her knowledge of passing and the black middle class directly onto the pages of the book. Though not an actual depiction of her life, one cannot help bu notice the similarities between Larsen and Irene, as well as the possibility that such an event could have occured in the author's life. The act of passing is described by Larsen as the "breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one's chance in another environment, not entirely strange,perhaps, but certainly not entirely friendly." Throughout the novel she tackles questions circling the idea of passingand uses Clare Kendry as her pawn in an attempt to answer them. Clare's actions are viewed from a variety of perspectives and the changes in these perceptions reflect the plot of the book. Once Passing gets going, it is impossible to put down. However, it takes a while to get to that point as the necessary setup is prolonged. Most of the beginning of the novel is spent recounting Irene's encounter with Clare and all the thoughts that accompanied this meeting. At the conclusion of the story, so much is left unknown that the reader wants another chapter just to clear everything up. Questions are left unanswered and only broad guesses can be made about the actual occurences and feelings in the end. The powerful choices that the characters in Passing make are those that we face ourselves. Nella Larsen does a remarkable job of making us believe that the people we are reading about have transcended the realm of being normal and are unlike us. One the contrary, we are just like them and are faced with choices concerning "passing" just like those in the novel. Reading the book only enhances our awareness of such occurences and gives us a better understanding of who we really are by letting us take a stroll in another's skin. Through this mask, we witness someone else who is is living in a different skin and realize that passing has serious repercussions. Larsen presents us with this story using an untapped race and class in literature and makes the stroll a truly eye opening experience.

Nella Larsen's Passing is a beautifully written, touching novel--a masterpiece of 1920's American literature. In the context of a highly race-conscious 1920's urban society, its storyline and characters' lives and times are fascinating, and there isn't a person of any race or gender who couldn't relate to at least some of the challenges faced by Irene, Clare, and Brian. A quick-read, much enhanced by the informative, historically thorough introduction, Passing had numerous moments marked by strong visual images and thoughtful, emotional prose. Throughout the book, I was amazed at Larsen's ability to put into words exactly what I was feeling, had felt, or would feel, through the thoughts and words of Irene. I felt like I could step into the story and feel at home, and I wanted the story to keep going and going...I enjoyed every second of it.

For a novel written in 1929, I found this wonderfully modern, written in such a subtlety of style that I have to compare it to my favorite author, Jonathan Carroll. And you should know by now that when I compare something to Carroll, I truly have discovered something that I feel is wonderful.

Passing is about mulatto women in the 1920s who were light-skinned enough that they could "pass" as white in society, but were bound to the black community through their family. The novel puts two such women in conflict: Irene, the narrator, passes occasionally, especially when she wants to "treat" herself, but is married to a dark man who could never pass and whose children are not as light- skinned as she. While passing on a shopping trip in Chicago, she runs into an school friend, Clare, who left the school that they both attended in Harlem after her father, the school janitor, died. She went to live with her aunts, who were white. Clare passes as white full-time now; in fact, she is married to a man who is a bigot, who refers to her as "nig" because:

"...when we were first married, she was as white as...a lily. But I declare she's gettin' darker and darker. I tell her if she don't look out, she'll wake up one of these days and find she's turned into a nigger."

Clare's secret, she reveals, is getting harder and harder for her to keep--she nearly died, she said, when she was having her child, a girl that she was afraid would give evidence of her race, and she is afraid to have another. Clare envies Irene, who passes when she wants to, but also can live "comfortably" in the black world. And what Clare wants, Clare gets.

This is tough stuff, full of questions about what does it mean to be black, to be white, and to be somewhere in-between. The story is told by a narrator, yet it is also told by Irene, who may or may not be the narrator. There are things that Irene doesn't quite admit to, that you must pick up from the text surrounding her, and then there's the ending, where you have to piece together what exactly happened. I loved it for its understated way in which the true conflict is only implied until it explodes.

Before reading this book, I had never really heard much of the idea of "passing." However, after reading this novel, I found myself very intrigued by it. "Passing" is a book about an African-American woman living her life as a white woman. She is married to a white man who has no idea of her original race. After many years, this woman finds herself longing to be back with her own race, and there is nothing she can do about it. Throughout this book, she and one of her childhood friends, who is still a part of the African-American race, struggle with the problems that come along with this lifestyle. Issues of race, marriage, friendship, and honesty make for a truly enthralling book with a very surprising ending. I recommend it fully.

This is a wonderful book! Anyone interested in 20th century American literature and Modernism will find it fascinating. It's very short--a good thing because once you start you won't be able to put it down until you've finished. The subject--a black woman "passing" herself off as white and the reaction of her old community--may seem to occupy a narrow niche. But this is a universal story about friendship, marriage, idealism, and the quest to find a place where you can feel comfortable in your own skin (literally). I've read several dozen books this year (1999), including a number written by hot contemporary authors, but Passing, written 75 years ago, is probably my favorite of the lot.