Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overlooked classic..., March 13, 2007
I came across this book as a 1970 edition paperback, with a 'blaxploitation' looking woman dressed in colorful clothing c. 1970... It looked like a 1960s ghetto story... I was surprised to see the 1946 publishing date after I read a few chapters and found out that the story takes place in 1944...
Anyone who wonders about race relations, the 'ghetto', the plight of black men finding jobs and fitting into society should read this book; it lays it all plain, and the fact that it takes place in 1944 is all the more revealing in that the ghetto has probably been here all along since after slavery, as an extension of slavery... The book could very well have taken place in 1970, just with different vices and prices and popular music; the story would be the same...
This book is truly haunting for anyone who wants to know what America is really like underneath; there is a color barrier, and a land of haves and have nots, and not enough decent jobs to go around...
Also surprising is that this book was not already made into a movie, since it screams out cinematically... even with its rawest of subject matter, I could picture Halle Berry as the lead, a Morgan Freeman as Jones, Wesley Snipes as Boots, etc. It would be surely controversial, since a lot of its strongest lines and ideas are a bare condemnation of the America societal system, history, economy, and the creators of the 'United States' and the Euro-American cultural millieu...
As an observer of American history and life, I have come to realize that the African American Black experience may in the end turn out to be the quinessential one, what with the old world slavery in the new world, the Civil War, jazz and blues forming the great part of America's truly original music, continued discrimination from much of 'mainstream' society in forms of integration... Ann Petry's THE STREET is one of America's great novels written by anyone of any color, but it really tells the whole truth, and nothing but, and all that no one wants to hear or admit...
America still has many problems, and this book is certainly a reminder of that... Let it be read by all walks...
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed with the Reviewers, June 9, 2005
I find it telling that everyone who has something bad to say about this book mentions that it is either depressing or about black or poor people. It makes me sad that people cannot appreciate an intricate and complex novel because it reminds them of things they don't want to think about. This novel deals with the complex and varied perspectives that exist within the smallest units of urban space, and the how our lives can be affected in powerful ways by the actions of people who are only peripheral to our daily existence. Since some people have a problem with reading sad or realistic books, I would say this one is for grown-ups of any age.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Killing Us Softly, December 8, 2004
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. In a very simple, straight forward way, Ann Petrie takes us step by painful step through the life of an African American woman trying desperately to raise a healthy male child and to establish a better life for herself. What we see is that despite heroic determination, the system is structured to wear down and push against her very best efforts. Without preaching, the book takes us on a journey that helps us experience the dynamics of poverty and understand the thought processes of people trapped in it. This is a 'must read' book for anyone seeking to better understand the lives of those who can't seem to pull themselves out of poverty and it is a 'must read' book for policy makers, social workers and anyone working with people caught in the nexus of race and poverty. In addition, Ann Petrie is an excellent writer. She paints word pictures and maintains a breath-taking momentum from beginning to end.
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