Reviewing the novel in The New York Times in 1974, the novelist Joyce Carol Oates described the book as "a moving, painful story" but "ultimately optimistic. It stresses the communal bond between members of an oppressed minority, especially between members of a family," offering

Tish is 19 and pregnant - her partner Fonny is a couple of years older and in prison, falsely accused of rape. Tish’s family are close and supportive. Fonny’s are stiff and judgemental. Nineteen-year-old Tish visits Fonny, who’s imprisoned in “the Tombs” in Lower Manhattan. Through a glass divider, she tells Fonny she’s pregnant with his child. “Did you tell Frank?” he asks, referring to his father, and Tish tells him she hasn’t told anyone but him. Although he’s overjoyed, he suddenly becomes serious and asks what she’s “going to do” about this, and she assures him everything will work out, insisting that he’ll be out of prison by the time she gives birth. “You sure about that?” he asks. N'Duka, Amanda (December 11, 2017). "Emily Rios Joins 'If Beale Street Could Talk'; Craig Di Francia Cast In 'Green Book' ". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 31, 2018. If Beale Street Could Talk" is Baldwin's 13th book and it might have been written, if not revised for publication, in the 1950's. Its suffering, bewildered people, trapped in what is referred to as the "garbage dump" of

Fonny’s family is a different story. His mother has never thought highly of him or his prospects. She is a religious nut who, in her fervor for her God, has lifted herself up above the rest of humanity. From this perch, she can cast judgments down on those around her, especially those not heeding the call of the church. She would be a better Christian if she were casting bread instead of casting aspersions. Fonny’s two older sisters, taking their cues from their mother, are dismissive of their little brother as well and find it embarrassing, rather than tragic, that he has been arrested. They are sure he is guilty because they have found him guilty his whole life. This is a tale of two families. Tish’s family is not only supportive of the relationship but go so far as to consider Fonny part of their family. As Tish and Fonny are caught up in the whirlwind of 1970s racist New York, the support of Tish’s family is the only thing standing between Fonny spending a good part of his life in jail and Tish having to work the streets to make enough money to afford a lawyer for his defense. Because I knew Fonny was going to be in jail and Tish was going to be pregnant, I made a list of books I wanted to read after I read Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk. These books explore how excessive incarceration and anti-choice regulations work together to promote the subjugation of women and people of color. ostensibly warring points of view and who wish, naively, for a single code by which literature can be judged, must be reminded of the fact that whenever any reigning theory of esthetics subdues the others (as in the Augustan period), literature James Baldwin paints a bleak picture of racism and injustice - a cry against the establishment and attitudes of 1970’s America.

Finally, the scene in which Tish and Fonny are speaking to each other through a glass wall expresses the constraint that Tish and Fonny will face throughout the novel. Though they want nothing more than to be together, Tish and Fonny are forced to see each other during visitation at the Tombs. The wall of glass between Fonny and Tish is both literal and metaphorical: Tish and Fonny cannot speak to each other directly at that moment, and they are also being forced apart by a country that will not allow them to live in peace. In this way, the glass wall is a metaphor for the extreme difference in their conditions as a free woman and an incarcerated man. Tish and Fonny can look at each other, but they cannot touch. As Tish laments, "I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass," her wish echoes frustration at the constraint that she has no choice but to endure. Sharon travels to Victoria's native Puerto Rico to plead with her to change her testimony. She tries to convince her she mistakenly identified Fonny as her rapist, but Victoria refuses. Questioning whether Victoria could have seen her rapist's face in the dark, Victoria says the police told her to identify Fonny in a line-up, and she did so. When Sharon gently touches her, Victoria begins to scream. An elderly woman overhears the commotion and comes to take Victoria away. Discouraged by the seeming hopelessness of his case and the constant trial delays, Tish gives birth to her son without Fonny, who eventually accepts a plea deal. Kroll, Justin (July 10, 2017). " 'Moonlight' Director Barry Jenkins Sets Next Movie (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved July 10, 2017. That sentence becomes a refrain, because you see soon that Baldwin is not concerned with the how of his majestic art, only with the what – “Your characters say: Here I am, I got to tell you this and you got to listen. Then they get you to listen, and maybe you listen to a whole lot of shit. But you’ve got to listen. And then one day they say, Thanks, baby, goodbye – and they go out into the world.” Which is how the words are bound to come, perhaps, to a man who at 14 was seized by the Word, and became a boy preacher among the Holy Rollers. If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1974 novel by American writer James Baldwin. His fifth novel (and 13th book overall), it is a love story set in Harlem in the early 1970s. [1] [2] The title is a reference to the 1916 W.C. Handy blues song " Beale Street Blues", named after Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee.The emotional center of everything that Baldwin has ever written is rage, and this novel is no different. He uses the novel in the same way that he uses his masterfully written essays: to plumb the depths of the human psyche, excavating all of the inner contradictions that are essentially what makes us human. He unapologetically critiques this country's racist foundations and through it all, manages to write in a beautiful style that could never be duplicated by any other writer. On August 29, 2017, Stephan James was set to star. [5] In September 2017, KiKi Layne and Teyonah Parris were also added, with Layne in the female lead. [6] [7] Morales, Wilson (November 20, 2017). "Exclusive: Diego Luna Joins Barry Jenkins' Love Story "If Beale Street Could Talk" " . Retrieved November 20, 2017. Tish moves into a recollection about how Mrs. Hunt forced Fonny to go to church every Sunday because she was determined to save Fonny's soul. In retrospect, Tish reveals that she thinks all the church visits of his childhood is what made Fonny the rebel he is. Tish believes that once you get to know him, Fonny is actually a very sweet man. She also meditates on Frank's relationship with his son, as they are closest to each other in the Hunt family. She uses parallelism to show how similar they are and how it translates into their love for her. And from far away, but coming nearer, the baby cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries; cries like it means to wake the dead.

I might be the only person on the internet who didn't like Moonlight, but whatever trepidation I may have had about Barry Jenkins has been banished away thanks to his recent adaptation of the James Baldwin novel "If Beale Street Could Talk". In it, KiKi Layne plays a young woman coming to terms with her pregnancy after her boyfriend (Stephan James) has been imprisoned under a false accusation of rape. The core of the story is predominantly focused on their relationship, a pure love born out of mutual respect, honesty, and years of dedication, a love that we rarely see conveyed with such profound depth in even the genre of romance film. At times, the intimacy is incredibly arresting without being lurid or melodramatic. The book’s main narrative line continues to follow Tish in the present – as she continues to visit Fonny in prison, as her family (who sees Fonny as one of their own) mobilizes to do whatever they can to get him out, and as his young white lawyer earns their trust through his apparently intensifying commitment. There are, however, several obstacles to Fonny’s freedom, including a racist police officer, a racist judge, and the woman who has accused Fonny of rape, whom everybody thinks is lying and who, much to Tish’s frustration, disappears. Vlessing, Etan (July 24, 2018). "Toronto: Timothee Chalamet Starrer 'Beautiful Boy,' Dan Fogelman's 'Life Itself' Among Festival Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 24, 2018. Baldwin destroys all the machinery of his country: a corrupt justice; a racist police force; a hypocritical society. Very little is saved from his mordacity. Not everything is bad. There are good people, very good people, who take care of others. of the novel. Fonny's friend, Daniel, has also been falsely arrested and falsely convicted of a crime, years before, and his spirit broken by the humiliation of jail and the fact--which Baldwin stresses, and which cannot be stressed

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While climbing up the stairs to her apartment, Tish thinks about her plan to live in the East Village, which is in downtown Manhattan, with Fonny because it's cheaper than living in the projects, and Fonny would have more room for his art. Tish also considers the East Village as nicer than other places where they could live in Harlem, which she considers to be "worse than the projects" (31). When Tish arrives at her apartment, no one is there, but five minutes later her mother arrives, carrying a shopping bag. Upon seeing her daughter, Sharon asks Tish how Fonny is doing and whether the lawyer has gone to visit him yet. When Tish says no, Sharon sighs and moves to start putting the groceries away. A second narrative line unfolds at the same time as the first, as Tish recalls the beginnings of her relationship with Fonny. She describes their noticing each other as children, their growing closeness as teens, and the moment when they both realized that their connection went deeper than either had believed. As she recalls their life together, Tish also describes Fonny’s passion for creating art out of wood or stone; the intensity of their sexual relationship; and how a friendly white landlord made it possible for them to start thinking about their future as a married couple. Tish then remembers asking Fonny whether his parents ever had sex. Fonny responds that they do, but it is unlike the sex that he and Tish have with each other. There is an extended quotation of Fonny's description of his parents' sexual encounters, in which Fonny explains how they liken their sexual relations to a union with the Christian God. Fonny then expresses his gratitude at his father for not leaving him. He believes that if he didn't exist, Frank would have left his family a long time ago. Tish then meditates on the type of love that allows people to laugh together as they make love to each other, and how that is what she and Fonny have. She sees her relationship with Fonny in this way as special: "The love and the laughter come from the same place: but not many people go there" (17). Tish and their child, Alonzo Jr., visit Fonny in prison. They share dinner together from the vending machines, while looking forward to Fonny's eventual release. Tish goes to see Fonny in prison, who looks worse than ever. She has bad news: Victoria has disappeared again, and now the trial might be postponed. Fonny is distraught. Tish has the baby, and Fonny, faced with the prospect of losing the trial, takes a plea for a lesser sentence.

I realize now, after having read the book, that those questions belong to another kind of movie, one we've all, sadly, seen before. This book is about hope, love, perseverance. It's about the endurance of the human spirit, if you will.

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I never felt invested in any of the characters - Yes, there was racial injustice and it wasn’t fair these two families had to endure this challenge, but it was hard for me to feel for them - I remained disconnected throughout the book. I also truly disliked the abrupt, unfinished ending. I’m fine with an ending that leaves some elements of a story open to interpretation - After all, life is rarely neat and tidy, but this one genuinely felt abandoned. Please try to be clear, dear James, through the storm which rages about your youthful head today, about the reality which lies behind the words acceptance and integration. There is no reason for you to try to become like white men and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them, and I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love, for these innocent people have no other hope. I never felt invested in any of the characters - Yes, there was racial injustice and it wasn’t fair these two families had to endure this challenge, but it was hard for me to feel for them - I remained disconnected throughout the book. I also truly disliked Americans’ idea of Baldwin is often limited to this decade—the 1960s—perhaps because no other U.S. writer embodies that period better than he does. Although he had published an impressive set of works in the ’50s, it was the release of the novel Another Country (1962) and the two essays that make up The Fire Next Time (1963) that solidified his reputation as one of America’s preeminent writers and public intellectuals. In these civil-rights-era works, Baldwin was keen on interrogating white power and championing love to realize the full promise of America. In 1958, a movie titled St. Louis Blues was released. Nat King Cole sang and recorded Beale Street Blues for that movie. Cole's recording was released as a single, and it became a big hit. The book title of Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk was taken from the lyrics of the Beale Street Blues song. I think it's a safe assumption that James Baldwin was a fan of the Nat King Cole version of Beale Street Blues, and one can only guess if he was inspired by the St. Louis Blues movie.