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Cargando... The Novels: Not Without Laughter and Tambourines to Glory (Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Vol 4)por Langston Hughes
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Pertenece a las seriesThe Collected Works of Langston Hughes (volume 4) Contiene
Although best known as a poet, Langston Hughes was also the author of two novels that richly evoke the black experience in America. First published in 1930 and 1958, respectively, Not without Laughter and Tambourines to Glory reflect the early and late vision of one of the twentieth century's most distinguished men of letters. In his introduction to this combined edition of both novels, Dolan Hubbard addresses Hughes's growing influence on American letters and reveals how a black aesthetic tradition shaped his art and his imagination. Hughes shows us how the discourse of black America informs and alters our understanding of cultural history and of aesthetic values. In Not without Laughter, he movingly tells the story of a black boy growing into manhood in a small Kansas town during the early twentieth century and his experiences with race, family, school, work, music, and religion. His grandmother, a humble religious woman, struggles to keep her family (living with her are two of her three daughters, one son-in-law, and her grandson) together, on the meager income she earns by taking in washing. Set in Harlem, the center of Hughes's spiritual universe, Tambourines to Glory is an urban folk melodrama based on the black fusion of Christian hymns and spirituals with the blues. This comic novel captures the spirit of newly transplanted southern blacks who bend the alien rhythms of the city to the gospel sound. This volume of The Collected Works of Langston Hughes is a testament to a man whose life and writings have had a profound influence on world literature and is proof that Hughes's immense talent embraced not only poetry, but fiction as well. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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This is the semi-autobiographical story of a young black boy living in a small Kansas town in the early 20th century. The boy, Sandy, (so called because of his sandy-colored hair) lives together with his mother in his grandmother's house. The grandmother, known to all as Aunt Hager, is a former slave (that was not true of Hughes' grandmother). His mother married a light-skinned ne'er-do-well drifter who is away more than he is home, but she loves him more than anything (and anyone) and eventually leaves Sandy behind and follows him. Aunt Hager is left alone to raise the boy until she dies.
Sandy then goes to live with his Aunt Tempy who is so enamoured of the ways of white people that she and her husband strive to behave as much like them as possible, alienating many of their black neighbors in the process. They had even left the Baptist church to join the Episcopals, much to Aunt Hager's dismay.
Motivated by different impusles, both Aunt Hager and then Aunt Tempy push Sandy to stay in school and excel so that he can make something of himself in life. By the time he is in high school, Sandy realizes that he likes school, likes learning, but is conflicted by the opposing desire to be like the other boys, not worrying about studying, quitting school and working, earning money, drinking, smoking, seeing girls - having what fun can be found in a town where blacks are not admitted to the YMCA, or to many of the theaters, restaurants and clubs. Of course, the places in the Bottoms, on the other side of the tracks, are open to anyone who dares to go. Aunt Hager had impressed upon him that that was an area to avoid. When his Aunt Harriett, only a few years older than himself, ran away from home and ended up there working as a "street walker", it broke his grandmother's heart.
When Sandy is 16, five years after she left, his mother sends for him to join her in Chicago. His father has joined the army and is in Europe fighting in WWI. She has lined up a job for him running an elevator in a large hotel and he can start immediately. He receives permission from his school to leave before final exams - cheerfully granted since he is an honor student - and takes the train to Chicago, excited by the opportunities that he imagines the big city will offer. Of course reality is a disappointment, and when his mother wants Sandy to stay away from school in the fall so that he can continue working full time to help support them both, he must decide what life he really wants to have.
A good story. Well-written. Since Sandy's life is so similar to Hughes' own, it rings absolutely true. This book was first published in 1930, after being written by Hughes while he was in college (early 1920's). The descriptions of racial segregation and prejudice are matter-of-fact. There is a very interesting account told by Aunt Hager about what slavery was "really" like. What shocked me most, I think, was the way that every single black person was described by the color of their skin. Even the men in bars and barber shops talk about women by the color of their skin. The scale runs from yellow to black. One of Sandy's friends was very light skinned and he described his plans to leave Kansas and pass as a white man, which Sandy finally concluded was a good plan. There is much debate among the black community about whites and whether they are to be hated or feared or pitied. Much of the dialogue is in the vernacular that was common among blacks at that time (and still often heard today), making the story sound realistic, but being tedious to read. Overall, I'd recommend it. (