Overall, what did you think of The Devil Finds Work?
I was not familiar with this book, but since it was by Baldwin I requested it. I’m glad I did. The whole book seemed to be a stream of consciousness of his view of Black people in the US through out time and it was clever of him to use movies to highlight/justify his opinions. He was quite candid almost to discomfort. I like the humor he threw in especially using song lyrics, poems, or “sayings”. At the beginning I wasn’t sure I wanted to finish reading it, but once I got the hang of how he was presenting the material I liked it. It was also good to get some bibliography of himself included as well.
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Baldwin is influential across the years. Here, using films, many now forgotten, he provides a running commentary on his time, and by extension ours. Films, books portraying corruption really do not do much good, do they? We like to believe that our essentials values and virtues will persevere as they do in films and books. Well, the joke’s on us. The moral climate of Baldwin’s prime is not much different from our own. “I loved my country,but I could not respect it.” (p.95)
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The book was short, but extremely dense and complex. I found the need to slow down, absorb every sentence and often reread paragraphs. I also found it to be thought provoking - offering a different and unfamiliar perspective on American cinema. The structure of this essay was fascinating with Baldwin interweaving his film reviews with his personal life in three stages. The first section was his attraction and love of the movies as a child and teenager, the second was his disappointment and disillusionment as a young adult and the last was his rejection and dismissal of Hollywood cinema in general. Race was a recurring theme in all three sections and focused on how Baldwin viewed and interpreted white films and how those films perpetuated long-held beliefs and myths.
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Many different things went through my mind as I read this book. I was intrigued and hooked from the beginning by the quote he used before the first essay (Hebrews 12:29) and then quite curious about where he’d go as he discussed the different books, plays and movies. I liked the way he wove in history, ie.e McCarthyism, Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and the Korean War. Part of me wished it was possible to hear him read an essay to experience and hear his snarkiness. At the same time I was very thankful this was a print book so that I could go back and reread some of his stream of consciousness that left thinking “What the heck did you just say?”
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Most of all, I was struck—and then restruck—by Baldwin’s incredible writing. But also, although I am probably a white, straight progressive woman whose naievete Baldwin might well mock, for all my thinking I understood how it is to be Black, at least somewhat, reading this book felt like crawling into his brain and looking out through his eyes. And I realized how far from understanding I was and am. It was powerful and I think it will permanently affect how I look at films, TV and much more.
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I enjoyed it. It was a deep read. I had to concentrate and read slower than normal to absorb what was being said. It is thought provoking.
well, I didn’ finish the book my first time through. I found it hard to relate to as so many of the movies he mentioned I had never seen. Never heard of Steppen Fetchit. I had to google so many things he spoke of. It was discouraging. I went back later and I found myself interested in his discription of Billie Holiday. She is someone I have read about and seen a movie about her life. That helped. I must say, that it surprises me that Black people go to movies with how they have been portrayed. Hollywood is not as liberal as they like to think they are. They continue the stereotypes on screen that often so racial profiles. I wonder what Baldwin would tink of Tyler Perry. And now I think Holywood moved onto the Arab world. They are portrayed as the "bad guy " in current movies.
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I agree 100% with your last statement. To some extent I think the movie American Fiction based on Percival Everett’s novel, Erasure, provides a visual of looking at things differently.
I suspect all of his (Everett’s) books will do the same. I recently read “The Trees” and it certainly had that effect. He, like Baldwin, is an incredible talent with a unique voice with which to make his points.
I have Trees on my hold list at the library. I look forward to reading it.
I enjoyed the book and felt like a learned a lot by the way Baldwin presented his perspective - insightful and gracious, yet also strong. His sentences are very long and complex, so I had to circle back on many occasions - but in doing so, I was struck by how well he conveys his thoughts. And I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I am humbled by how little I take away from them - something to work on.
This was probably the most challenging book I’ve read since college! Having a book that required thought and effort was a nice change of pace (even though it made my brain hurt at times, LOL).
This has been the second book I’ve read this year that made me look at the world differently (the first being The Bluest Eye). It was quite eye-opening, for sure, and I appreciate it when a book can alter my viewpoint on an issue, as this one did.
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I found that the stream of conscious required careful reading, and I needed to reread sections. And even then, there were times I was still not totally sure what was meant. However, I did gain considerable insight to viewing films from a different perspective.
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I was amazed how much I enjoyed reading this book. In fact, I read it twice. I want to make sure not to miss any of the keys points in this book.
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@Judith_G @Joyce_Montague I love the Percival Everett connection! I suspect Baldwin would have very interesting things to say about Everett’s books (and the movie American Fiction) were he alive today.
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I too have not seen many of the movies Baldwin discussed which I think made it harder to understand some of what he wrote about. Google was a good friend while reading this book.
Hi Kim.
Consider reading Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell.
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Illuminating, for sure. In spite of my reading much nonfiction over the years, even studying racism at university, Baldwin’s observations and biographical info brought visceral feelings of Black Americans to light, in a unique way: critiquing cinematic portrayals.
For an essay, the Devil Finds Work, this complex and challenging. I had to re-read the essay after refreshing my memory of some the films he was referencing to understand the points that he was making. I saw these films quite young. I found it fascinating, how quickly, he juxtapose topics or points of view using several films, artists, and his personal life. Some of his views died from mine because we experienced different childhood experiences even as a Black person. I never thought to look at cinema so deeply, since I considered it as a white person’s point of view or betrayal, which was typical of early movies in my young childhood. I didn’t have high expectations, other than to be entertained. Plus, my parent’s view points influenced how I viewed black films versus white films. I was just overjoyed that there were more Black actors on the screen; i.e., people who looked like like me or had characteristics I wish were true in society. But I enjoyed rewatching some of the films or discussing the essay with my husband (6 years older) to gain a better undertanding of these works. There was portrayals that I knew were fantasy or unrealistic, and some aspects that had gone over my head to I saw the movie as an adult. Cinema was always to entertain me, i didn’t have high expectations in the 60s/70s of seeing a film that was going to reflect me as a person or my Black family members or friends. And his religious experiences were so different, but I could understand after reading his biography. The world wasn’t kind to him for him as a man, (homosexual) or his ethnicity/race.