James Baldwin might have been notoriously difficult to read and a contradictory writer, but Northwestern’s One Book, One Northwestern program aimed to present him in a new light.
As part of the series, Hilton Als, a theater critic for The New Yorker, spoke to about 70 people Tuesday at the McCormick Tribune Center. His discussion centered on Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” the novel chosen for this year’s One Book, One Northwestern. The program began in 2006, with Shakespeare’s “Othello.”
Als focused on his personal relationship with Baldwin’s work and Baldwin’s technique as a writer.
“There are two sides of the person he was trying to become,” Als said. “One was a writer, which is to say a person who writes to be alone. Then there was the other person, who just really wanted to be loved deeply … by other people.”
To back up his argument, Als divided his lecture into two parts. The first part was a reading of “The Exile,” a literary essay which he had written previously. The second part was a shorter, fictional response to Baldwin’s writings.
A black author who did most of his major work in the 1950s and ’60s, Baldwin spent a decade of his most productive years as an expatriate in Europe. “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” often considered his seminal accomplishment, follows the life of John, an African-American boy living in Harlem at the turn of the 20th century. In the book, John is profoundly affected by the Christian church and its role in his community.
Although Als professed his admiration for Baldwin’s literary technique, he said the author’s success as a novelist lay in his ability to connect with his audience.
“What his genius rested on was his … intimacy with the reader,” Als said. “He would show you his, if you showed him yours.”
But Als also expressed ambivalence in his relationship with Baldwin’s work.
“Baldwin’s career was a cautionary tale for me, a warning as well as an inspiration,” Als said. “Love the work, but don’t expect to be loved because of it.”
Als also focused on Baldwin’s homosexuality and its representation in his works. “Giovanni’s Room,” published in 1956, featured primarily gay characters and was seen as an extraordinary accomplishment by the gay community, Als said. It was even more extraordinary, he said, because the author was black.
Attendees said the innovative format of the lecture added to their experience and understanding of Baldwin.
“I thought he was a great lecturer,” said Dolores Walker, 42, an Evanston social worker.
The lecture is part of an expanded program incorporating all undergraduate schools and a larger event schedule, said NU English professor Jay Grossman.
“The point of it is to find a book that will lend itself to as many different kinds of interpretation and attention and close reading in many different contexts,” Grossman said. “The (objective) is to have as many students and faculty and staff talking about this book and thinking about this book … over the course of the quarter.”
For more information on One Book, One Northwestern events, visit www.amstp.northwestern.edu/onebook
Reach Kyle Berlin at [email protected].
