James Baldwin : Go Tell It On The Mountain

I just finished this book two days ago and I must say I was very pleased. This was my first Baldwin novel. I previously read a play written by him titled "Blues For Mister Charlie" which made my blood boil. It's a very emotionally charged play to say the least. I was given that play by a woman I would see on the train often on my way home from school. This was during my college years. Fast forward 6 years or so and I'm reading my first novel by the man.

Go Tell It On The Mountain is an excellent book first of all. The way it starts out, I thought the story was gonna go one way. Actually my preconceived notions may have something to do with me knowing a little bit about the author, but alas I was wrong. The book spends a lot of time on digging into each of it's main characters. There were a number of ooh and aahhh moments for me (which look strange when you're on the train, reading). I was happy that the book cover does not discuss any of the plot, so when I read it everything was fresh. I wont go into any of story here, because if you read it I would like for you to have a similar experience.

I give Go Tell It On the Mountain a B+ only because there's a part of the story that I feel was not resolved. I'm sure it doesn't need to be but because it was so juicy I really wanted some closure there.