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A Lesson Before Dying Oprah Book Club Ernest J Gaines 9780375702709 Books

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A Lesson Before Dying Oprah Book Club Ernest J Gaines 9780375702709 Books

For the most part, I enjoy reading the novels that are assigned to my daughter's literature classes. In 7th grade, they were assigned, "To Kill A Mockingbird." I hadn't recalled the details, so I was very interested in the assignments. As a prelude to her 9th grade literature class, my daughter has to read, "A Lesson Before Dying" over the summer. I read it so that we can discuss it while she completes the summer assignment (she hasn't read it yet!). I could hardly put the book down. It felt familiar to me, a 65-year-old African American woman. I never lived full-time in the segregated south, but I spent enough time visiting grandparents while growing up and hearing stories of that time period.

I "felt" the characters in the book and by the time the book ended I could almost cry. I was sad but proud at the same time. I was proud of the conflicted young teacher who was able to reach the young prisoner how to become a man before dying, and how both of them could be good examples of manhood in their poor country community. They actually learned something from each other. I was also proud of how the black community came together to show love and respect for the young man who had to die because of the racism in society.


Tags : A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club) [Ernest J. Gaines] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. From the author of  A Gathering of Old Men</i> and  The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman</i> comes a deep and compassionate novel,Ernest J. Gaines,A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club),Vintage,0375702709,African American - General,Reading Group Guide,African American,African American men,African American men;Fiction.,Death row inmates,Death row inmates;Fiction.,FICTION African American General,FICTION Family Life General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Friendship,GENERAL,General Adult,Literary,Louisiana,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction,Race relations,Race relations;Fiction.,dying;resistance;black history;black history month;louisiana;national book critics circle award;1940s;african american;cajun;classics;death row;african-american literature;civil rights;death penalty;prejudice;race relations;race;justice;injustice;death row inmates;southern literature;friendship;murder;high school;classic;southern;oprahs book club 2018;book club recommendations 2018;oprah;book club;oprah book club;family;novels;fiction;african american books;fiction books,Fiction Family Life,General & Literary Fiction,1940s; african american; cajun; classics; death row; african-american literature; civil rights; death penalty; prejudice; race relations; race; justice; injustice; death row inmates; southern literature; friendship; murder; high school; classic; southern; resistance; black history; black history month; louisiana; national book critics circle award; dying; book club; oprahs book club 2018; book club recommendations 2018; oprah; family; fiction books; fiction; african american books; african american fiction; novels

A Lesson Before Dying Oprah Book Club Ernest J Gaines 9780375702709 Books Reviews

A compelling book about a black man in 1940s Louisiana who was convicted of murder and waiting to be executed. Descriptions of the numerous characters, black and white, in the "quarter," the jail, the town, the church, the bar, the school etc is wonderful. Black prejudice, white prejudice, and mulattos prejudice is throughout the book. Much is made over Jefferson wanting to be a man, and his influence on others in this process, is quite a lesson in the end. A must read!
I really liked the type of "lessons" that Grant taught Jefferson, I liked that they were not necessarily academic. In recent years I have come to believe, as a teacher myself, that the most important things you can teach a person are not in books and not the type of things that most people think about when they think of formal education. I work in preschool, so this is not a book for my students but many older children and adults alike, I think, would benefit from reading this story. The story ended abruptly, it surprised me that it was over so quickly, it is a relatively short book. But when I Think back on it, the ending is appropriate. The story ended at exactly the right time and place. There was not much more that Ernest could have added. There was the lesson, that was learned and then there was the dying. I also liked Grants budding friendship with Paul and I liked how the characters were not just" black and white" no one was all good, and no one was completely evil. I liked how Paul's character was not at all, in the least bit racist throughout the story and how, while the other characters may have had some prejudices we were not at all hit over head and berated with the concept of " evil white people." Even as a black women I can appreciate this. "A Lesson Before Dying" is a decent book that can teach everyone who chooses to read it a lesson.
Given the plot synopsis, A Lesson Before Dying could very easily veer into cheesiness or make it all seem so easy. A man is sentenced to death, and he's going to bravely come to grips with it and teaches everyone a lesson about courage!

Yeah, that is not this book. This book is better.

I think the book's subtlety along with Grant's sort-of emotionally detached narrating make it all so much more bleak. It is bleak. Jefferson was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there's no clamor for appeals. The media isn't swarming and demanding justice. The FBI doesn't show up to analyze the crime scene and make sure the actual criminals are locked up.

Everyone accepts it. They hate it, but they accept it. The tone of the story and Grant's narration made me feel the utter helplessness of the characters in their perfectly segregated little town. Grant is angry and trapped, and you wish he'd stop complaining about it and just do something and then you remember Jefferson, waiting for his execution without protest.

I can see how the storytelling could be unappealing to some, but I think having the story told from Grant's perspective and realizing how they're both trapped in many ways, by virtue of being black men in the South, was a really powerful choice.

I thought all characters were well done - imperfect, rough around the edges, and totally relatable.

Why not 5 stars? I think what would have made this book amazing for me would be a better understanding of Miss Emma's motivations in going to Grant. I get that he was the teacher, but she always seemed to be teamed up with the Reverend so it was always a bit tenuous to me how Grant got involved. I also felt that Grant and Jefferson's relationship went suddenly from being not good to good. It wasn't clear to me what caused the change. I mean, it had to happen or what would be the point? But it had a bit of a "makeover montage" feel to it. Things were bad and then suddenly in a short period of time they're pretty good with only hints of the hard work that should've gone into it.

Even though I just devoted a paragraph to that, those things were very minor in the scheme of the book. I still thought it was excellent. If you're considering whether you should read it, I recommend you do.
I think it is impossible for a white man , as I am, who lived in the segregated South, to even begin to understand the depths of humiliation experienced by black people in our society. Mr. Gaines' book helps one see, through a black man's eyes, the daily, and lifelong degradation and deprivation inflicted on fellow human beings. It is a painful lesson but one we need to learn if we are to ever effectively remedy the racial bias that continues in our nation--on both sides of the Mason Dixon.
For the most part, I enjoy reading the novels that are assigned to my daughter's literature classes. In 7th grade, they were assigned, "To Kill A Mockingbird." I hadn't recalled the details, so I was very interested in the assignments. As a prelude to her 9th grade literature class, my daughter has to read, "A Lesson Before Dying" over the summer. I read it so that we can discuss it while she completes the summer assignment (she hasn't read it yet!). I could hardly put the book down. It felt familiar to me, a 65-year-old African American woman. I never lived full-time in the segregated south, but I spent enough time visiting grandparents while growing up and hearing stories of that time period.

I "felt" the characters in the book and by the time the book ended I could almost cry. I was sad but proud at the same time. I was proud of the conflicted young teacher who was able to reach the young prisoner how to become a man before dying, and how both of them could be good examples of manhood in their poor country community. They actually learned something from each other. I was also proud of how the black community came together to show love and respect for the young man who had to die because of the racism in society.