Outsider: Amazon.ca: Richard Wright: Books

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"Move over Dick Francis, here's the competition."

-- -- Me --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

The Outsider is Richard Wright's compelling story of a black man's attempt to escape his past. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
FROM AN INVISIBLE February sky a shimmering curtain of snowflakes fluttered down upon Chicago. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly engrossing journey, April 10 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Outsider (Paperback)

The Outsider is a thrilling novel that reads quickly, and memorably. Like "The Fugitive" our hero finds himself suddenly outside of both society and his own sense of identity. He is forced to recreate himself as he struggles to stay ahead of danger, only to find that his new persona liberates a charisma that thrusts him into the spotlight, threatening to betray him to his pursuers.

As in the "The Grapes of Wrath", our hero is forced to confront his concept of who and how he had lived while becoming both politically and ideologically self-aware. This transformative process remains as compelling, current, and relevant today as when Wright penned the novel.

This first-rate novel is given short shrift by those who enjoy genuflecting to the myth of an intellectual heritage, to which it owes no homage nor apology, above the thrilling strength of the prose itself.

The Fugitive is a zesty hoot of novel full of suspenseful twists and thoughtful choices.

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4.0 out of 5 stars american existential, Aug 9 2002

By

sipreano (Portland, OR - USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outsider (Paperback)

A pioneer in Americam existentialism. One of my favorite books. A man is given a 'second chance' at not life but identity. The incompatability of ideals and reality serve as a catalyst to his acceptance to this opportunity. He explores many social differances such as politics and ethics (especially the issues of the marginilized society - race most prominantly). Some of the monologues are a bit more like a solilique than seems fitting for reality but they do not really come off as out of place. This is executed well, but not masterfully. The sypathetic 'harmony' between Cross and the hunchback works well along the lines of Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall in Falling Down; that is to say that they play a sort of reciprocal/yin-yang type role of dichotomy. Addresses the role of identity within the self and within society throughout the novel. The futility, the acceptance of futility, and the futility of that acceptance are dealt with. Though this may not be the best example ( I do not know, I have yet to read his entire output), it nonetheless exemplifies some of his strengths as a story teller. This is perhaps his strongest philisophical effort. I would suggest reading "The Man Who Lived Underground" (to be found in "8 Men") as a type of preface. "The Stranger" by Camus and "Naseau" by Sartre would also be in a related vein, though markedly different.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Made me yawn through parts of Crime and Punishment, July 18 2001

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Yan Timanovsky (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Outsider (Paperback)

Socially less valuable than Native Son, but better literature. Long overlooked book. If you read no other Wright book, read this one. Like Blackboy, gives an indepth look into American Communism. Despite obvious symbolism of blacks as "outsiders," is much more intriguing when race issue is put into backseat in favor of more universal idea. Can we judge those that are not capable of accepting a society's morality and rules by that society's standards and castigate them with that society's penalties? Is it inevitable that your life will catch up with you if you run away from it? Go and get yourself a copy.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "Talks not only to the black man, but to mankind."
Intriguing and captivating tale and one of Richard Wright's most unappreciated works because of its extensive reading material. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2001 by N. Guerra

3.0 out of 5 stars you could do worse
three and a half stars...came across this one at a used bookstore and just started reading it ahead of the others i had on my list... Read more

Published on May 24 2001 by Erren Geraud Kelly