a book
Cane
Jean Toomer · 1923 · 110 pages
Cane' explores spiritual and emotional frustration, failure of basic communication between individuals, and repression of natural energies. It reveals the chaos of contemporary black American life and calls for a spiritual awakening. A land mark novel that changed the way America looked at black writers. I love it passionately; could not possibly exist without it. — Alice Walker This book should be on all readers' and writers' desks and in their minds. — Maya Angelou [Toomer avoided] the pitfalls of propaganda and moralizing on the one hand and the snares of a false and hollow race pride on the other hand. — Montgomery Gregory
recommended by 3 people
sourced from public statements
Phoebe Robinson
“I also read this in college. I guess going to college was great, because I read some great books. It’s considered a novel but the structure is more a collection of vignettes. Some poetry and some short stories. I really like how it keeps your brain engaged; when the writer switches between this structure and dialogue and not proper English, it makes you focus on what’s actually being written. I love how ambitious it is. It’s also another book about black life that tons of people should love and read and not only read during Black History Month. You know what? Read this book in April when it’s raining outside. How about that?”↗
