Passing (Norton Critical Editions) | Nella Larsen

Passing (Norton Critical Editions) | Nella Larsen | On time as expected (as usual).

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Passing (Norton Cr...

	Passing (Norton Critical Editions) Nella Larsen W. W. Norton, 2007 - 546 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Nella Larsen is a central figure in African American, Modernist, and women's literature. Her status as a Harlem Renaissance woman writer was rivaled by only Zora Neale Hurston's. This Norton Critical Edition of Larsen's electrifying 1929 novel includes Carla Kaplan's detailed and thought-provoking introduction, thorough explanatory annotations, and a Note on the Text.

An unusually rich "Background and Contexts" section connects the novel to the historical events of the day, most notably the sensational Rhinelander/Jones case of 1925. Fourteen contemporary reviews are reprinted, including those by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Mary Griffin, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Published accounts from 1911 to 1935?by Langston Hughes, Juanita Ellsworth, and Caleb Johnson, among others?provide a nuanced view of the contemporary cultural dimensions of race and passing, both in America and abroad. Also included are Larsen's statements on the novel and on passing, as well as a generous selection of her letters and her central writings on "The Tragic Mulatto(a)" in American literature. Additional perspective is provided by related Harlem Renaissance works.

"Criticism" provides fifteen diverse critical interpretations, including those by Mary Helen Washington, Cheryl A. Wall, Deborah E. McDowell, David L. Blackmore, Kate Baldwin, and Catherine Rottenberg.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

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A view of the past

Written in 1929, PASSING is a product of the Harlem Renaissance. Nella Larsen, a biracial woman, relates the story of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Both are fair skinned black women who can pass for white and grow up together in a black neighborhood. When Clare is orphaned she moves with white relatives and deserts her black heritage. She sees it as the only means of escape from the poverty that she destest. She marries John Bellows, escaping her past and could have disappeared into the white world.

But through a chance meeting, where Irene is also passing for white, they meet after many years of separation. Irene has married a black doctor, who wants to move to Brazil and in effect pass as a latin American. He wants physically out of America while Irene wants out of the racial tensions of America.

Clare is drawn back to her racial roots by some mystery. She can't let go even though she knows it will be the end of her marriage and perhaps the loss of her daughter.

Clare's husband, John Bellows, is a avowed racist who calls Clare "Nig" because he jokes that she is getting darker, totally unaware of her race. Irene and another friend who is also passing endure Bellow's racist remarks but do not respond.

The book takes place over about a 2 year period as Clare flirts with the danger of discovery and also Irene's husband. Irene is in conflict as to whether to reveal the truth to John, which would get Clare out of her life. But she can't bring herself to do it.

The book tells of the conflict of being black and living white; it tells of the interracial circles of Harlem of the 1920's. It's a period of high racial tensions, but yet whites flock to Harlem because some see it as in vogue not because they seek an interracial culture.

Although Irene lives black, she has created a white world around herself. She doesn't want her sons to know about lynchings and racial issues.

At the end Clare makes a tragic choice. She chooses death over admitting that she is black. Of course, maybe that is what she wanted all the time - out of this false world. Irene gets her wish, she gets Clare out of her immediate life but she will never get her out of her memory.

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On time as expected (as usual).

As always, I got the book within a week of ordering it. Great book for doing research.

good price, good product

very good price for book....for something that costs fifty cents, you'd think it would be in poor condition, but I believe that it was brand new and in perfect condition

Interesting subject matter

I had to read this book for an American Women Writers class in college. It was a very interesting read. I enjoyed the subject matter and history. It was something with which I was not very familiar. A good movie that covers this same topic of "passing" is the Human Stain -- very good movie.

Passing

This is a story of two African American women who are able to pass as caucasian in the 1920s. A look at both sides of this issue. The ending is very interesting.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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