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Not Without Laughter (1930)

by Langston Hughes

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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6371536,355 (3.8)26
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

A shining star of the Harlem Renaissance movement, Langston Hughes is one of modern literature's most revered African-American authors. Although best known for his poetry, Hughes produced in Not Without Laughter a powerful and pioneering classic novel.

This stirring coming-of-age tale unfolds in 1930s rural Kansas. A poignant portrait of African-American family life in the early twentieth century, it follows the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man. We meet Sandy's mother, Annjee, who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his strong-willed grandmother, Hager; Jimboy, Sandy's father, who travels the country looking for work; Aunt Tempy, the social climber; and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has turned away from her faith.

A fascinating chronicle of a family's joys and hardships, Not Without Laughter is a vivid exploration of growing up and growing strong in a racially divided society. A rich and important work, it masterfully echoes the black American experience.

.
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» See also 26 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
Absolutely beautiful. ( )
  lschiff | Sep 24, 2023 |
audiosync free title 2023 (~8 hrs) "sandy-haired" Black boy grows up under the care of his grandmother in small-town Kansas (published in 1930).

Vocal cadences make for a pleasant listening experience, though alternating loud and soft voices make it less ideal for going to sleep. Excellent storytelling through dialogue and descriptive passages. ( )
  reader1009 | Aug 17, 2023 |
This well-written book is said to be Hughes bildungsroman, which of course made it sadder than it already was. It presented the lives of many working class Blacks living mostly in Kansas. Sandy begins as a child and at the end is possibly about to begin high school. He has always accepted much responsibility and cared about many people, especially his diverse family. He is often treated kindly, but he is also discriminated against due only to the fact that he is Black and that systemic racism is such a part of the United States. His personality is such that he is able to laugh at times when I expect he was really very hurt or disappointed. That is the derivation of the title. This book was originally published in 1930, and these problems are unfortunately still prevalent today. ( )
  suesbooks | Jun 22, 2023 |
It seems that we're in Kansas, in an African American community, in 1912 and beyond.

Whenever I go on vacation, I try to read some books by
African American authors. I think I only managed this one this year. The issue for me, is that I can't possibly understand other people, unless I learn about them by reading about their lives (African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, etc.). This book, although written some 87 years ago, is still a fresh lens to help us privileged, comfortably well-off white folks see ourselves as others see us; others in this case, being African Americans.

An additional interesting thing about this book is that it follows the life of a young, African American boy who lived in Kansas, from about 1912 to 1918 or so. The boy was something like 7 to 14 over this period (fuzzy math). My mother was a young girl growing up in Kansas at the same time, although she was a bit younger. So, it's interesting to read about young African American children in Kansas and to compare it with my mother's stories of growing up.

Langston Hughes was best known as a top notch poet. But this book shows that he's also a rather good novelist. The writing is wonderful.
( )
  lgpiper | Jun 21, 2019 |
Still brilliant after all these years, and gives more insight into the lives of black people back then (1930s) than most other books of this kind. ( )
  kmstock | Mar 6, 2015 |
Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Langston Hughesprimary authorall editionscalculated
Angelou, MayaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gates Jr., Henry LouisForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Aunt Hager Williams stood in her doorway and looked out at the sun.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

A shining star of the Harlem Renaissance movement, Langston Hughes is one of modern literature's most revered African-American authors. Although best known for his poetry, Hughes produced in Not Without Laughter a powerful and pioneering classic novel.

This stirring coming-of-age tale unfolds in 1930s rural Kansas. A poignant portrait of African-American family life in the early twentieth century, it follows the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man. We meet Sandy's mother, Annjee, who works as a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; his strong-willed grandmother, Hager; Jimboy, Sandy's father, who travels the country looking for work; Aunt Tempy, the social climber; and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has turned away from her faith.

A fascinating chronicle of a family's joys and hardships, Not Without Laughter is a vivid exploration of growing up and growing strong in a racially divided society. A rich and important work, it masterfully echoes the black American experience.

.

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Legacy Library: Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.

See Langston Hughes's legacy profile.

See Langston Hughes's author page.

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