I randomly picked up A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines (*chuckle*), at the Fort Mason book sale, which is totally awesome by the way. I wasn’t expecting too much from the novel, but it was surprisingly pleasant.

First off, the novel is extremely simplistic, both in prose and plot. It appears to be a book commonly assigned to younger students. Indeed, having read the back-cover-summary first, there were many points in the novel I grew bored with the slow, simplistic story development. What I did appreciate is the look we get into life for the African American in the Post-Antebellum South. The main character has an interesting dilemna, being an educated man who nonetheless is always cognizant of his ethnic past, whether though interactions with whites or blacks. Gaines also succeeds in twanging some of those heart chords with the bareness of the human condition when faced with injustice and death.

Overall, an easy read that I appreciated for the culture it exposed and the human strength in all of us it highlighted.