There are two books I couldn't finish reading. The writing was too powerful and too moving.
The one I put down yesterday, Clarence Thomas' My Grandfather's Son and the other I put down years ago, Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters.
I can not explain in words the power either of these books had on me but the tears in my eyes, swelling up page after page and the anguish I felt made it impossible to continue reading. I can not bear my own suffering as I connect with the truth these two men speak.
Clarence
Thomas' story means a great deal to me because I have lived many of my
years with Blacks. I know the story of Clarence, I know the truth he
speaks, I feel the pain. All the efforts I have made in my life have been to right the
wrongs done to him and I am still fighting those battles.
Ted Hughes wrote with an intensity and beauty about the human condition, about my condition, that brought intense pain to my whole body, to my whole world.
Both these men, writing with extraordinary beauty and candor, left me empty and without words to cope.
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Postscript: My friend David explained my reaction to the Thomas book with a reference to an interview with Shelby Steele. I put it online for my readers. Here is a key quote:
Wente: Is there any prominent black figure who doesn't wear the mask?
Steele: Clarence Thomas. He wears no mask at all. He's not a bargainer or a challenger. He's his own man. He has deep and profound convictions. You can take them or leave them, but he is unwavering. He is a rather heroic figure - the freest black man in America