Soul on Ice

by Eldridge Cleaver

Book Overview

The classic memoir that shocked, outraged, and ultimately changed the way America looked at the civil rights movement and the black experience.

With a preface by Ishmael Reed - "As with Malcolm X, Cleaver's book is a spiritual autobiography. An odyssey of a soul in search of itself, groping toward a personal humanism which will give meaning to life."--The Progressive

By turns shocking and lyrical, unblinking...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038533379X
• ISBN13: 9780385333795
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Delta
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Eldridge Clever: Early Snapshot of His Perspective

Insightfull writings of what Eldridge beleived at this time of it's writing. I think he truly wanted the world to be a better place, and over time even his perspective changed, as you can see by his political party affilation changes over the years. He truly wanted all flavors of people to understand and appreciate one another, via critical thinking and truthful education. At the time of these writing Eldridge was still searching for answers? Later in life, why did he go from Communism to Capitalism? 1967-1971 - Black Panther Party 1968 - Peace and Freedom Party 1980 - Republican What happened? Life experience and gained knowledge? He became a captialist....

TELL IT LIKE IT IS!

I AM A YOUNG MEXICAN, AND I AM AMAZED THAT AFTER 30+ YEARS THIS BOOK IS VERY INFORMATIVE! AND SHOULD BE READ BY ALL OF OUR YOUTH TODAY! HE TELLS THE FACTS! HOW MANY OF US HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO SIT BACK AND TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT AMERIKKKA! THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN! A NOT THE ONE YOU THINK YOU LIVE IN! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

the real deal from an educated black man

racism is still alive and well in the USA, despite surface gains by some people of color. this book goes into a theory for black/white tensions: the primeval mitosis, when humanity split into male/female, black/white, etc. and our dichotimies became external rather than held within each human. eldridge has some very serious ideas about why our gender roles are lined up with "race," and how the Body and Mind have become province to certain ethnicities. to heal our world, all humans must become whole: Mind, Body merging instead of blacks being all Body "supermasculine menials" and whites being "omnipotentent administrators." eldridge's glance into inter-racial love are interesting, if not at times confusing since he fell in love with his own (white) lawyer. eldridge's writing is strong and his prose is evocative. i think the best essay in this book is the one on primeval motosis, where he lays out his theory on tensions between the races. but all of them are excellent, especially when cleaver examines the vietnam war and wars against colonionalism the world over and links colonial/liberation struggles to the struggle for equality in the US! deep stuff, seeing as how "liberation" has been "won" because all nations, no matter how squalid and repressed, have the honor of participating in capitalism (aka globalism). blacks and other oppressed people in the USA have also bought into the switcheroo. read cleaver and see that many of the issues happening in the late 60s have not been resolved.another thing i often found myself thinking: for a man who was incarcerated, and before the advent of the internet, cleaver must have put in so much effort to get the political/social information he did. even prison can not hold the mind/thoughts of someone who will reach out despite constraints.

Stands the test of time

I've spent the last thirty-two years being reminded of the brutal honesty and truth of much of this classical work on race, sex, and poverty by Eldridge Cleaver. I was honestly shocked by some of the sexual/racial ideas it contains the first time I read it in 1968, and decided to try it again to see if my present understanding of and assumptions about America now render this work moot- or affirm it.Not surprisingly, as much as I'd like to confirm or refute this work, the jury still won't come in and remains out. You should read this book if you've thought deeply about the "why" of our race problem in America, our prison problem in America, or the psychology of gender. You really owe this one to your real-world educational and intellectual development, whether you agree with it, or like it, or not. It will challenge, frustrate, and in the end, inspire you to look deeper. Great achievement; makes you wonder what extraordinary things never surfaced from inside this man's mind.A must-read from the 20th century.

Best realistic inside look into the black male experience

This book was the best inside look at the black male experience since Ellison's "Invisible Man" Cleaver cuts no corners, spares not feelings, and takes no prisoners. The book should be required reading for every African-Americans studies program in America, and every African-American Literature course in America. Cleaver is an excellent writer that proves that you don't have a PhD. to be an intelligent, articulate, person. Cleaver has knowledge he gained from school of hard knocks and the school of life. Like Malcolm X, Cleaver had to fall in order to get up and become a man!!!!!