It's always tricky when a classic doesn't feel dazzling, but it happens. For me, Go Tell It On The Mountain might be better suited as a 3.5 story. I ultimately gave it a four because I couldn't bring myself to give it a three. Baldwin's early work was cutting new ground in elevating an unheard voice in America.

What works is that Baldwin provides an excellent take on perception, illustrating how we are sometimes shaped by what we don't know as much as by what we do know. In this case, John Grimes cannot understand why his father doesn't love him more, contributing to his feelings of anguish and confusion. He doesn't know that his father, Gabriel isn't his father. He also doesn't know how much wild and sinful Gabriel was before he became a preacher — facts that explain why he takes out his anger and guilt on a boy who isn't his son. Gabriel's sister, however, does know Gabriel's past and, for reasons of her own, is always looking for ways to humble, if not knock Gabriel down a notch.

Baldwin adds religious hypocrisy and racism to these already tenuous topics. Several characters are shaped by the hardships and brutality dealt to them by white people. This includes John's birth father, Richard, a man who committed suicide after a racist incident with police. Richard isn't the only one so brutalized.

There are times Baldwin protracts the prose so much that it interferes with moving the plot forward. What keeps the reader slogging along is Baldwin's gift as a writer and the knowledge that this story is based on his own experiences. In the end, it's worth the read (and even inspiring), but it doesn't necessarily measure up to equally gifted writers tackling the same subject.