Compelling perspectives but excessive rhetoric

The first thing one needs to remember while approaching this book or even this review is that this was written in 1952. The world was quite different from what we see today and this is clearly reflected in Fanon's writing - the writing style, the references as well as the psychological and metaphysical frameworks he chooses to use.

Throughout the book, he hits upon very compelling points, backed by research and sound argument, on the impact the colonialism and structural racism has had on the psyche of the African origin people, with particular focus on France's Caribbean colonies (Fanon is from the French Caribbean). This writing serves as the bedrock for a lot of the future writing to follow in the way it addresses the subject from a psychological perspective.

However, the literary style does become overbearing at times, with too much time spent on rhetoric and use of language that would seem a little excessive today, especially for someone focussed on getting to the meat of the content in a non-fiction prose. Adding to this, the contemporary references of his time that he quotes is often obscure and unrelatable to the average person familiar with only the Anglosphere.

The other gripe, though once again a product of his time, is the reference to Freudian and Jungian frameworks in his psychoanalysis of the Caribbean colonial subject's psyche that seems outdated or even misplaced today, with the 20-20 of hindsight, 70 years past.

Overall, I recommend this for someone who's trying to understand Fanon's point of view that is often built upon by other authors of the modern day. And it certainly does have some solid points that makes it stand on its own. However, modern authorship on the subject would provide more nuanced views that incorporate later research if you're looking to simply understand the subject .

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