Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Soul on Ice
Book Review: How to do it, and not how to do it
Summary: 4 Stars
Whew! The how-to shows the success of a writer who bootstrapped his way to the top a best-sellers list, deftly using his experiences and the several mentors who recognized his brainpower. The life path Eldridge Cleaver spent in getting to this writing peak is the not-to part. Much of the book is the kind of rant one might hear on Sunday morning TV, often with a socialist twist. But the ranting is quite clearly written, and sometimes just when the reader is about to say, "Oh, for pete's sake," the author nails a concluding sentence right on the mark, and not necessarily where the reader thought the thread was heading. Such an unexpected thought hits in the middle of "The Primeval Mitosis" chapter: Cleaver concludes that, "liberality is, in fact, charity." How true. To do the thought fairly, one has to read the chapter up to that point, of course.
Then comes the chapter, "The Allegory of the Black Eunuchs." If Cleaver could write like this for a whole book in a row, he would be a best-seller without resorting to polemics. Polemics, unfortunately, was the whole point. The disjointedness and flights of fury and semi-sense that showed up sporadically in the first part of the book suddenly funnel into a well-told story, almost in the style of the biblical tale of Job. Job's "friends" were more interesting (and speak better) than Cleaver's wooden pen pals, but "Lazarus," or "Infidel" is arguably a much more complex person than old Job. He thus makes several key points using a character who changes page by page, chameleon-like. Here is a master story teller.
Whatever the "yeas" and "boos" for most of the earlier book, the last chapter stands out as a worthy piece of writing. The reader realizes at this late point that the whole book was leading up to this ending, an apology and a love letter from all black men to all black women, from souls on centuries of ice. This was wonderfully done, and all the earlier diatribes and nonsense look like mere practice writing for the finale. That chapter is worth re-reading, as well as "Eunuchs.".
Book Review: Huey was a Hero, Cleaver was a Zero!
Summary: 3 Stars
This is absolutely one of the the most overrated books of all time. Soul on Ice is a collection of outdated essays, along with a few love letters to his attorney written while Cleaver was serving time for being a serial rapist. Cleaver shows a poor understanding of the political workings of the elites, the reasons why many middle and working class whites are "racists", and virtually every other thing he opens his mouth on with one major exception. His observations about the disturbing mental and sexual pathologies that exist in the American black males mind towards white females are very insightful and realistic. At one point Cleaver actually says that his whole motivation for raping white women was that he considered it a "revolutionary act", it was his way of striking back at "white" society. He also goes into blacks pursuance of white females having more to do with black self hatred more than anything else. Although I think the general pathology black males have towards white females has evolved into something slightly different now, given the system now approves of and out and out promotes relationships between black males and white females, this book is still brilliant as far as delving into the psychological illness that exists within that dynamic. Other than that most of Soul on Ice is a complete lump of garbage. I can't fathom why this book is used in many University literature and sociology classes in America except to brainwash and indoctrinate white students with white guilt. I bet those classroom discussions are a real hoot!
Cleaver was certainly the weak link in the Black Panther leadership, ultimately contributing more towards its destruction than helping it. He wasn't really a hardcore black nationalist or racial seperatist when you get down to it, he wasn't, which was common for that time, an overblown hardcore Marxist or leftist. What Cleaver was really all about was expanding his overblown ego more than anything else. He also later proved himself to be a complete flake going through stages as a black right wing conservative, a born again Christian, and I think he even got involved in some sort of bizarre eastern religion for a while. There are lots of reasons to admire the Black Panther Party, Cleaver is not one of them.
Book Review: Justification for the Unjustifiable
Summary: 2 Stars
I have seldom read anything as offensive as Cleaver's attempt to pass off rape as a "revolutionary" act. By his own admission he is a serial rapist,and if he'd served time for all of them would never even have been out of jail in the sixties in the first place! While the other content of this book isn't totally worthless, I found that Cleaver came off as a typical criminal, filled with reasons why SOMEBODY ELSE was responsible for everything he did wrong. The first step to self respect is to accept responsibility for one's actions, Cleaver has not done that, nor does he give the slightest indication that he ever will. If you want to read an autobiography of a panther read Huey Newton's, because with Newton, instead of self pity, there was substance and intelligence behind the anger.Book Review: Lost for words
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading this book I believe trying to articulate in writing "what my opinion" is would be doing it an injustice. The man is brilliant and has influenced me to search for more knowledge and wisdom. Thanks Mr. Cleaver!Book Review: Not to be confused with Leave it to Beaver
Summary: 3 Stars
Even though this was one of the most important and popular books of the 1960s, it is not discussed that much now, some thirty-five years after its initial publication. "Soul on Ice" is as much an allegorical masterpiece as it is a real description of black male (whom he refers to as Supermasculine Menials) attitudes towards prison-life, white racism (and white women in particular, who are here referred to as Ogres and the Ultrafeminines) and the Nation of Islam (Cleaver writes compellingly about his disassociation with the Nation, citing their racism--"The onus of teaching racial supremacy and hate, which is the white man's burden, is pretty hard to bear"). Cleaver's at-times amazing writing gives this book a peculiar power, and given this, it is easy to understand why the book was so popular in the late 1960s. For several reasons, though, it is easy to see why this book doesn't get as much attention as, say, James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" [1963]. The chapter on Baldwin in "Soul on Ice," entitled "Notes on a Native Son" (a reference to one of Baldwin's early essays) is exceedingly homophobic, and other sections fairly hateful towards women (even though, in this regard, Cleaver is at times aware of his own misogyny--especially in his blushingly honest letters to one-time attorney Beverly Axelrod) and exceedingly macho. Many contemporary readers might not have the patience for this (especially given Baldwin's elevated status in the world of literature). Also, this book has lost some of its bite over the years because of excellent books written by participants in the Black Power Movement and the Black Panther Party. "Soul on Ice"--especially when compared with George Jackson's "Soledad Brother" (1971), Huey P. Newton's "Revolutionary Suicide" (1973), Amiri Baraka (1984) and Angela Y. Davis' (1974) autobiographies, and Elaine Brown's "A Taste of Power" (1992)--lacks the political vision, accuracy and believability of these other books, but it should also be credited for setting some of the standards by which these books would later have to judge themselves against, especially in regard to prison life (though Jackson's "Soledad Brother" is much more powerful in this regard). Nevertheless, "Soul on Ice" is a compelling read, and I agree with a statement that Ishmael Reed makes in the introduction that this book IS the 60s. If this memoir were a western, we could smell the sawdust on the floor.