Native Son was on the "recommended" list for a grad class, so I was expecting something dense with vocabulary words and filled with symbolism, a sort of intellectual interpretation of gender and race.What I got was an in-your-face portrayal of Bigger Thomas. The separate parts or "books" vividly convey Bigger's disenfranchised childhood, his "break" as a young adult, and the events that lead to his demise. I gasped and bemoaned Bigger's very movements or utterances dozens of times, wanting so badly to stop knowing this story but at the same time completely incapable of putting it down. You have to find a way to read this book.