In the voting thread, Bookworm_Girl put up this link
Two Classic American Novels About the Madness and Beauty of Race.
Which intrigued me enough that I read
Black No More by George Schuyler. It's the only Schuyler book I've read, but my immediate impression reflected what was said in that article, that here was a man that didn't like people very much. And that put me in mind of the author that Irene talks about and meets in
Passing (Hugh Wentworth "despised everything and everybody").
While quite a different stories and styles, the two books do have certain similarities:
They both handle the race issue in what seems - to me as an outsider - in unusual and unexpected ways.
They both read very simplistically. Intentionally or not, they both lack narrative flair, at times coming across as almost childish, as if the work of an inexperienced writer.
The linked article describes the books as "Two influential, if woefully under-read, American classics". I think the "under-read" aspect may well be the result of seeming immaturity in the writing. I would find it hard to recommend either of these book to others to read; they're interesting but they're not that well written.
Do you think that assessment (as it relates to
Passing) is too harsh?