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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
You’ve heard it before: reality is stranger than fiction. And what sounds more horrifyingly fictional than a nation wherein an entire race of people were subjugated and treated like tools for the purposes of economic gain? Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is as infuriating and haunting as it is gripping and powerful. It’s infuriating due to the sadly very real setting. In this book, you will see just how horribly slaves are treated, and even if you think, “I’ve heard it all before,” I’m sure it will still make you sick reading it, but that’s part of the reason why this book is so important. It reminds us that these things really did happen. If it was just an account of all the horrors faced by slaves, I would not have enjoyed this book nearly as much as I did. We’re also treated by the gripping, well-written tale of how Frederick Douglass resisted his masters, how he grew into his own and broke his chains. Interspersed in the narrative are Douglass’ well-written arguments against slavery. While “slavery is bad” (hopefully) isn’t a novel notion to you, it’s still interesting to see his arguments and find out how they’re formed. Douglass is an excellent story-teller and debator. It may be disappointing to some that Douglass doesn’t actually describe how he physically escaped slavery, though it’s understandable why he didn’t detail this (namely, he didn’t wish to out his allies/close that route of freedom for subsequent runaways). Still, I think it’s as powerful seeing how he mentally escaped slavery, how he got to the point where he’d die fighting rather than live laying down. This remains an important piece of nonfiction, not just in terms of history, but in terms of uplift. Frederick Douglass’ narrative is quite motivational and to me, it’s as hopeful as it is harrowing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
very well written! but brings up some touchy questions about creative liberties and autobiographical presentation that i've just thought of in connection to this because of a poem we discussed at the tower poetry summer school. credit your wife next time please and thank you
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
This was a really excellent narrative. Douglass employs many advanced writing methods that really add to his overall ethos. It was a fascinating first hand experience that I had never read anything like before. I believe that everyone should read this book in school.