Reviews - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: A Library of America Paperback Classic

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: A Library of America Paperback Classic

“However long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact…The white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me.”

“It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tortured me…Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing…It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.”

iqazi's review against another edition

5.0

Things I want revisit:
- his reflections on religion
- his views on work (if I'm owed 6 cents for every 6 dollars I make, then that is an admission that I am owed the whole)
- his thinking on place/the things and friendships that tie us to place even when it's better to leave

readingfrankly's review against another edition

Read for university

This should be required reading. I'm honestly angry this isn't required in primary school.
I don't rate memoirs/autobiographies but his writing is phenomenal, and I'm glad to have read this.

faythk's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional medium-paced

marilynuine's review against another edition

5.0

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

kskaro's review against another edition

5.0

dark informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Wow, what an amazing book. Such a raw look at the reality of slavery. It’s hard to believe he was able to overcome as much as he did, learning to read and write and escape. It’s nothing short of a miracle. This is hard to listen to; it will break your heart but I couldn’t put it down and listened in one go. (It’s only four hours but still.) This makes me want to read his biography by David Blight.

wonceuponatime's review against another edition

4.0

I decided to read this book after reading March by Geraldine Brooks, and I enjoyed it. I have read other first-hand accounts of slavery that were more detailed and linear in the nature of their story, Douglass is unique in his own rise to fame after a very hard childhood and upbringing as a slave. In one passage, Douglass talks about his abhorrence of the "underground railroad." His frustration was that the people who provided these way-stations did not stand up to slave owners (because in mass, they would have had a powerful message), or give any further assistance or education to escaping slaves. This was a point I had not considered before, but found very interesting.