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1.46k reviews for:
Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Solomon Northup, Frederick Douglass
4.23 AVERAGE
1.46k reviews for:
Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Solomon Northup, Frederick Douglass
4.23 AVERAGE
Painful to read, but something I’d still recommend. In short it is the tale of a freeman living in pre-Civil War America who was kidnapped and taken to Georgia where he spent 12 years as a slave. I appreciated that Mr. Northup told everything, including parts that could have been unflattering to his own character, because this openness gives his testimony greater credibility, and thus greater power, though his story is powerful no matter how you tell it. The crimes committed against him (and all the other slaves), and the sufferings he endured are bad enough on their own, but I realized that while reading the book it was easy to forget just how long he spent in slavery. I feel like my mind still cannot comprehend it, and it gets even worse when I remember that he was at least rescued eventually. I recommend this thoroughly to all Americans, not simply to get a better understanding of our past, but to understand how slavery was justified and thus how it was allowed to continue. Perhaps understanding this will help us better stop and prevent other injustices. If you haven’t seen it yet, the film is excellent. It is, quite frequently, painful to watch, and director Steve McQueen makes plentiful use of the longshot to linger on some of the horrors on the screen. Compared to the modern filmmaking styles of quick cuts, the long shots are noticeable and uncomfortable, which, I think, is a masterful decision on McQueen’s part. When watching a movie, it is far too easy to dismiss the story being told as simply a story, or merely something from the past, but the lingering shots force the audience to reflect and process what they’re seeing, hopefully letting the atrocities of a true story sink in.
Listened to the audiobook read by Louis Gosset Jr and thoroughly enjoyed this. The detail was enough to make certain "scenes" hard to stomach but I appreciated the raw reality of that. Highly recommend.
First published in 1853, Twelve Years a Slave is the narrative of Solomon Northup’s experience as a free man sold into slavery. Northup’s memoir reveals unimaginable details about the slave markets, the horrors of life on a plantation, and the dreadful day-to-day treatment of the slaves from the perspective of a man who lived more than thirty years as a free man before being forcibly enslaved.
Written in the year after Northup was freed and published in the wake of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s story was quickly taken up by abolitionist groups and news organizations as part of the fight against slavery. The book fell into obscurity in later decades, only to be rediscovered in the early 1960’s. In 2013 it was adapted into a feature film entitled 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen and produced by Brad Pitt. Pitt also played a supporting role in the film, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Sarah Paulson.
Written in the year after Northup was freed and published in the wake of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s story was quickly taken up by abolitionist groups and news organizations as part of the fight against slavery. The book fell into obscurity in later decades, only to be rediscovered in the early 1960’s. In 2013 it was adapted into a feature film entitled 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen and produced by Brad Pitt. Pitt also played a supporting role in the film, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Sarah Paulson.
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
I can appreciate the story line and I recognize the era and audience this book was aimed at but the writing was not all that well done. it has piqued my interest in the movie but I feel there are other better written books on the subject of American slavery
While the story is tragic and tells a story that must be told I found it hard to read because of the grammar and writing style. I had to force myself to finish it. It took almost 1.5 yrs. Maybe it might be one for me where the movie is better than the book.
I was way ahead on reading [b:Battle Cry of Freedom|35100|Battle Cry of Freedom|James M. McPherson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388185755s/35100.jpg|35039] for my Civil War reading group, so I decided to take a break and read something related. I'd been meaning to read this since seeing the heart-breaking movie, and as I'd found a nice copy at my favorite used bookstore last year, this seemed an obvious choice.
I thought the movie did a fairly good job of keeping faithful to the book, so most of the horrors of this story were already familiar. So what impressed me most in this reading were Northup's remarkable insights into the people around him -- both the slaves who have known such treatment their entire lives, but also the slave owners. Some of his observations of the very real cost to their humanity by the brutalities they have inflicted and/or witnessed as members of the slave-holding class struck me. Northup wasn't just a man thrust into extraordinary circumstances -- he was clearly himself extraordinary, as a writer and observer, to be able to produce such an account.
I thought the movie did a fairly good job of keeping faithful to the book, so most of the horrors of this story were already familiar. So what impressed me most in this reading were Northup's remarkable insights into the people around him -- both the slaves who have known such treatment their entire lives, but also the slave owners. Some of his observations of the very real cost to their humanity by the brutalities they have inflicted and/or witnessed as members of the slave-holding class struck me. Northup wasn't just a man thrust into extraordinary circumstances -- he was clearly himself extraordinary, as a writer and observer, to be able to produce such an account.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced