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1.45k reviews for:
Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Solomon Northup, Frederick Douglass
4.23 AVERAGE
1.45k reviews for:
Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Solomon Northup, Frederick Douglass
4.23 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A horrifying but fascinating read - I hadn't really thought about the life of a slave from the slave's perspective before - should be on all schools' reading lists !
challenging
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
I can’t imagine another book exists that gives such an honest account of a life as a slave. The account of Solomon’s time in captivity is so vivid and thorough, how he recalled it all in such detail is extraordinary. Not only that but to be able to retell such a traumatic time with such beautiful storytelling is remarkable.
5 stars. Audiobook via Scribd. This is the 1853 nonfiction account of a free born African American kidnapped and sold into slavery. It pulled the curtain back about the life of a slave in South pre-Civil War. His perspective is so unique as a multigenerational free citizen. The writing and images captivated me. His ability to step back and take objective observations of his masters, their horrible behavior and treatment of him and other slaves just had me shaking my head in admiration. I don’t think I’d could be as stoic. I appreciated his viewpoint and my heart simply broke for the slaves.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
I first heard of Solomon Northup earlier this year when my friend, Amanda, suggested our book club read his memoir, Twelve Years a Slave. We added it to our to-read list, and the conversation moved on. But when we found out it was going to be released as a film this fall, we decided to bump it up the list and read it before the movie was released.
I was not prepared for the power of Solomon’s story.
I have never read an actual slave narrative before, that I can recall. I do remember reading about Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, and Sojourner Truth in history classes. But why have I never heard about Solomon Northup? Or the fact that slavery had come to such a wretched state that even free African-Americans from the North were being kidnapped and enslaved in the South — so much so that New York passed a law in 1840 “to protect the free citizens of this State from being kidnapped, or reduced to Slavery.”
Not one to typically make “everyone should” statements, I will simply say this: I have never before felt as privileged to be reading a book as I did whilst reading Twelve Years a Slave. It was like with every page I read, I was honouring Solomon Northup. I hope many more read the story of this remarkable man.
Read more at www.gimmesomereads.com/12-years-a-slave.
I was not prepared for the power of Solomon’s story.
I have never read an actual slave narrative before, that I can recall. I do remember reading about Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, and Sojourner Truth in history classes. But why have I never heard about Solomon Northup? Or the fact that slavery had come to such a wretched state that even free African-Americans from the North were being kidnapped and enslaved in the South — so much so that New York passed a law in 1840 “to protect the free citizens of this State from being kidnapped, or reduced to Slavery.”
Not one to typically make “everyone should” statements, I will simply say this: I have never before felt as privileged to be reading a book as I did whilst reading Twelve Years a Slave. It was like with every page I read, I was honouring Solomon Northup. I hope many more read the story of this remarkable man.
Read more at www.gimmesomereads.com/12-years-a-slave.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
The book demonstrates skilfully the situation of slavery present in the region of the Red River, Bayou Boeuf. Unjustly kidnapping of free citizens and their brining into slavery was new to me. The very precise descriptions of cotton and sugar production might be interesting for the student of history, but did not catch my interest in particular. I most appreciated the dialogue and the more poetic passages.
The language is high and sometimes challenging. Commas are placed at – for today's standard – too many positions and some orthography is outdated, but for me, taking interest in the evolution of language, intriguing. Because of the clogged sentences with many subordinated clauses, it is sometimes hard to get through the text and understand it, as well as complicated. I learned a great deal of new vocabulary. The book captivated me and I enjoyed a lot. Most interesting was the second to last chapter, where the journey of the letter and the proceedings leading up to his liberation were related.
The language is high and sometimes challenging. Commas are placed at – for today's standard – too many positions and some orthography is outdated, but for me, taking interest in the evolution of language, intriguing. Because of the clogged sentences with many subordinated clauses, it is sometimes hard to get through the text and understand it, as well as complicated. I learned a great deal of new vocabulary. The book captivated me and I enjoyed a lot. Most interesting was the second to last chapter, where the journey of the letter and the proceedings leading up to his liberation were related.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Absolutely heartbreaking. Hate the history of this country. Thank goodness he got free.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced