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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
It's nothing short of astounding that we have Northup's story - a first person account! I was absolutely gripped by the opening chapter where he is a free man, and tore through the rest of the book in about 4 days (it's ~8 hours on audiobook).
I was reading Twelve Years a Slave when I came across Senator Ben Sasse's interview w the NYT about what he reads -- A very long list of nonfiction by white authors (grumble, grumble ignoring fiction, grumble). I hope the senator has read this book.
Twelve Years a Slave is harrowing and important. There are so many stories that we've never heard, and I found myself wondering multiple times what it took to get Northup's story printed for the masses. Incredible, right?
I was reading Twelve Years a Slave when I came across Senator Ben Sasse's interview w the NYT about what he reads -- A very long list of nonfiction by white authors (grumble, grumble ignoring fiction, grumble). I hope the senator has read this book.
Twelve Years a Slave is harrowing and important. There are so many stories that we've never heard, and I found myself wondering multiple times what it took to get Northup's story printed for the masses. Incredible, right?
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Recommended by Sonia. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Stwelve%20years%20a%20slave__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
In the early 1800’s Solomon Northrup was a free black man living in New England with his wife and two daughters. He played the violin for a living and was mostly happy and enjoyed his life.
One day, while traveling to New York he was drugged, kidnapped and sold into slavery in the deepest part of the South. While there he worked as a slave for 12 years before he was able to find a way to get word out to his family and lawyers that he was there.
Not only is this story true, but it is written in his own words in an affectless manner that tells the story matter-of-fact, not shying away from the gruesomeness that was his life nor trying to make it seem more dramatic.
Northrup writes brilliantly from the heart so that every word tears the soul. His emotion is palpable on every page. He communicates a great deal of restraint and thought for a man who has been so mistreated, even expressing a minor hint of forgiveness for his tormentors:
“It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he is cruel, so much as it is the fault of the system under which he lives. He cannot withstand the influence of habit and associations that surround him. Taught from earliest childhood, by all that he sees and hears that the rod is for the slave’s back, he will not be apt to change his opinions in maturer years.”
And other times he calls the entire nation to repentance, calling out their hypocrisy because even though he lived as a free man in New England before his abduction he still was not allowed to vote and segregation was still a part of his life.
“…So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington, through the Captial of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man’s inalienable right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness! Hail! Columbia, happy land, indeed!”
This is one of the most powerful accounts of anything I have ever read and I would recommend it to everyone. You should read this, it will make you think like nothing else ever could. This is the kind of book that should be taught in schools instead of the meaningless literary humdrum that is more common.
One day, while traveling to New York he was drugged, kidnapped and sold into slavery in the deepest part of the South. While there he worked as a slave for 12 years before he was able to find a way to get word out to his family and lawyers that he was there.
Not only is this story true, but it is written in his own words in an affectless manner that tells the story matter-of-fact, not shying away from the gruesomeness that was his life nor trying to make it seem more dramatic.
Northrup writes brilliantly from the heart so that every word tears the soul. His emotion is palpable on every page. He communicates a great deal of restraint and thought for a man who has been so mistreated, even expressing a minor hint of forgiveness for his tormentors:
“It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he is cruel, so much as it is the fault of the system under which he lives. He cannot withstand the influence of habit and associations that surround him. Taught from earliest childhood, by all that he sees and hears that the rod is for the slave’s back, he will not be apt to change his opinions in maturer years.”
And other times he calls the entire nation to repentance, calling out their hypocrisy because even though he lived as a free man in New England before his abduction he still was not allowed to vote and segregation was still a part of his life.
“…So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington, through the Captial of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man’s inalienable right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness! Hail! Columbia, happy land, indeed!”
This is one of the most powerful accounts of anything I have ever read and I would recommend it to everyone. You should read this, it will make you think like nothing else ever could. This is the kind of book that should be taught in schools instead of the meaningless literary humdrum that is more common.
I feel so bad giving this book anything less than 4 stars because it's a biography and I don't want a five star scale to determine how someone's life translates to entertainment. However, the book was just a retelling of events. It didn't rely on tension/suspense, emotion, or most of the usual storytelling effects to keep the reader engaged. I suppose that is understandable considering at the time he wrote it he wanted it to be believed and unexaggerated due to to the fact many would interrogate him about its authenticity because he was a black man, but in terms of objective storytelling it just didn't keep me engaged.
Too often people in the 21st century don't comprehend the violence and terror of slavery. This book rips that veil aside.
dark
emotional
informative
tense
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Remarkable account of slavery everyone should read
In high school, during Black History month, we read several books—-Black Boy, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a slew of Martin Luther King speeches—-but I think the most interesting narrative of the black race’s relationship to slavery and freedom that caught my eye was the then-released movie “12 Years A Slave”. After watching it I was so moved by the Northup’s story—and the side characters Patsey, Eliza, and them—that I vowed i would read the book if it came into my hands one day.
That day appears to be the day and I’m glad I read it. Though I wish I’d read it in high school, Twelve Years A Slave is still equally as insightful and haunting, into the life of a man who , born free in New York, was drugged and robbed of his freedom and inhumanely sold off to slavery for a fifth of his life. The book feels so raw and vivid and emotional it moved me more than once.
It’s definitely not a book to read it one day. The joyride of emotions—from frustration, depression, fury, fear, hopelessness, to finally satisfaction—-will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth about our nation’s centuries-old sin. Anyone reading this book will never be short of words if someone asks them, “Was slavery really that bad?” or “Being born into it must have been easier than what Solomon death with—-“ Because despite this being his story, Northup does a brilliant job of exploring all avenues to those arguments—-the accounts of the other slaves he befriended being the most dare I say daunting.
This book shouldn’t just be reserved for the month of February but any day of the year. Enlighten yourselves if you can.
In high school, during Black History month, we read several books—-Black Boy, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a slew of Martin Luther King speeches—-but I think the most interesting narrative of the black race’s relationship to slavery and freedom that caught my eye was the then-released movie “12 Years A Slave”. After watching it I was so moved by the Northup’s story—and the side characters Patsey, Eliza, and them—that I vowed i would read the book if it came into my hands one day.
That day appears to be the day and I’m glad I read it. Though I wish I’d read it in high school, Twelve Years A Slave is still equally as insightful and haunting, into the life of a man who , born free in New York, was drugged and robbed of his freedom and inhumanely sold off to slavery for a fifth of his life. The book feels so raw and vivid and emotional it moved me more than once.
It’s definitely not a book to read it one day. The joyride of emotions—from frustration, depression, fury, fear, hopelessness, to finally satisfaction—-will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth about our nation’s centuries-old sin. Anyone reading this book will never be short of words if someone asks them, “Was slavery really that bad?” or “Being born into it must have been easier than what Solomon death with—-“ Because despite this being his story, Northup does a brilliant job of exploring all avenues to those arguments—-the accounts of the other slaves he befriended being the most dare I say daunting.
This book shouldn’t just be reserved for the month of February but any day of the year. Enlighten yourselves if you can.