1.46k reviews for:

Twelve Years a Slave: Including; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Solomon Northup, Frederick Douglass

4.23 AVERAGE

bozzi1's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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I don’t have the proper words to explain how eye-opening this story is; it sheds entirely new light into the idea of “walking a mile in someone else’s shoes”. 

koki_siringo's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

alfia's review against another edition

5.0

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Besides being a compelling testament to the horrendous cruelty of slavery, Northrup's narrative exposes the "banality of evil" when even well-meaning people are complicit in a system that dehumanizes and abuses others. Solomon is extremely intelligent and extremely likeable, providing clear insights into the psychology and sociology of those he encounters, whatever their background may be. He can also be very funny, employing sarcasm to highlight the venality and stupidity of jackasses who seek to dehumanize others based on “race”. One of many insights he provides is that a good many slaves were even paler in complexion than their “owners”, overseers, and other oppressors who claimed race as the justification for enslavement. This highlights that economic dependence on slavery, much as the present-day economic dependence on the prison-industrial complex, was a prime mover in perpetuating a system of oppression ostensibly based on race alone. This book is simply a great read and an important, accessible, and engaging document for helping to understand the struggle of African Americans.

jli18's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense

caroline_2605's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

maink's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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An excellent source for trying to understand the institution of slavery in the mid 19th Century, and gain some insight to how the abolitionist movement gained traction

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking

alysonla's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

swamp_witch's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

sinimini's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

stacie_w_books's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced