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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
What a story!
In the days before the infamous Civil War...the subject of slavery seems to be somewhat distant. Even to me as a 21st-century person couldn’t believe the reality of slavery. Yet, this terrible journey in the “peculiar institution” brought out on the table. Utterly tragedy! I mean I’m glad that Solomon was able to make it out but thousands of millions of others didn’t...the raw storytelling was raw. I’m not going to pick on the style or writing. The whole point of this is to be raw.
In the days before the infamous Civil War...the subject of slavery seems to be somewhat distant. Even to me as a 21st-century person couldn’t believe the reality of slavery. Yet, this terrible journey in the “peculiar institution” brought out on the table. Utterly tragedy! I mean I’m glad that Solomon was able to make it out but thousands of millions of others didn’t...the raw storytelling was raw. I’m not going to pick on the style or writing. The whole point of this is to be raw.
This book is a vivid and readable account of the author's real experiences. Solomon Northup was a free black man, living in New York and was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in Louisiana. He was in captivity for 9 years before he was able to acquire a piece of paper in order to write a letter to friends and family to let them know where he was so they could rescue him. He was betrayed and not able to mail the letter. After 12 years as a slave, he finally met someone — a Canadian carpenter who was vocally anti-slavery — who was able to help him. Northup's happiness at finally being able to return to his family is set against the background of the friends he leaves behind in slavery.
If you want to learn about slavery in the American south, I highly recommend this book. It goes without saying that you will be enraged, and there are no adequate words for the sadness when you think about all the untold slaves who weren't as "lucky" as Northup — they were born, lived, and died entirely in slavery.
Incidentally, if my memory serves well, the movie of the same name seems to follow the book pretty accurately.
If you want to learn about slavery in the American south, I highly recommend this book. It goes without saying that you will be enraged, and there are no adequate words for the sadness when you think about all the untold slaves who weren't as "lucky" as Northup — they were born, lived, and died entirely in slavery.
Incidentally, if my memory serves well, the movie of the same name seems to follow the book pretty accurately.
12 Years a Slave is an utterly affecting non-fiction narrative. It follows the free man Solomon Northup, a man with a loving family and a talent for the violin, who was drugged and sold into slavery where he suffered for 12 years before eventually regaining freedom.
I was already familiar with Solomon Northup's story, having seen the Oscar-winning film adaptation back when it was released a few years ago, and the film affected me so much that I don't think I could ever watch it again. Listening to the original tale written by Northup himself on audiobook was a way for me to re-engage with the tale, and I thought this was a fantastic medium to experience it in again. Hugh Quarshie's narrative was fantastic and full of feeling, and I listened to this for hours at a time.
The book itself provides a little more detail than the film does, with explanations of how cotton and sugar is picked and harvested, which I found very interesting. The horrors that Solomon and the other slaves experience are truly sickening, and the young slave girl Patsey's story in particular is one that is haunting and tragic. If you are looking to read this book, I would thoroughly recommend this audiobook as it's a great, immersive way of engaging with the tale. Although I can't say it's an enjoyable listen, it's informative and touching.
I was already familiar with Solomon Northup's story, having seen the Oscar-winning film adaptation back when it was released a few years ago, and the film affected me so much that I don't think I could ever watch it again. Listening to the original tale written by Northup himself on audiobook was a way for me to re-engage with the tale, and I thought this was a fantastic medium to experience it in again. Hugh Quarshie's narrative was fantastic and full of feeling, and I listened to this for hours at a time.
The book itself provides a little more detail than the film does, with explanations of how cotton and sugar is picked and harvested, which I found very interesting. The horrors that Solomon and the other slaves experience are truly sickening, and the young slave girl Patsey's story in particular is one that is haunting and tragic. If you are looking to read this book, I would thoroughly recommend this audiobook as it's a great, immersive way of engaging with the tale. Although I can't say it's an enjoyable listen, it's informative and touching.
Just, wow. Solomon was so eloquent and amazingly able to recount his traumatic experience with such a fact-based tone. I can't bring myself to rate biographies as I feel that a person's life story should not be given a rating out of 5, but damn. Historically as well, the weight this biography carried towards the abolishment of slavery is incredible.
Wow. Just wow.
RTC when I've thought about it a little bit more O_O
RTC when I've thought about it a little bit more O_O
It boggles the mind to think that slavery was once an accepted and defended institution.
As for the writing itself, it's a bit wordy in the way 19th century literature often is, but it is still a fast read, with more specific descriptions of the day-to-day life of a slave on a large plantation than anything else I can remember reading, save perhaps Uncle Tom's Cabin, which, unlike TYAS is fiction.
As for the writing itself, it's a bit wordy in the way 19th century literature often is, but it is still a fast read, with more specific descriptions of the day-to-day life of a slave on a large plantation than anything else I can remember reading, save perhaps Uncle Tom's Cabin, which, unlike TYAS is fiction.
What surprised me about this book wasn't the depth of cruelty laced throughout, or how impossible it was to even comprehend that this happened to millions of innocent people (though both did very much affect me) what really surprised me was how well this book is written.
The pace is pitch perfect, my attention was held throughout and I felt invested in not only the plight of Solomon Northup but of each enslaved person he introduces during his twelve years of captivity. There is extraordinary detail in his account of what happened and great pains are made to describe meticulously the work required of them, the day to day life of a slave in the southern American States and how it felt to be so oppressed.
This is not just one of the most important books of the 19th century, it is essential reading for the future, lest we forget those who suffered greatly.
The pace is pitch perfect, my attention was held throughout and I felt invested in not only the plight of Solomon Northup but of each enslaved person he introduces during his twelve years of captivity. There is extraordinary detail in his account of what happened and great pains are made to describe meticulously the work required of them, the day to day life of a slave in the southern American States and how it felt to be so oppressed.
This is not just one of the most important books of the 19th century, it is essential reading for the future, lest we forget those who suffered greatly.
I really enjoyed 12 Years a Slave, although it seems wrong to get enjoyment from such a horrific experience. What I liked about it was that it was narrated by Solomon Northup and this allowed the reader to form a picture of what an educated, resourceful and upstanding person he was who had wrongly and brutally been kidnapped and taken into slavery. At the same time, through his writing the reader is able to see the slave masters for what they are. The writer differentiates between good and bad masters which I found it incredible to believe that any master could be described as being good but this further highlights the impossible situation that slaves found themselves in and brings it home to the reader how unjust and wrong it was for slavery to exist.
What I didn’t like was that from the beginning we know that he would be released after 12 years therefore the ending was not unexpected. It took me longer than usual to read this book which was probably due to the harrowing details but at the same time I was hooked and wanted to know how he managed to be freed from slavery.
What I didn’t like was that from the beginning we know that he would be released after 12 years therefore the ending was not unexpected. It took me longer than usual to read this book which was probably due to the harrowing details but at the same time I was hooked and wanted to know how he managed to be freed from slavery.
I feel that I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't chosen to listen to it as an audio book. The constant twang in the voice and the over use of "Bayou Buff" started to make my eye twitch every time I heard it whilst driving. Overall a great story, and Solomon Northup is very well spoken.