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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
It was a great story, the ship passing over the Atlantic was hard to read & then there's the plaigarism & embellishment problem...
5 stars. I have no idea how to describe just how many emotions this book stirred within me. Best book of 2020 and I doubt I’ll read anything else this year that’s gonna top this for me.
I know the story of Roots because of the television mini series from the 70s. We watched that in History class in high school and I was shook. I wasn’t mature enough yet to appreciate the story so it never occurred to me to pick up the book and I’m glad that I’m now at a point in my life that I can fully appreciate stories like this. I like that it’s about one family and that it spans over generations starting with Kunta Kinte and it ends with the author himself. It’s all so well done.
The writing is brilliant and raw and the way the story is told is bold and in your face with its brutality. I had to put my kindle down a lot and do something else because I would get so angry reading about what the characters went through. I’m incredibly sensitive to stories like this because this shit actually happened and I just get all in my feelings.
Anyways, this is definitely one of my new all time favorites and I’m so happy that I’ve finally read it.
{Challenges completed:
✔YA Buddy Readers’ Corner: Step Back in Time Team Challenge
✔Romance Readers Reading Group: March Monthly Challenge (6 out of 10)
✔For Love of a Book: I Went to the Zoo Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Hunt the Serial Killer Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Santa’s Workshop Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: The Bookish Life Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Women’s History Month Challenge}
I know the story of Roots because of the television mini series from the 70s. We watched that in History class in high school and I was shook. I wasn’t mature enough yet to appreciate the story so it never occurred to me to pick up the book and I’m glad that I’m now at a point in my life that I can fully appreciate stories like this. I like that it’s about one family and that it spans over generations starting with Kunta Kinte and it ends with the author himself. It’s all so well done.
The writing is brilliant and raw and the way the story is told is bold and in your face with its brutality. I had to put my kindle down a lot and do something else because I would get so angry reading about what the characters went through. I’m incredibly sensitive to stories like this because this shit actually happened and I just get all in my feelings.
Anyways, this is definitely one of my new all time favorites and I’m so happy that I’ve finally read it.
{Challenges completed:
✔YA Buddy Readers’ Corner: Step Back in Time Team Challenge
✔Romance Readers Reading Group: March Monthly Challenge (6 out of 10)
✔For Love of a Book: I Went to the Zoo Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Hunt the Serial Killer Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Santa’s Workshop Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: The Bookish Life Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Women’s History Month Challenge}
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was an excellent novelization of Alex Haley's family history. It is not surprising that it won the Pulitzer and that it has sold so many copies! I was fascinated by the history included in this book and I feel like excerpts from Roots should be required reading in American history classes. Hearing about the horrors of American slavery is nothing compared to experiencing it through the eyes of the book characters. It is heart-wrenching every time one of those beloved characters is torn away from his/her family, and just as sad to experience the impossibility of controlling their own destiny while enslaved.
The book is extremely long, which is somewhat of a necessity when detailing the lives of seven generations. There were points where it moved slowly, but overall I was enraptured by the lives of the characters. As a reader, it was difficult to follow one character so closely for most of his/her life, only to switch abruptly to another as slave trades were made. This is, of course, essential to the telling of the story and serves to increase the impact of families being torn apart through slavery.
By the end of the story, I was so happy to read that Alex Haley was able to learn so much about his heritage. I hope that his words provide some solace for other families whose ancestors were brought to this country through the slave trade and have no way of determining their own "Roots."
The book is extremely long, which is somewhat of a necessity when detailing the lives of seven generations. There were points where it moved slowly, but overall I was enraptured by the lives of the characters. As a reader, it was difficult to follow one character so closely for most of his/her life, only to switch abruptly to another as slave trades were made. This is, of course, essential to the telling of the story and serves to increase the impact of families being torn apart through slavery.
By the end of the story, I was so happy to read that Alex Haley was able to learn so much about his heritage. I hope that his words provide some solace for other families whose ancestors were brought to this country through the slave trade and have no way of determining their own "Roots."
Very, very... descriptive. At some points, a little TOO descriptive. But I guess it gets the point across.
7.5/10 Stars. A moving and yet depressing story. Depressing reliving that part of American history, but important to never be forgotten. The only thing I really didn't like was that Kunta Kinte was abruptly just written out of the story after the readers had followed him on his journey for so long. I understand that the author had to move on to the next generation, but it would have been nice to get some closure on Kunta (and Bell). Otherwise a good novel!
Every person in the United States should read this book. Haley masterfully weaves a story of seven generations of his family history that is also U.S history. His prose is fluid and moving, his command of detail impressive, and his ability to move the reader to tears of sorrow and joy far outstrips other authors. Haley skillfully and subtly uses narrative techniques that mirror the experience of families being abruptly separated when members were sold off. Yet, his not ba tale of unmitigated woe. This is magisterial in scope and well worth the time invested. THIS is the great American novel.
slow-paced