Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.37 AVERAGE
4.37 AVERAGE
I have intended to read this 1976 Pulitzer Prize winner for years now, wanting to experience the book that made such a splash in the African-American community when it was published. Though I know its factuality has been challenged, it tells the story of six generations of author Alex Haley's family, tracing back to the proud Kunte Kinta who was captured near his Mandinka village and sold into a life of slavery in Virginia. I felt the book's greatest strength was portraying how completely the institution of slavery eradicated the individual identity, history, and collective pride of African-Americans. Yet this particular family kept an oral history alive through 2 centuries before Haley found the documentary evidence to support it. If the story were completely fiction, it wouldn't be that special, but as a genealogical narrative it is an American treasure.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5. A really powerful novel I’m glad I was able to read! It was interesting, painful, thought-provoking and definitely worth the read. I skipped over Haley’s personal last chapters except for some skimming, but it was pretty much an overview of the family tree anyway so I didn’t miss much.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I remember being unable to put down this book from the moment I checked it out from the college library. I tore through its nearly 700 pages in a week. I sneaked it into lectures, read it under the desk, took it to the canteen and left my tea cold, completely ignored the world outside. I don’t think I’ve ever been as affected by a book than this one at the time. The power of the book is not just in the extraordinary stories of the characters, also in the breathtaking writing. 12 years of Haley's genealogical research truly reflects in his storytelling. Be prepared to see the heartwrenching images Kunta Kinte and the generations after him as you read this book.
This was initially going to be an acceptable three-star rating since this book is so culturally important and it's reasonably well done, although it's definitely not perfect. However, the fact that it's been revealed in more recent years that Alex Haley plagiarized large portions of this book, I can't in good conscience give it a good rating just for being significant.
Forgetting for a moment that it's not an entirely original work, this is of course an important book. It captures the horrific realities of the slave trade in excruciating detail. I was publicly wincing and grimacing at several moments during Kunta Kinte's time on the ship because it was so gruesome to read about. Accurate, but difficult to read. It also does a good job capturing the events over time, though saying it's a book that covers seven generations is a bit generous. It really covers four, and then the remaining three are sort of tacked on at the end.
I did have a lot of problems with the book though, which is why the fact that it's plagiarized is even more damning. First, the minute details covered during Kunta Kinte's time in his village run a bit long. I found them actually pretty fascinating at first, but the details covered about goat herding and wrestling and everything just go on way too long. It takes about 150 pages before Kinte's capture, and while as a person you obviously don't want to rush that along, as a reader I kind of wanted to just move the story forward. The same can be said about all of the Chicken George stuff. Again, reading about George's apprenticeship and learning about cockfighting was really interesting at first. But once again, after about 100 pages of this, you really need a change of scenery.
I also felt that for a book that has so much detail, the characters don't really get sufficiently developed. I read another review saying that the reader would have liked to see even a little bit of time spent looking at the earlier characters' feelings about losing their loved ones before moving exclusively into the point of view of the next generation. I couldn't agree with that reviewer more. During the Kizzy chapters, I would have loved to just see a couple of pages on Kunta and Bell and their lives without her.
So while I see why this book was such a phenomenon when it was first released, time has not served it well.
Forgetting for a moment that it's not an entirely original work, this is of course an important book. It captures the horrific realities of the slave trade in excruciating detail. I was publicly wincing and grimacing at several moments during Kunta Kinte's time on the ship because it was so gruesome to read about. Accurate, but difficult to read. It also does a good job capturing the events over time, though saying it's a book that covers seven generations is a bit generous. It really covers four, and then the remaining three are sort of tacked on at the end.
I did have a lot of problems with the book though, which is why the fact that it's plagiarized is even more damning. First, the minute details covered during Kunta Kinte's time in his village run a bit long. I found them actually pretty fascinating at first, but the details covered about goat herding and wrestling and everything just go on way too long. It takes about 150 pages before Kinte's capture, and while as a person you obviously don't want to rush that along, as a reader I kind of wanted to just move the story forward. The same can be said about all of the Chicken George stuff. Again, reading about George's apprenticeship and learning about cockfighting was really interesting at first. But once again, after about 100 pages of this, you really need a change of scenery.
I also felt that for a book that has so much detail, the characters don't really get sufficiently developed. I read another review saying that the reader would have liked to see even a little bit of time spent looking at the earlier characters' feelings about losing their loved ones before moving exclusively into the point of view of the next generation. I couldn't agree with that reviewer more. During the Kizzy chapters, I would have loved to just see a couple of pages on Kunta and Bell and their lives without her.
So while I see why this book was such a phenomenon when it was first released, time has not served it well.