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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Definitely worth the read!
I had seen the miniseries when it first came out oh so many years ago, but had never read the book. Listened on audio with my 13 year old and am so glad we did. Cannot say enough good things about this book, and listening to the end section where Haley discusses the oral history of his immediate family and discovering the oral history of his distant relatives in Africa gave me goose bumps. Anyone who thinks they don't need to read the book because they saw the tv show is truly missing out!
OK, this book was really, really long. But, the fact that it was based on real people and the lives they must have lived, that really got me and impressed me. Wonderful book, excellent read.
I appreciate the author's research of his own roots and the overall message this book has. The problem I had with it was that the writing style was uninteresting. It wasn't bad but it made the characters too two-dimensional for me to enjoy the story overall. They were all empty and I couldn't cheer for them or feel for them. But I understand why the book is important to some and why it has the position it has, I just didn't notice the literary value it supposedly has. Plus the plagiarism accusations can't be good for an author's reputation and respect.
This book is extraordinary and inspirational. One of a kind.
This book is a superb read. One of my all time favorite books. The author goes through his lineage with astonishing detail and great story telling. The beginning is just so good. The whole African culture and life. I am African but was still awed by the familiarity with which the author tells the saga. This book is huge but I read it in record time because of how good it was. I think i finished it in less than 5 days, which by my standards is incredibly fast. Once you start readin it is impossible to put down. It also sheds some light on the life and hardships of slavery in American history. A must-read.
*Read it almost 4 years ago but still remember Chicken George occasionally and smile.*
*Read it almost 4 years ago but still remember Chicken George occasionally and smile.*
I read this while I was in France....definitely one of my favorite books of all time.
As a person of color I feel like this is one of the books or stories that I should have read by now. So I decided that starting in February I would read Alex Haley's Roots, a fictional depiction of his family's history tracing back to his Gambia ancestor Kunta Kinte.
Since I've never seen the mini-series I didn't really know much outside of the fact that a man named Kunta Kinte was stolen from his home in Juffure and enslaved on a plantation in Virginia.
The book begins in 1750 with the birth of Omoro and Binta Kinte's first son, Kunta, named after his honored grandfather who is thought to have saved the village of Juffure from a famine. We get a sense of the Mandinka people and traditions while we watch young Kunta grow up.
Names are important from which a sense of pride and purpose are derived. Tradition and culture are essential in this book, especially as Haley explores his family origins in writing this epic story. Griots, or story tellers, are another important aspect of Mandinka tradition. Kunta has learned several lessons through stories from his father, Toumani, and Nyo Boto, all of which give his young mind food for thought.
The discussion about slaves Omoro tells Kunta and his younger brother Lamin is one I keep replaying over and over. As they learn more about the dangers of slave catchers and the toubob, we too can appreciate the fact that as a black person in their country, in their village, they must always remain alert to the danger of being enslaved.
Before long Kunta goes away for his manhood training, he learns lessons in taking orders, unity, survival, hunting. Kunta also muses on how small he is in relation to creation, his country, his Creator, Allah. Kunta also learns how the relationship between young men and their fathers are changing as well. When Kunta returns home he moves into his own hut and adjusts further to the changes in other relationships, with his mother, Nyo Boto and his brothers as well.
Then it happens. Kunta is stolen and captured, chained and shackled like an animal, imprisoned on a ship, surviving some of the most detestable and devastating conditions. This was probably one of the most difficult parts of the book to read. Kunta tries repeatedly to escape but when another unthinkable incident befalls him he struggles to understand the ways of the toubob (white people) and the blacks who seem very docile under the oppression of those people.
This book made me think about many things; the brutality and inhumane behaviors and attitudes involving the institution of slavery. Slavery destroys and robs a person of so much, freedom, identity, family, heritage, knowing who you are and where you come from. To go from living a life of your own choosing to one of survival, where you no longer recognize the person you once we're because your heritage is seen as threat. To be purposely kept in ignorance and live in fear of what "massa" might do, selling you off and separating you from those who have become your family.
A good portion of the book follows Kunta's life, he marries, has a daughter. Some might say Kunta is lucky to have the "massa" he has because life in slavery isn't as hard as some others. But can a person living as a slave be lucky?
Haley draws attention to Kunta's transition, transformation and gradual understanding about life as a slave. Haley's depiction of Kunta's many escapes are definitely hopefully in a sense, but we know enough and as Kunta soon learns, he's not the first to run and probably not the last. Kunta also learns how and why other slaves look at the institution of slavery differently than he does. The Fiddler “educates” him on how things are while Kunta processes all of this.
“And the main thing he wanted him to understand was why he refused to surrender his name or his heritage, and why he would rather die a free man on the run than live out his life as a slave. He didn’t have the words to tell it as he wished, but he knew the brown one understood, for he frowned and shook his head.” (328/329).
When the book transitions to the other generations of Kunta's family I couldn't help but think, what happened to him and Bell? I'm sure Kunta's daughter Kizzy thought of them often, but in doing this, Haley impresses upon the reader the sad reality of the ripple effect slavery had on countless people and their families.
Yes there was some controversy about plagiarism. The book is many things, one of which is knowing our Roots, where we come from, who we are. Passing down to each generation a sense of pride in your past and your ancestors. In the introduction Michael Dyson says,
"Haley’s monumental achievement helped convince the nation that the black story is the American story. He also made it clear that black humanity is a shining beacon that miraculously endured slavery’s brutal horrors."
Since I've never seen the mini-series I didn't really know much outside of the fact that a man named Kunta Kinte was stolen from his home in Juffure and enslaved on a plantation in Virginia.
The book begins in 1750 with the birth of Omoro and Binta Kinte's first son, Kunta, named after his honored grandfather who is thought to have saved the village of Juffure from a famine. We get a sense of the Mandinka people and traditions while we watch young Kunta grow up.
Names are important from which a sense of pride and purpose are derived. Tradition and culture are essential in this book, especially as Haley explores his family origins in writing this epic story. Griots, or story tellers, are another important aspect of Mandinka tradition. Kunta has learned several lessons through stories from his father, Toumani, and Nyo Boto, all of which give his young mind food for thought.
The discussion about slaves Omoro tells Kunta and his younger brother Lamin is one I keep replaying over and over. As they learn more about the dangers of slave catchers and the toubob, we too can appreciate the fact that as a black person in their country, in their village, they must always remain alert to the danger of being enslaved.
Before long Kunta goes away for his manhood training, he learns lessons in taking orders, unity, survival, hunting. Kunta also muses on how small he is in relation to creation, his country, his Creator, Allah. Kunta also learns how the relationship between young men and their fathers are changing as well. When Kunta returns home he moves into his own hut and adjusts further to the changes in other relationships, with his mother, Nyo Boto and his brothers as well.
Then it happens. Kunta is stolen and captured, chained and shackled like an animal, imprisoned on a ship, surviving some of the most detestable and devastating conditions. This was probably one of the most difficult parts of the book to read. Kunta tries repeatedly to escape but when another unthinkable incident befalls him he struggles to understand the ways of the toubob (white people) and the blacks who seem very docile under the oppression of those people.
This book made me think about many things; the brutality and inhumane behaviors and attitudes involving the institution of slavery. Slavery destroys and robs a person of so much, freedom, identity, family, heritage, knowing who you are and where you come from. To go from living a life of your own choosing to one of survival, where you no longer recognize the person you once we're because your heritage is seen as threat. To be purposely kept in ignorance and live in fear of what "massa" might do, selling you off and separating you from those who have become your family.
A good portion of the book follows Kunta's life, he marries, has a daughter. Some might say Kunta is lucky to have the "massa" he has because life in slavery isn't as hard as some others. But can a person living as a slave be lucky?
Haley draws attention to Kunta's transition, transformation and gradual understanding about life as a slave. Haley's depiction of Kunta's many escapes are definitely hopefully in a sense, but we know enough and as Kunta soon learns, he's not the first to run and probably not the last. Kunta also learns how and why other slaves look at the institution of slavery differently than he does. The Fiddler “educates” him on how things are while Kunta processes all of this.
“And the main thing he wanted him to understand was why he refused to surrender his name or his heritage, and why he would rather die a free man on the run than live out his life as a slave. He didn’t have the words to tell it as he wished, but he knew the brown one understood, for he frowned and shook his head.” (328/329).
When the book transitions to the other generations of Kunta's family I couldn't help but think, what happened to him and Bell? I'm sure Kunta's daughter Kizzy thought of them often, but in doing this, Haley impresses upon the reader the sad reality of the ripple effect slavery had on countless people and their families.
Yes there was some controversy about plagiarism. The book is many things, one of which is knowing our Roots, where we come from, who we are. Passing down to each generation a sense of pride in your past and your ancestors. In the introduction Michael Dyson says,
"Haley’s monumental achievement helped convince the nation that the black story is the American story. He also made it clear that black humanity is a shining beacon that miraculously endured slavery’s brutal horrors."
Ugh. I understand the importance of this book for showing African-Americans that it is possible to trace their history back to the Africans who were taken from their native lands hundreds of years ago. I also understand you can’t plagiarize and call it family history.
There are parts of this book that are great and offer a real window into what it might have been like to live in slavery (though as slavery goes, this family was exceptionally lucky, at one point even getting sold as a family).
And then there are a hundred or more pages about cockfighting. So I’m definitely torn about this one (which was book five in my “books I’ve always wanted to read” challenge).
There are parts of this book that are great and offer a real window into what it might have been like to live in slavery (though as slavery goes, this family was exceptionally lucky, at one point even getting sold as a family).
And then there are a hundred or more pages about cockfighting. So I’m definitely torn about this one (which was book five in my “books I’ve always wanted to read” challenge).