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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
The first quarter of the book gets 4 stars. The scenes in Africa were fascinating, intense, really interesting and kept me turning the pages. The rest of the book brings it down to 1, and I couldn't even finish it beyond half way. Unfortunatley when Kunta Kinte ends up on the plantation we get dialogue like this:
"Oh, Lawd, I jes' even hates to think back on it. Po' li'l pretty Missis Priscilla weren't hardly no bigger'n a bird. Walkin' roun' here every day singin' to herself an' smilin' at me an' pattin' herself, jes waitin' for her baby's time. an' den dat mornin' jes' ascreamin' and finally dyin', her an' de li'l baby gal, too! Look like I ain't hardly seen po' massa do no smilin' since - leastaways not 'til dis here li'l Missy Anne."
So annoying, distracting and difficult to read.
I wish, wish, wish I could have access to a slave dialect vernacular remover and run 'Roots' through it. I love the story and I loved the TV series.
Because of this I am relegating 'Roots' to the 'unfinished' shelf.
"Oh, Lawd, I jes' even hates to think back on it. Po' li'l pretty Missis Priscilla weren't hardly no bigger'n a bird. Walkin' roun' here every day singin' to herself an' smilin' at me an' pattin' herself, jes waitin' for her baby's time. an' den dat mornin' jes' ascreamin' and finally dyin', her an' de li'l baby gal, too! Look like I ain't hardly seen po' massa do no smilin' since - leastaways not 'til dis here li'l Missy Anne."
So annoying, distracting and difficult to read.
I wish, wish, wish I could have access to a slave dialect vernacular remover and run 'Roots' through it. I love the story and I loved the TV series.
Because of this I am relegating 'Roots' to the 'unfinished' shelf.
adventurous
emotional
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I listened to this book in the car. It was a very good choice since the story was handed down in the oral tradition.
I loved this book & would give it 5 stars if there had been no doubt about where Haley got his ideas from. This left a bad taste in my mouth. I also feel that it ends in a weird way.
In any case, anyone interested in American history should read this book. Besides, it is just really interesting. The first half follows the life of Kunta Kinte in Africa. This part of the book is really rich and could be a book all on its own.
Kunta Kinte gets kidnapped and the reader is suddenly brought with him through the slave trading process. Haley describes the different smell of Europeans, their hairy beards and the fact that many Africans thought that they were going to be eaten. Then, the Middle Passage where people were chained next to one another & sores open up due to
being kept in one position for so long. All sorts of foreign languages are being spoken and no one can understand one another. Fear and misery permeate their lives until it just weighs down so much that death is preferable. The lucky people die.
Kunta Kinte survives and is sold into slavery. All of his history is gone, his culture is gone, his knowledge about nature is lost and he is treated like a stupid African. Then, the lives of Kunta Kinte's successive generations are followed. Each character is fully realized. Some you will love and others you will just shake your head at (like Chicken George). The end is rather abrupt considering all of the time spent on Kunta and the following generations. But in all, Roots is well worth reading.
In any case, anyone interested in American history should read this book. Besides, it is just really interesting. The first half follows the life of Kunta Kinte in Africa. This part of the book is really rich and could be a book all on its own.
Kunta Kinte gets kidnapped and the reader is suddenly brought with him through the slave trading process. Haley describes the different smell of Europeans, their hairy beards and the fact that many Africans thought that they were going to be eaten. Then, the Middle Passage where people were chained next to one another & sores open up due to
being kept in one position for so long. All sorts of foreign languages are being spoken and no one can understand one another. Fear and misery permeate their lives until it just weighs down so much that death is preferable. The lucky people die.
Kunta Kinte survives and is sold into slavery. All of his history is gone, his culture is gone, his knowledge about nature is lost and he is treated like a stupid African. Then, the lives of Kunta Kinte's successive generations are followed. Each character is fully realized. Some you will love and others you will just shake your head at (like Chicken George). The end is rather abrupt considering all of the time spent on Kunta and the following generations. But in all, Roots is well worth reading.
5. POWERFUL. I was enthralled, infuriated, ashamed, and deeply saddened. What an amazing tale; what an amazing feat.
I fucking loved Kunta Kinte but I felt less connected to the subsequent generations.
Excellent book, one that everyone should read. Alex Haley did a remarkable job. Kunta Kinte is a character that I will never forget. I often would procrastinate picking up the book when I knew when a bad part was coming. It is the history that many black Americans share.
One of the books that I first read when I was in high school, and loved it. Re-read it and it still stays as beautiful as the first time I read it.
Alex Haley traces back his roots to Kunta Kinte, a slave kidnapped and brought over from Africa. A tale that makes you shudder, and yet there is hope. Hope that we, as a society on the whole is slowly moving to a more equal and fair society. A must read.
Alex Haley traces back his roots to Kunta Kinte, a slave kidnapped and brought over from Africa. A tale that makes you shudder, and yet there is hope. Hope that we, as a society on the whole is slowly moving to a more equal and fair society. A must read.
I grew up hearing of the television mini series “Roots”. I came across this book in a used book store and decided to start off Black History month with the story of “The African”.
It took me a little while to get into it. As a middle age white woman, African history told by a man is not something I’ve really read before. But I stuck with it and am glad that I did.
This book tells the story of 7 generations of a black family that tells its oral history when every generation is born. It starts in the 18th century in Africa, telling the story of Kunta Kinte being captured by slave traders and shipped to America. He tries to escape multiple times and patrollers chop off his foot to stop him from running again. He sees his daughter sold away from him. She is raped by her master and a child is born. That child grows and has eight children. Those children are sold and stay together through the Civil War. They then start a community in Tennessee. From there, generations continue, leading to the author, Alex Haley.
It’s an in depth read, but worth it.
It took me a little while to get into it. As a middle age white woman, African history told by a man is not something I’ve really read before. But I stuck with it and am glad that I did.
This book tells the story of 7 generations of a black family that tells its oral history when every generation is born. It starts in the 18th century in Africa, telling the story of Kunta Kinte being captured by slave traders and shipped to America. He tries to escape multiple times and patrollers chop off his foot to stop him from running again. He sees his daughter sold away from him. She is raped by her master and a child is born. That child grows and has eight children. Those children are sold and stay together through the Civil War. They then start a community in Tennessee. From there, generations continue, leading to the author, Alex Haley.
It’s an in depth read, but worth it.
It's just not that well written. As a story, it's an important one, but as a book, it would ever have been published were it not for the message.