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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
I had to read this for school in American history and it was a pretty good book. I learned a lot about how this man changed and how he survived slavery. Overall I enjoyed it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
great book, read to know what it was like when not all men were created equal, and someone who was just a little bit different was worth nothing...very deep into the American roots, very truthful, enjoyable and knowledgeable read.
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
WOW.
This book, written in such a moderate, reason-filled, calm and intellectual voice which can also accentuate the pains and apssions of his feelings that he had felt during his time as a Slave was very convinging, It opened my eyes to the level o slavery the 'slaveholding Christians of America' had gone to.
Funny how we don't see this in the movies. But I am glad that Mr. Douglass did manage to escape freely in teh end. Sad, however, that he could not describe the details of his flight for the reasons that he did not want (during that time) the slaveholders to learn and secure the ways in which he had used to escape.
The books is short (or small as Mr. Frederick ) describes but it is a hammer that strikes the whistle for freedom. he details his life as a slave when he was small (how brutal) to how, just by managing to learn the letters, he willed himself, despite odds, to learn how to read. He grew up intellectually, and got a fighting spirit.
There were times when I hoped he could have won, or escaped earlier, or gone to a better master. It is what we readers hope - and it is crazy to know that the opposite of good fortune had befallen him; similar to Hollywood tragedies - but it chills me more to know that these were real stories.
Again, Mr.Frederick is a moderate man. In the appendix he explains that he is against Christianity - but the "Christianity" practised back then in America was BARBARIC and the worst of the worst of all religous/idea systems. You can read his poem which he wrote in the head, about how they are double faced - whilst still seeking for a union in heaven.
I think that we should all be happy and aglad that now we can work to our own master, and reap the rewards to no one else but ourselves.
Of course, there is also modern forms of slavery now, especially those who control the economy and how they step on the worker's backs with cruelty.
I say: HAIL for ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SPIRITUAL and INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM!
This book, written in such a moderate, reason-filled, calm and intellectual voice which can also accentuate the pains and apssions of his feelings that he had felt during his time as a Slave was very convinging, It opened my eyes to the level o slavery the 'slaveholding Christians of America' had gone to.
Funny how we don't see this in the movies. But I am glad that Mr. Douglass did manage to escape freely in teh end. Sad, however, that he could not describe the details of his flight for the reasons that he did not want (during that time) the slaveholders to learn and secure the ways in which he had used to escape.
The books is short (or small as Mr. Frederick ) describes but it is a hammer that strikes the whistle for freedom. he details his life as a slave when he was small (how brutal) to how, just by managing to learn the letters, he willed himself, despite odds, to learn how to read. He grew up intellectually, and got a fighting spirit.
There were times when I hoped he could have won, or escaped earlier, or gone to a better master. It is what we readers hope - and it is crazy to know that the opposite of good fortune had befallen him; similar to Hollywood tragedies - but it chills me more to know that these were real stories.
Again, Mr.Frederick is a moderate man. In the appendix he explains that he is against Christianity - but the "Christianity" practised back then in America was BARBARIC and the worst of the worst of all religous/idea systems. You can read his poem which he wrote in the head, about how they are double faced - whilst still seeking for a union in heaven.
I think that we should all be happy and aglad that now we can work to our own master, and reap the rewards to no one else but ourselves.
Of course, there is also modern forms of slavery now, especially those who control the economy and how they step on the worker's backs with cruelty.
I say: HAIL for ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SPIRITUAL and INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM!
Seeing as it's black history month I thought I would read something relevant. WOW is this book heartrending. The stories he tells of his time as a slave are poignant (to say the least). I cannot believe the horrific things our fellow Americans had to go through....murder, beatings, starvation, frostbite, unjust and unfair treatments, hatred, nakedness, poverty: ALL because they were simply black. It's disgusting what they had to endure. I am so happy that they were are free of slavery today! This book needs to be put on a required reading list for students during their high school career (not sure why it's not already on it). It's one of those must reads! I strongly, strongly recommend reading this book if you have not taken the time to read it before.
Incredible, amazing, moving autobiography. He writes with such energy and well-earned emotion. But this is not only an emotional story, it is one full of ideas that are still relevant today. Douglass even sometimes looks past race, which is hard to do today, much less in his position, with all his personal grievances, and focuses instead on the much larger ill of slavery. I found it touching how fairly he described his 'good masters' as well as 'bad masters' (good being a relative term here), not villifying them, though it would be easy to do so, but showing clearly how the institution of slavery itself is to blame for perverting or amplifying their bad natures. He is not only a great and moral man but a great writer, impressive as he wrote this only 7 years after escaping from slavery, and the only fault I find with this book is that, coming in at 86 pages of actual narrative, it's too short! I'm going to look for his two follow up autobiographies.
