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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
slow-paced
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Required readings aren't ever ones I look forward to, particularly, but Douglass offered first-hand accounts of a slave life that I found incredibly informative.
After learning for years about the institution of slavery, I thought I'd gotten familiar with most of the shocking details but I was proved wrong in that regard by reading this book. I found myself appalled more often than not learning about the tiniest details I wouldn't have even given thought to until being presented them. Accounts of violence from both men and women, re-iterating what slaves did during the holidays and how exactly they were manipulated by their masters, it was all incredibly informative. Even the simplest things, like the fact most slaves never knew their ages or names, or that children generally wore a shirt and nothing else, had escaped my memory until Douglass brought it up almost with what seemed like a nonchalant tone. He'd often describe gruesome or tragic situations, only to mildly explain that it was the norm.
Additionally, this book is quite short so it made for a quick read. If you're looking for a personal account of slave life to read about, I'd suggest this book. In fact, immediately after finishing Douglass's narrative I found myself thinking that this is a book everyone should read (or at least attempt reading). It offers intimate knowledge of the institution of slavery in the United States, as well as the inspiring story of a young man's road to freedom and support of the abolitionist movement.
After learning for years about the institution of slavery, I thought I'd gotten familiar with most of the shocking details but I was proved wrong in that regard by reading this book. I found myself appalled more often than not learning about the tiniest details I wouldn't have even given thought to until being presented them. Accounts of violence from both men and women, re-iterating what slaves did during the holidays and how exactly they were manipulated by their masters, it was all incredibly informative. Even the simplest things, like the fact most slaves never knew their ages or names, or that children generally wore a shirt and nothing else, had escaped my memory until Douglass brought it up almost with what seemed like a nonchalant tone. He'd often describe gruesome or tragic situations, only to mildly explain that it was the norm.
Additionally, this book is quite short so it made for a quick read. If you're looking for a personal account of slave life to read about, I'd suggest this book. In fact, immediately after finishing Douglass's narrative I found myself thinking that this is a book everyone should read (or at least attempt reading). It offers intimate knowledge of the institution of slavery in the United States, as well as the inspiring story of a young man's road to freedom and support of the abolitionist movement.
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Douglas is a master of rhetoric! He is truly an inspirational man!
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is probably the most enlightening autobiography I've ever read. The author escaped from the barbarian clutches of slavery. He describes his life, including what all he and the slaves around him went through. I read this book as part of my course. I'm actually surprised I had never heard of this book before. Its one of the first accounts of someone who escaped from being a slave. After reading Beloved by Toni Morrison, I had to read this and I'm glad I did.
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Check out my book reviews, recommendations, and other content on Travelling Through Words and my bookstagram!
This is a tremendously important book, and I am surprised (but I suppose I should not be) that I have not read it before. It is a fairly straightforward narrative of life as a slave; Douglass was permanently separated from his mother soon after birth, his father being either her owner or one of his white household, in Maryland in about 1818; he endured the casual brutality - both the physical violence and the constant psychological degradation of enslavement - for about twenty-five years before escaping to the north with his (free black) wife. The narrative is brief but gripping, and basically speaks for itself; everyone should read it.
Two details particularly caught my eye. The first is that Douglass had a fascination with, of all people, Daniel O'Cornell, and drew direct parallels between the situation of American slaves and of the Irish. I guess the two causes shared the buzz-word of 'emancipation'. Looked at from 170 years on, now that O'Cornell (somewhat unfairly) is seen as a rather conservative revolutionary by Irish standards, it's an interesting juxtaposition.
The second point is Douglass' culture shock on moving to the free states of the North and discovering, to his amazement, that white people who did not themselves own slaves were not necessarily poor. He had expected Northern society to reflect the white working class lifestyle of Baltimore (where he had persuaded white kids to teach him to read by giving them the bread he got from his rich owner). It's an interesting perspective both on how little slaves were allowed to know about the outside world, and on how slavery impoverished the whole society.
It is interesting to contrast this with Fanny Kemble's account of life on a Georgian plantation, written at almost exactly the same time (though published 25 years later). The life of slaves in Georgia was certainly worse than in Maryland, which means that Kemble is more circumstantially dramatic, but of course Douglass' account has the merits of being that of a participant rather than am observer. Still, the same subjects come up relentlessly in both: white men using slave women to bear their children, whipping them to a pulp when they did not comply, and denying their slaves any change of education. Both are essential reads.
Two details particularly caught my eye. The first is that Douglass had a fascination with, of all people, Daniel O'Cornell, and drew direct parallels between the situation of American slaves and of the Irish. I guess the two causes shared the buzz-word of 'emancipation'. Looked at from 170 years on, now that O'Cornell (somewhat unfairly) is seen as a rather conservative revolutionary by Irish standards, it's an interesting juxtaposition.
The second point is Douglass' culture shock on moving to the free states of the North and discovering, to his amazement, that white people who did not themselves own slaves were not necessarily poor. He had expected Northern society to reflect the white working class lifestyle of Baltimore (where he had persuaded white kids to teach him to read by giving them the bread he got from his rich owner). It's an interesting perspective both on how little slaves were allowed to know about the outside world, and on how slavery impoverished the whole society.
It is interesting to contrast this with Fanny Kemble's account of life on a Georgian plantation, written at almost exactly the same time (though published 25 years later). The life of slaves in Georgia was certainly worse than in Maryland, which means that Kemble is more circumstantially dramatic, but of course Douglass' account has the merits of being that of a participant rather than am observer. Still, the same subjects come up relentlessly in both: white men using slave women to bear their children, whipping them to a pulp when they did not comply, and denying their slaves any change of education. Both are essential reads.
I think I've only read excerpts before, but it was interesting (and chilling) to read this classic.
Stunning. A must read for every single middle school or high schooler and anyone who hasn’t read it. I love his meditations on the hypocrisy of religion and “Christians”
emotional
informative
slow-paced