Reviews - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Illustrated

1.95k reviews for:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Illustrated

*2.5 I can't say I really enjoyed reading it, but I didn't dread it either. I thought it was a bit repetitive at times and I couldn't really keep the people straight since Frederick Douglass seemed to have a new master every chapter. But then again, I'm not sure how well I can like a book I was forced to read by my English teacher over Christmas break.

isaacb's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

irismessenger_'s review against another edition

5.0

Re-read 2019: Absolutely fantastic. I definitely didn't have a developed reading comprehension the first time I read this, because I gave it three stars. This is the best Slave Narrative we have read in my Slave Narrative and The Novel class this semester. He is an excellent writer, and I can't wait to read the other works by him that are on our syllabus.

samanthabryant's review against another edition

4.0

This book was a miracle of delicacy. Douglass was faced with a daunting writing task: tell the story of his escape from slavery, while slavery was still in practice, making abolitionists feel good about their work, without endangering those who helped him in his journey or revealing information that would stop other slaves from escaping their bonds. An amazing accomplishment to have done all of this and still presented a cohesive narrative, moving in its descriptions, that doesn't wallow in the ugliness nor gloss over it, but instead confronts the realities with honest and personal assessment.

Two points that struck me powerfully were the detrimental effects of slavery on slave holders, and the special hypocrisy of religious slave holders. I only wish I could have heard the man speak with my own ears.