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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A riveting window into the horrible conditions and mentalities behind American slavery. The Appendix penned by Douglass is a hammerfall of an end to the work. While you should all read it in its entirety, at least spend some time reading this impassioned ending of his.
so i actually really thought this book was good. it was a school book so i obviously didn’t love it but i didn’t hate having to read it and it was very important. i understood why it was written and it was very inspiring. definitly one of the better books i’ve read for school
I'm sorry to say it's taken me this long in life to get to this book. Frederick Douglas was taught his ABC's by a kindly mistress, and learned to read in a piecemeal and heroic fashion from his boyhood friends in the streets of Baltimore, and that was the beginning of his path to liberation. This book is beautifully written, psychologically astute, poetic, and passionate. It's a primer for understanding race in America, and it's a surprising indictment of the conservative Christianity of his day that transcends time and speaks to today's brand of Christian fundamentalists, and the politicians who pander to them..
I started the first of the two Angela Davis essays/lectures - a hard slog, academic. I might try them again.
I started the first of the two Angela Davis essays/lectures - a hard slog, academic. I might try them again.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Read for African American Lit (Fall 2021) - wrote close reading paper on chapter 11 section. Found it to be an interesting narrative and have enjoyed the complications my teacher puts forth about it. Excited to read and discuss more works to cross reference and learn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation
This book is as important literarily as it is historically. I can't imagine a more apt marriage of narrative with creed and persuasion. Douglass lays his early life out carefully as the source of his attitudes and conclusions, and deals candidly with both. At the moments of his life that illustrate particularly well an argument against slavery, it often took me a minute to realize he'd left the narrative and was laying out his doctrine. And whenever the story of Douglass's life progressed with the least such "interruption", there is still no mistaking the reason he tells it.
Douglass is also aware of himself, freely admitting his own personal feelings as such, going out of his way to give "negative characters" in his life whatever benefit and respect he can, giving clear and measurable facts whenever possible. He invites readers to examine his life and his conclusions for themselves, rather than asking them to take his word for much.
Anyone who lives their life open to this kind of scrutiny will stand out as an example of their convictions. But in Douglass's case, we're fortunate that he was able to codify them so well in this form. I'll definitely be seeking out his other two autobiographical works.
As an additional note, I clearly didn't read the particular edition mentioned here; I listened to an audiobook version read by Raymond Hearn. I thought it was good; the change of tone depending on who was speaking (sometimes including Douglass at earlier points in his life) seemed just what the text called for half the time, and half the time seemed just a little much. But overall very nice.
Douglass is also aware of himself, freely admitting his own personal feelings as such, going out of his way to give "negative characters" in his life whatever benefit and respect he can, giving clear and measurable facts whenever possible. He invites readers to examine his life and his conclusions for themselves, rather than asking them to take his word for much.
Anyone who lives their life open to this kind of scrutiny will stand out as an example of their convictions. But in Douglass's case, we're fortunate that he was able to codify them so well in this form. I'll definitely be seeking out his other two autobiographical works.
As an additional note, I clearly didn't read the particular edition mentioned here; I listened to an audiobook version read by Raymond Hearn. I thought it was good; the change of tone depending on who was speaking (sometimes including Douglass at earlier points in his life) seemed just what the text called for half the time, and half the time seemed just a little much. But overall very nice.
A gripping narrative full of terror, fear, triumph and luck. A bold thing to have written at the time. A good reminder of what humans are capable of on both sides of the spectrum.
It is possible that the information contained herein is as applicable, as relevant, as eye-opening as it has ever been. A slender volume of great weight.