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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Very interesting book, and quite sad to read of the injustice in the world, and the lengths that people have to go in order to obtain their god given right to freedom. Solomon Northup writes with great candour and has a fantastic writing style given the period. I would recommend this book to everyone.
After seeing that the Oscar-winning movie version of this book, I wanted to read this firsthand account and now can not help but compare the two. The movie was so true to the source that I personally do not think I accomplished much. Yes, the written work was in the authors own words and coveys his inner thoughts and feelings, but the movie was done well enough to express those thoughts and feelings pretty accurately. I was pleasantly surprised that the language and writing style were so similar to those of current times. I don’t know if this is truly the case or was the result of later editing. I wasn’t expecting old English, but I thought there would be a bit more linguistic difference. That being said, I liked the book. It was intriguing, and maybe necessary, but terribly tragic. But, spoiler alert, it did have a happy ending or as happy an ending could be given what the main character had to endure, and I’m the type who likes all my stories to have happy endings.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping
Brutal. Gripping. Terrifying. Visceral. Depressing. At times, nauseating. I don't think I can watch the movie, because it cannot possibly be as "good" as the book.
As I was telling a friend, it appears that the depiction of slavery in Django Unchained, which was criticized for extreme violence and extreme sexual content (Don Johnson running a harem, burying people in the ground, unthinkable sadism and cruelty), may actually be one of the most accurate portrayals of slavery out there. If anything, it is understated.
No sane person can argue that American slavery was "benign." There were "good" owners - and Northup describes and praises them - but the institution giving one man complete control over the life of the other means that whatever innate desires or hatreds that man has may be inflicted without refute. The saint and the sadist may both own other men, and the treatment corresponds.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
As I was telling a friend, it appears that the depiction of slavery in Django Unchained, which was criticized for extreme violence and extreme sexual content (Don Johnson running a harem, burying people in the ground, unthinkable sadism and cruelty), may actually be one of the most accurate portrayals of slavery out there. If anything, it is understated.
Spoiler
Descriptions of slave owners keeping women as sex slaves, and then beating them worse than any other at the command of the owner's wife, are there. Orgies of drink and dance forced by the whip are there. Killing another man literally on a whim (with no more thought than you give to scratching your head) is there.No sane person can argue that American slavery was "benign." There were "good" owners - and Northup describes and praises them - but the institution giving one man complete control over the life of the other means that whatever innate desires or hatreds that man has may be inflicted without refute. The saint and the sadist may both own other men, and the treatment corresponds.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced