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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
I don't read much non-fiction (I know, I know...), but I could not put this book down! I devoured it, finishing it in less than a day. Twelve Years a Slave provides vivid detail of Northup's years spent [wrongly] enslaved & the people who most impacted his life in those years. This is an absolute must-read!
Amazing, start to finish. It's a period piece so it was sometimes hard to follow in audiobook, but still... every word cut to the bone.
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Given how long ago this book was written I was surprised how readable it is. When I initially started reading it I only made it to the 3rd chapter, but when I picked it up again this week I finished it within 2 days. It gives a depressing and harrowing view into life in the Southern States of America in the 1800s and the author is incredibly understanding of the people who treated him and his friends so badly. Although things turn out well for him in the end, I have been left with overwhelming sadness that for the other people who were enslaved with him there was to be no such rescue.
I chose not to watch the film and bought the book instead. Having read it I am no nearer to wanting to see the film, but I am very glad that it brought the book to my attention.
I chose not to watch the film and bought the book instead. Having read it I am no nearer to wanting to see the film, but I am very glad that it brought the book to my attention.
Every school should have this book in their curriculum! This book was so eye opening and heartfelt. It was a real eye opener and caused a lot of bottled up rage.
This is a story about a free man who was wrongfully sold as a slave. He then narrates the next 12 years of his life in the hands of various owners as well as the hardships he has had to endure during his time away from his family. This man was un rightfully obtained by white men and slavers and sold. The whole story was heart felt and sad to read about.
No one should have ever had to go through this. A sad part of history that not everyone is knowledgable about.
This is a story about a free man who was wrongfully sold as a slave. He then narrates the next 12 years of his life in the hands of various owners as well as the hardships he has had to endure during his time away from his family. This man was un rightfully obtained by white men and slavers and sold. The whole story was heart felt and sad to read about.
No one should have ever had to go through this. A sad part of history that not everyone is knowledgable about.
- My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of a more cruel wrong or a severer bondage. -
- To the Almighty Father of us all - the freeman and the slave I poured forth the supplications of a broken spirit, imploring strength from on high to bear up against the burden of my troubles, until the morning light aroused the slumberers, ushering in another day of bondage. -
- Don't cry, mama. I will be a good boy. Don't cry.' -
- I have seen mothers kissing for the last time the faces of their dead offspring; I have seen them looking down into the grave, as they earth fell with a dull sound upon their coffins, hiding them from their eyes forever; but never have I seen such an exhibition of intense, unmeasured, and unbounded grief, as when Eliza was parted from her child. -
- Let them know the *heart* of the poor slave - learn his secret thoughts - thoughts he dare not utter in the hearing of the white man; let them sit by him in the silent watches of the night - converse with him in trustful confidence, of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and they will find that ninety-nine out of every hundred are intelligent enough to understand their situation, and to cherish in their bosoms the love of freedom, as passionately as themselves. -
- To the Almighty Father of us all - the freeman and the slave I poured forth the supplications of a broken spirit, imploring strength from on high to bear up against the burden of my troubles, until the morning light aroused the slumberers, ushering in another day of bondage. -
- Don't cry, mama. I will be a good boy. Don't cry.' -
- I have seen mothers kissing for the last time the faces of their dead offspring; I have seen them looking down into the grave, as they earth fell with a dull sound upon their coffins, hiding them from their eyes forever; but never have I seen such an exhibition of intense, unmeasured, and unbounded grief, as when Eliza was parted from her child. -
- Let them know the *heart* of the poor slave - learn his secret thoughts - thoughts he dare not utter in the hearing of the white man; let them sit by him in the silent watches of the night - converse with him in trustful confidence, of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and they will find that ninety-nine out of every hundred are intelligent enough to understand their situation, and to cherish in their bosoms the love of freedom, as passionately as themselves. -