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corvingreene's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
This was a beautifully written book that's part poetry, part essay/memoir, by the brilliant Tracy K. Smith. It is a very heavy read, tackling the legacy of racism and white supremacy in the US, and detailing her family history in the country, among other things, and I took a long time to read it, but I also wanted to savor the lyricism of her writing. I listened to this on audio, and it was a great audio book, but I would have liked to see the poems on the page, too.
ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I appreciated the poeticism of the prose in Smith's narrative. However, the timeline of events is difficult to follow because it is so vague. There is some chronology to the stages of her life she explores, particularly pertaining to her marriages and romantic relationships. Other than that, she often goes off on tangents pertinent to the United States' relationship to race. She sprinkles in anecdotes about her family. Her father was a very important figure in her life. Her love and admiration for her father, especially in relation to how far race relations have come since his upbringing, are palpable in the text. I appreciated these anecdotes the most. I'm a history buff, and reading about how history affects people directly through their families is always interesting to me. As a mixed Afro Latinx individual myself, I can also relate to those parts of the narrative. Smith ties her own story into the overall narrative of the black experience within the United States. It makes her story more personal. I just would have wanted the narrative to be a bit more cohesive and tighter knit. It reads more like a long poem written in prose rather than a memoir. However, I think that this is also a matter of preference. As a disclaimer, I listened to the audiobook, so maybe this something that would have read better if I had physically read the book. Overall, it is an interesting read, though, and I would recommend it as an experimental read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
pamiverson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
pcjacks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
nordstina's review
slow-paced
3.5
When a poet writes a novel, memoir, or other non-fiction book, you know the writing is going to be amazing. Every word is there for a reason. Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate, does not disappoint with To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul. It is difficult to describe this book in that it is a mix of memoir and framing Black existence in America over time. She starts with charting historical records of her family in Alabama and highlights her grandfather who fought valiantly in Europe in World War I only to return to little prospects in a deeply fractured South. One concept that she spends a lot of time on is the difference of Free versus Freed, and how the Freed have not been granted the same opportunities as those born free. She also is quite introspective about her struggles with sobriety and her marriage. She bites off a lot here in this book- at times I was not sure exactly what the cohesive thread was, but found it enjoyable and thought provoking never the less.
Thank you to Knopf for the copy of the book in exchange for honest review.
Thank you to Knopf for the copy of the book in exchange for honest review.