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2.84 AVERAGE
2.84 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a book to read if you want to study 17th century attitudes on colonialism and slavery. Interesting for sure, but not entertaining.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While I recognise its position in literature as one of the first novels and that it does reflect 17th century values so it’s to be expected to have very different attitudes to the modern day, I didn’t enjoy this book and found the very overt racism and sexism uncomfortable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this for my British Literature class and this sure is an interesting little proto-novel. I’m glad to know that Aphra Behn is becoming a more known and studied author within the past 20 years, especially since she was largely forgotten for a few centuries.
It’s one I was looking forward to reading, but overall I thought it was okay. It does raise the question of slavery to nation involved in the slave trade, but it does have its faults. I’m going to be using this text for a part of my final paper so over the next 2 weeks I’ll be looking at it much closer.
It’s one I was looking forward to reading, but overall I thought it was okay. It does raise the question of slavery to nation involved in the slave trade, but it does have its faults. I’m going to be using this text for a part of my final paper so over the next 2 weeks I’ll be looking at it much closer.
Hmm... Yea. I read this 'novel' for my British Literature class this semester. If you are not in a class to properly analyze it, the meanings kind of fall by the wayside. Unfortunately a lot of the substance that readers claim to find in this work are actually manufactured by our own assumptions about what Aphra Behn was writing about. In reality this is nothing more than a way to make money and feign a bit of anti-slavery mumbo jumbo while selling books. Her prose is clunky and confusing. She seems more concerned with her own egoism throughout than with the events that are unfolding, extremely grotesquely, regarding Oroonoko and Imoinda. If you must read it, read it for the conclusion and violently gory plot. The love triangle is extremely humorous and the execution is absolutely disgusting. Skim reading might be the best technique for this one. 3 stars.
It's a good novel, but it did not age well. If one has to read it they better have a critical opinion for the novel is pretty racist and sexist.
It's a good novel, but it did not age well. If one has to read it they better have a critical opinion for the novel is pretty racist and sexist.
I'm not sure what to say about this book, at times I was gripped and at other times my mind wondered. I'm curious about the writing style with an unusual amount of apostrophes (shou'd and receiv'd for example!), is it the era it was written in? Its certainly different to any book on slavery I have read before.