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2.84 AVERAGE
2.84 AVERAGE
CW: Slavery, Rape, Violence against women
One of the more difficult books I have read in the past few months, I have a great number of problems with Oronooko related to its treatment of women, African slaves, and the systems of power more generally. Behn's portrayal of "The Royal Slave", in what seems to be at least a partially nonfictive account, is an example of heavily wrought, intricate, and gorgeously written prose that brings out the terror and humanity of the chattel slavery systems, as well as the love story that happens within it. That being said, the superb writing is often accompanied by digressions, large and small, about the relative humanity or inhumanity of characters based on their racial characteristics. Further, the book nests the violence of rape within the very polished language of various male characters. There were moments where the discussion was so obvious that I had to pause my reading because of the visceral emotional reaction it caused in me. This short work has vexed me, if only because it has forced me to reckon with how fully the ugly ways people maintain authority are nested within artistic representation, and how artistic representation can reinforce violence even as it pushes against certain aspects of the system.
Now to ground my review, I want to talk a bit about how because of these problems I feel it is alright to rate this book so highly. First, I think Behn is working through a lot of difficult territory here, and it is not the obligation of the writer to conform their opinions to the standards of morality and ethics of later generations, rather it is the job of the reader to tease out the intricate and historical meanings of an art and understand how we can work through and connect them to our modern world. Not all works can be understood as "before their time", although there is something here of Behn writing about the horrors of slavery and Atlantic trade that is fascinating (although the horror mostly comes at Oronooko's mistreatment rather than a contempt for the system in and of itself, as well as an indictment of individual actors rather than the system of slavery itself). Her subject is idealized, and certainly meant to be more "European" in his comportment so as to garner greater sympathy and awe (perhaps even a suggestion by stand-in of a larger humanity but I am failed to be convinced by this), but then fictional works often focus on idealized characters or at the least extreme variations of characters in order to create a sense of drama and tragedy. It is not strictly speaking unusual, even as that does its own ideological work.
The part I find most difficult to speak to is the historical place of rape, and how Behn is mediating on it in her writing. There is not the same sympathy regarding how Imoinda is raped when compared with Oronooko's experience of slavery. The violence against Imoinda is deplorable, but somehow seems to fit more neatly into the books narrative as something that just happens to women, and something that is more everyday. I am unsure how to take this, and I am really unsure how to reckon with this more generally because I don't have the whole picture. I know only my visceral reaction was anger and disgust. Take that for what it is I suppose.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about something I found very difficult with this book - the dual emotional response of liking the book and being horrified with it. I don't mean horrified as in a horror book, but horrified at its own complicity in the most violent and persistent systems of oppression that we know today. Even still, I enjoyed reading the book. Its prose was something I was interested in reading, the story was compelling if sometimes difficult to read, and overall fascinating. But I still sit with this uncomfortable feeling liking something that I am also appalled with. How is one to reckon with this? I think this will be a continuing question as I revisit older and older texts that have to deal directly or indirectly with race, colonization, and oppression.
One of the more difficult books I have read in the past few months, I have a great number of problems with Oronooko related to its treatment of women, African slaves, and the systems of power more generally. Behn's portrayal of "The Royal Slave", in what seems to be at least a partially nonfictive account, is an example of heavily wrought, intricate, and gorgeously written prose that brings out the terror and humanity of the chattel slavery systems, as well as the love story that happens within it. That being said, the superb writing is often accompanied by digressions, large and small, about the relative humanity or inhumanity of characters based on their racial characteristics. Further, the book nests the violence of rape within the very polished language of various male characters. There were moments where the discussion was so obvious that I had to pause my reading because of the visceral emotional reaction it caused in me. This short work has vexed me, if only because it has forced me to reckon with how fully the ugly ways people maintain authority are nested within artistic representation, and how artistic representation can reinforce violence even as it pushes against certain aspects of the system.
Now to ground my review, I want to talk a bit about how because of these problems I feel it is alright to rate this book so highly. First, I think Behn is working through a lot of difficult territory here, and it is not the obligation of the writer to conform their opinions to the standards of morality and ethics of later generations, rather it is the job of the reader to tease out the intricate and historical meanings of an art and understand how we can work through and connect them to our modern world. Not all works can be understood as "before their time", although there is something here of Behn writing about the horrors of slavery and Atlantic trade that is fascinating (although the horror mostly comes at Oronooko's mistreatment rather than a contempt for the system in and of itself, as well as an indictment of individual actors rather than the system of slavery itself). Her subject is idealized, and certainly meant to be more "European" in his comportment so as to garner greater sympathy and awe (perhaps even a suggestion by stand-in of a larger humanity but I am failed to be convinced by this), but then fictional works often focus on idealized characters or at the least extreme variations of characters in order to create a sense of drama and tragedy. It is not strictly speaking unusual, even as that does its own ideological work.
The part I find most difficult to speak to is the historical place of rape, and how Behn is mediating on it in her writing. There is not the same sympathy regarding how Imoinda is raped when compared with Oronooko's experience of slavery. The violence against Imoinda is deplorable, but somehow seems to fit more neatly into the books narrative as something that just happens to women, and something that is more everyday. I am unsure how to take this, and I am really unsure how to reckon with this more generally because I don't have the whole picture. I know only my visceral reaction was anger and disgust. Take that for what it is I suppose.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about something I found very difficult with this book - the dual emotional response of liking the book and being horrified with it. I don't mean horrified as in a horror book, but horrified at its own complicity in the most violent and persistent systems of oppression that we know today. Even still, I enjoyed reading the book. Its prose was something I was interested in reading, the story was compelling if sometimes difficult to read, and overall fascinating. But I still sit with this uncomfortable feeling liking something that I am also appalled with. How is one to reckon with this? I think this will be a continuing question as I revisit older and older texts that have to deal directly or indirectly with race, colonization, and oppression.
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
What I like about the Little Black Classics is that you are reading so many different authors, including ones that you had never heard of before encountering them in this series. Aphra Behn was one of those, and to be honest, reading about her was the most interesting part of this classic for me.
Aphra Behn was a woman far ahead of her time in the sense that she led a very interesting and independent life as -among others- a spy and wrote novels by the end of the 17th Century. So, Hooray for that!
Oroonoko is the story of an African prince (with a lot of European features it must be said) who is sold into slavery out of jealousy. While I thought the beginning of the novel was very good and interesting, it lost me half way. But nevertheless, I am glad I got to learn about Aphra Behn.
~Little Black Classics #105~
What I like about the Little Black Classics is that you are reading so many different authors, including ones that you had never heard of before encountering them in this series. Aphra Behn was one of those, and to be honest, reading about her was the most interesting part of this classic for me.
Aphra Behn was a woman far ahead of her time in the sense that she led a very interesting and independent life as -among others- a spy and wrote novels by the end of the 17th Century. So, Hooray for that!
Oroonoko is the story of an African prince (with a lot of European features it must be said) who is sold into slavery out of jealousy. While I thought the beginning of the novel was very good and interesting, it lost me half way. But nevertheless, I am glad I got to learn about Aphra Behn.
~Little Black Classics #105~
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Interesting story about slavery and its problems written by a woman in the 17th century, but in the end it didn't do a lot for me. The characters all seemed to be written with literary allusions instead of real characters: the personality of Oroonoko was constantly changing to what best fitted the story at that certain time. The storytelling got pretty tiresome too after a little while with just so many descriptions and not a lot of dialogue of actions just telling.
So, an interesting read but I don't think I'm going to recommend this to anyone anytime soon.
Happy reading!
So, an interesting read but I don't think I'm going to recommend this to anyone anytime soon.
Happy reading!
(2.5) What a strange text. I can't say Oroonoko is bad, and with some analysis the text can be quite interesting, but as a read on its own it's actually somewhat unpleasant. Frankly, the prose is quite clunky, although Behn does flourish when describing. Unfortunately, this means that much of the book's events are buried beneath the very violent ending. As I approached the last few pages I was physically uncomfortable, which—good job, I guess? I suspect this book would be way more interesting to someone interested in the history of colonialism, but for me it didn't do much except make me viscerally uncomfortable.
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes