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shadowofrazia's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this was painful, but I'm very very happy I did. It was strange to read through Harriet Jacobs' story only a few days after being accepted to a doctoral program at a great university. I'm so thankful for the people who came before me to give me the opportunities that I've had.
musicdeepdive's review against another edition
5.0
Elite collection, balancing perspectives and choosing narratives that fill in gaps the others might have left. Gates' introduction is short but informs you of those differences right from the outset. Easy collection to pick up and an essential one to boot.
mcrammal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
This first person accounts of the atrocities of slavery was very moving. There were a lot of details that one doesn’t typically think about that came to light, such as people being woken up from screams. Horrifying and heartbreaking, it’s very important that we keep narratives such as these alive by continuing to engage with them so no one forgets how the world used to operate.
classysmarta's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
rachelmatsuoka's review against another edition
4.0
Every American should read "The Narrative and Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." Harrowing, heartbreaking, cinematic, and eye-opening.
nhayner's review against another edition
This is one of those books that shouldn’t be rated. This was very insightful but also horrible enlightening about what is was to be a slave.
robertrivasplata's review against another edition
5.0
These 4 narratives will have me thinking in early 19th century english for a while. All 4 memoirs are riveting stories that had me on the edge of my seat. I also appreciated these memoirs for their historical and anthropological details of the slave societies of the Americas. When Linda Brent wrote "[My] bill of sale is on record, and future generations will learn from it that women were articles of traffic in New York, late in the 19th century of the Christian religion", I felt like she was looking right at me! All 4 memoirs illustrate that much slave labor in the slave economies was paid, but just not to the enslaved people actually doing the work. Douglass, Equiano, & Prince all worked alongside freemen and whites doing the same work while enslaved, and were paid like them, but the difference was that they were required to turn over their earnings to their "owners". Equiano's travels as a sailor offers a great look at the Caribbean-Atlantic economy of the late 18th century, and of the shipping industry of the time. I also especially liked his ironic use of the word "Christian". Linda Brent's reluctance to confide her status as runaway slave even to those she trusted after she escaped to the north reminded me of similar stories I've heard from undocumented immigrants.
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