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hopefulrecluse 's review for:

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
4.0
dark emotional sad medium-paced

It is remarkable how easy of a read this is & how well Northup’s prose translates to the modern day.

However, the graphic details & harrowing recounts will simply require you put the book down at points.

Portions like Northup explaining how cotton & sugar cane cropping functioned can be slow, yet it is incredibly the vivid details he recounts. It certainly challenges the notion that slaves were just sitting on their hands.

This book basically debunks any argument centered around slavery being a dark necessity in American history & it is disgusting to consider that the barbaric treatment of  Northup was perhaps relatively tame compared  to millions of other slaves. 

As a Louisiana resident, I certainly see how this good ole’ boy culture & the ramifications of white supremacy are still ever present.