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lukescalone 's review for:
12 Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup
This is probably the most interesting slave narrative I've read to date. While Frederick Douglass's [b:Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass|36529|Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass|Frederick Douglass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388234247l/36529._SY75_.jpg|1990110] is better known, thanks in large part due to Douglass's position as the most famous African American of the 19th century (including the most photographed man in the century, perhaps in history), Solomon Northup's book is much more thorough. This account includes a quick overview of his life in New York, his subsequent kidnapping, his life on a plantation in Louisiana, and his eventual liberation through New York's legal system.
While much of the book goes at a slow, meandering pace, filled with details about life in Louisiana's plantations (including details on cotton and sugar cultivation, as well as other tasks that Northup did), the first portion of the book and the last few chapters read at the same pace, with the same tension, as a well-written thriller. This book is incredibly illuminating, and is a must-read for anyone interested in black history and 19th century US history.
While much of the book goes at a slow, meandering pace, filled with details about life in Louisiana's plantations (including details on cotton and sugar cultivation, as well as other tasks that Northup did), the first portion of the book and the last few chapters read at the same pace, with the same tension, as a well-written thriller. This book is incredibly illuminating, and is a must-read for anyone interested in black history and 19th century US history.