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outspokenlibrarian 's review for:
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
This has been on my list for a long time and I thought it was time to finally read it.
I'm aware of the controversy that surrounds it, not just the accusations of plagiarism when it had been recently published, but also those that state the entire lengthy lineage of Kunta Kinte was made out of whole cloth.
However, I felt it was still an important book to read, as an historical artifact if nothing else. Even if it IS fiction, this book, when it came out in the 1970s, struck a chord with a lot of folks, and spawned a television miniseries watched by millions of Americans, both Black and white.
The idea of the sweeping historical narrative always appeals to me. However, when Haley inserts himself into the final chapters, it loses something. The writing style is not always compelling.
I'm aware of the controversy that surrounds it, not just the accusations of plagiarism when it had been recently published, but also those that state the entire lengthy lineage of Kunta Kinte was made out of whole cloth.
However, I felt it was still an important book to read, as an historical artifact if nothing else. Even if it IS fiction, this book, when it came out in the 1970s, struck a chord with a lot of folks, and spawned a television miniseries watched by millions of Americans, both Black and white.
The idea of the sweeping historical narrative always appeals to me. However, when Haley inserts himself into the final chapters, it loses something. The writing style is not always compelling.