Solomon Northup: 12 Years a Slave (2012, Dover Publications, Incorporated)
English language
Published June 19, 2012 by Dover Publications, Incorporated.
Essential reading for anyone looking to understand the experiences of the enslaved in the U.S. south.
One of the few surviving personal accounts of slavery from this time, this was published in the 1850s but almost forgotten and considered fiction until a scholar, Dr Sue Eakin, discovered the book and made it her life's work to verify its authenticity.
Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery down south, and it's only with the help of a sympathetic Canadian he meets and convinces to contact friends back in New York for him that he's eventually rescued, but not before 12 years of suffering and separation from wife and children. Obviously a heartbreaking and horrifying story, and a very personal picture of the life of a slave. It's now back in print (obviously) and was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2013 (which I haven't seen yet but will now look for). The writing style is the very flowery, verbose …
One of the few surviving personal accounts of slavery from this time, this was published in the 1850s but almost forgotten and considered fiction until a scholar, Dr Sue Eakin, discovered the book and made it her life's work to verify its authenticity.
Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery down south, and it's only with the help of a sympathetic Canadian he meets and convinces to contact friends back in New York for him that he's eventually rescued, but not before 12 years of suffering and separation from wife and children. Obviously a heartbreaking and horrifying story, and a very personal picture of the life of a slave. It's now back in print (obviously) and was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2013 (which I haven't seen yet but will now look for). The writing style is the very flowery, verbose style of the time but it's nonetheless hard not to get engrossed in the story.
A horrifying and deeply engrossing account, Solomon Northup's life story is completely unique from the pool of existing slave narratives. In that regard, it's a must-read.
The story is thought, emotion and mind provoking. A great insight into the culture of perpetual psychopathy. The author most accurately describes the states of mind and attitudes of the those who are just emotionally blind (Master Ford) and those who are without a doubt full blown psychopaths (Epps household, Tibeats, Burns, etc).
It's heartbreaking and yet still as pertinent today as it was all those years ago. The same bullying, emotional and physical abuse is still with us, just on a more subdued scale. The cruelty is still perpetuating from generation to generation and is lashed out on those who are most helpless.
I think the story is very pertinent to every human being.
I wish this was on my high school or college reading list instead of Pride and Prejudice.
