Reviews

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

book_busy's review against another edition

3.0

With the aid of an audiobook in the second half I found this book much more gripping and emotive. However, I was not really seized by the script alone and found the (though obviously symptomatic of its time) treatment of race disheartening. The fact that Behn creates a moral dichotomy between the notable (Ew racialism) aristocratic, moral and educated Oroonoko and the other Africans who are more... Homogeneous and ... Deserving of slavery?? is actually repulsive. However I think what is positive or surprising about this novel is, considering it's time, it does strive to endear the audience to Oroonoko and critique the practices of some white figures of power (though I do think Behn extends too much credit to some of the white characters for simply not being abhorrent towards Oroonoko).

heath_the_leaf's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

alju2404's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

annieni's review against another edition

1.0

Read it for university. Good on Aphra Behn for being one of the first women to make a living through writing. Hate that she wrote this. Incredibly racist and a glorification of black pain. If you were to teach this, you would need to properly dissect its racist and anti-black ideologies, but evidently many aren't doing that.

persephonestar's review against another edition

3.0

School read

wheredotheducksgo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Read a good chunk of this for a class, so I suppose I can't speak authoritatively on whether I like it or not since I haven't technically read the whole thing, but it's really not something I'd revisit. Very much a product of it's time, and while it's revolutionary in its gritty portrayal of the slave trade, it's still full of racist concepts such as the "noble savage" trope. It's really less of a critique of the slave trade as a whole and more a critique about this one guy's specific treatment as he's "one of the good ones" essentially. I guess it's an important historical piece, but I know there's far better literature about slavery than this. 

emeraldgarnet's review against another edition

2.0

Oroonoko is a landmark in the history of the novel and, for a work of its age, the prose was not as daunting as it might first appear.

At various points in the novel, Oroonoko learns what it means to experience betrayal. A poignant example takes place upon his arrival in Surinam he realises that the slave ship's captain has betrayed him and declares, "Farewell, Sir, ’tis worth my sufferings to gain so true a knowledge both of you and of your gods by whom you swear."

Another poignant moment happens immediately after Orooonoko has killed Imoinda. In his grief he contemplates committing suicide but then remembers that he killed Imoinda to allow himself to seek revenge against his enemies. Here he cries, “No, since I have sacrificed Imoinda to my revenge, shall I lose that glory which I have purchased so dear, as the price of the fairest, dearest, softest creature that ever Nature made? No, no!”

However, Oroonoko is still reflective of Behn's time and nowhere is this more true than with the narrator's racist attitudes. For instance, when the narrator meets Oroonoko she praises him by saying that he "bears the standard of true beauty" and notes that "His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat." Here, the narrator makes presumptions about what it means to be beautiful and implies that a flat nose cannot be beautiful.

zoexash_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.0

mephistoreads's review against another edition

4.0

A short narrative that pulls you in. The pattern of creating a grand character and that dragging them through mud to achieve desired effects has been executed creatively with the feeling of predictability creeping in intermittently. Aphra Behn however still makes the narrative shine and surprise. The themes are still understandable and thus compelling. The timelessness of the work with black and white merging into grey might surprise the reader. Although the narrator is a privileged voice, it is clear that it is Oroonoko whose story has primacy with long descriptive emotional discourse from his side and short unanimous voices of others.

foxtayle's review against another edition

4.0

Very dense read which is expected from a book written in 1610. That being said, the plot that shines through the paragraph long sentences is pretty interesting, and the ending has what can only be described as a horror element to it that I really enjoyed.