mscott's review
5.0
This is a fantastic novel and I can't say enough good things about it. Set in the deep South just prior to the Civil War, it's a beautifully written account of two slaves who find love between them on a plantation. Cyrus is a field hand while Abednego works as a house servant. When Abednego is sold to another plantation, Cyrus makes the very bold decision to run and rather than head towards the relative safety of the North, heads South to find his true love. The author's ability to capture the terror and anxiety of a slave on the run is outstanding. I won't spoil it but Cyrus does end up even encountering help from a white man along the way as well as stepping right into the middle of a slave uprising. Read this novel to see what happens. So happy to have had this on my list and will recommend it to anyone interested in this dark chapter of American history.
arkwen452's review
5.0
****Full review and Q&A over at G. Jacks Writes****
Reading this book was such an experience for me. Each chapter, character action, the accuracy in the details, the pacing; all of it reads like an epic. I went through several stages of what felt like a symbolic, yet temporal, metamorphosis, both emotionally and consciously, by the lives illustrated by some of the enslaved characters in this book. So, I will try to keep my notes and thoughts on the story linear with this post.
Drapetomania is broken up into three books in this novel and told in a third person perspective that alternates between the lives and experiences of the two main characters, Cyrus and Abednego. Set in the late 19th century, where bristling talk and whispered rumors of a war between the Southern plantations faction of the United States, against the industrializing, forward-thinking North. However, unaware of the truth behind the rumors of a Civil War on the horizon, Cyrus, and Abednego, two enslaved men who live and work on the same plantation, have fallen in love.
I already knew a lot about the horrible treatment, abuse and dehumanizing conditions that enslaved Africans & African-Americans lived in, but to be placed in the middle it while reading this book took a whole other form and meaning.
I had a Q&A with John, (the full interview is on my blog)) and asked about certain story themes and relative messages that he placed in the narrative. And one of the things he talked about just pulled me back to story's core: which was the love between Cyrus and Abednego as the true representation of the light and feeling of hope that pulls the reader forward.
In book one, we follow Cyrus, a field-hand, as he runs away from the Tyler estate several months after Abednego has been sold away. He sets out for freedom and follows the North Star while being hunted until he realizes that he is running for a sense of freedom that he has only ever felt when with his lover, Abednego. Once Cyrus understands what he is truly missing, his character is driven by that singular desire of feeling whole once more—with Bed.
In book two, the perspective shifted to Abednego and I love, love, loved that I was able to see Abednego’s point of view first-hand as all the information we have up until this point was from Cyrus’ s point of view.
And while book two depicts his life after Tyler’s estate and several months before Cyrus’s escape, it brought a validation to their relationship, their love for each other and their story all at once. As at the heart of everything that unfolds in Drapetomania, it was a reminder that it is a love story of one heart beating within these two men.
I loved reading/watching Cyrus’s character growth in this book, but what I think I loved more was the way in which Abednego’s character was more sound minded and clear within his identity. Compared to Cyrus, Abednego carried a rage and resistance within him even from his lover’s point of view.
And just to give you a better idea of some of the layers in Drapetomania, running parallel to Cyrus and Bed’s separation from each other, the author incorporated a number of other powerful themes that I might not be able to name them all. Such as: work and war (of white men) falling on the backs of others (black people), a message on universal morality versus the benefit of selected morality when it comes to a (white) person’s personal gain.
There was also such a strong presence/theme of religion in this book and on how the harsher the punishment or living conditions of the enslaved, the stronger and more resilient a group of people can become. While I felt this build-up of resilience in the first chapter, book three acts as its true catalyst.
I don’t want to spoil anything by talking too much about what we finally see in book three, but I personally felt the build-up, Cyrus’s journey, all the people he met along the way, and Abednego’s experiences were all paid off and justly so.
This book will take you through so many different emotions even though it is a work of fiction, you are consciously aware that the situations are based on truth.
Two things I feel like I have taken away from this book are perseverance from Cyrus’ and Abednego story and their experiences. Second, a mindfulness to not let the present overshadow the past because so many of the themes verbalized by the characters in this book is still mirrored in our society today.
I highly recommend other book enthusiasts of History, LGBT+ and Diversity to read Drapetomania as well; it is an experience you will not forget.
Reading this book was such an experience for me. Each chapter, character action, the accuracy in the details, the pacing; all of it reads like an epic. I went through several stages of what felt like a symbolic, yet temporal, metamorphosis, both emotionally and consciously, by the lives illustrated by some of the enslaved characters in this book. So, I will try to keep my notes and thoughts on the story linear with this post.
Drapetomania is broken up into three books in this novel and told in a third person perspective that alternates between the lives and experiences of the two main characters, Cyrus and Abednego. Set in the late 19th century, where bristling talk and whispered rumors of a war between the Southern plantations faction of the United States, against the industrializing, forward-thinking North. However, unaware of the truth behind the rumors of a Civil War on the horizon, Cyrus, and Abednego, two enslaved men who live and work on the same plantation, have fallen in love.
I already knew a lot about the horrible treatment, abuse and dehumanizing conditions that enslaved Africans & African-Americans lived in, but to be placed in the middle it while reading this book took a whole other form and meaning.
I had a Q&A with John, (the full interview is on my blog)) and asked about certain story themes and relative messages that he placed in the narrative. And one of the things he talked about just pulled me back to story's core: which was the love between Cyrus and Abednego as the true representation of the light and feeling of hope that pulls the reader forward.
In book one, we follow Cyrus, a field-hand, as he runs away from the Tyler estate several months after Abednego has been sold away. He sets out for freedom and follows the North Star while being hunted until he realizes that he is running for a sense of freedom that he has only ever felt when with his lover, Abednego. Once Cyrus understands what he is truly missing, his character is driven by that singular desire of feeling whole once more—with Bed.
In book two, the perspective shifted to Abednego and I love, love, loved that I was able to see Abednego’s point of view first-hand as all the information we have up until this point was from Cyrus’ s point of view.
And while book two depicts his life after Tyler’s estate and several months before Cyrus’s escape, it brought a validation to their relationship, their love for each other and their story all at once. As at the heart of everything that unfolds in Drapetomania, it was a reminder that it is a love story of one heart beating within these two men.
I loved reading/watching Cyrus’s character growth in this book, but what I think I loved more was the way in which Abednego’s character was more sound minded and clear within his identity. Compared to Cyrus, Abednego carried a rage and resistance within him even from his lover’s point of view.
And just to give you a better idea of some of the layers in Drapetomania, running parallel to Cyrus and Bed’s separation from each other, the author incorporated a number of other powerful themes that I might not be able to name them all. Such as: work and war (of white men) falling on the backs of others (black people), a message on universal morality versus the benefit of selected morality when it comes to a (white) person’s personal gain.
There was also such a strong presence/theme of religion in this book and on how the harsher the punishment or living conditions of the enslaved, the stronger and more resilient a group of people can become. While I felt this build-up of resilience in the first chapter, book three acts as its true catalyst.
I don’t want to spoil anything by talking too much about what we finally see in book three, but I personally felt the build-up, Cyrus’s journey, all the people he met along the way, and Abednego’s experiences were all paid off and justly so.
This book will take you through so many different emotions even though it is a work of fiction, you are consciously aware that the situations are based on truth.
Two things I feel like I have taken away from this book are perseverance from Cyrus’ and Abednego story and their experiences. Second, a mindfulness to not let the present overshadow the past because so many of the themes verbalized by the characters in this book is still mirrored in our society today.
I highly recommend other book enthusiasts of History, LGBT+ and Diversity to read Drapetomania as well; it is an experience you will not forget.
eddieqbd's review
5.0
Admittedly, I don’t read fiction a lot, but this is top-tier historical fiction. John R Gordon is such a gifted writer. It ain’t easy to write a novel set in pre civil war America about two enslaved *Queer* Black men and have it be heartbreaking and heartwarming, simultaneously.
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