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charlotekerstenauthor's review against another edition
I have a lot of trouble articulating just how much this book means to me and how much respect I have for Harriet Jacobs. If you don't know anything about her, Jacobs grew up enslaved and spent years hiding from her master in an attic before escaping to the North. She then joined the abolitionist cause and wrote this book, which is the first female slave narrative. In it she speaks brilliantly about the experiences of black women in slavery, from the inescapable predations of white men to the constant terror of being separated from your children.
Her argument is one that is still every bit as relevant to this day as it was when published: that black women are dehumanized, victimized because of that dehumanization and then blamed for the victimization. It's also an argument that played really well to her 19th century audience's obsession with respectability politics- how can enslaved women be blamed for not fulfilling the same moral standards as white women when the conditions of their enslavement make "virtue" an impossibility?
If I had my way this book would be taught right alongside Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and would be just as well known. I think everyone should read it.
Her argument is one that is still every bit as relevant to this day as it was when published: that black women are dehumanized, victimized because of that dehumanization and then blamed for the victimization. It's also an argument that played really well to her 19th century audience's obsession with respectability politics- how can enslaved women be blamed for not fulfilling the same moral standards as white women when the conditions of their enslavement make "virtue" an impossibility?
If I had my way this book would be taught right alongside Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and would be just as well known. I think everyone should read it.
ntembeast's review against another edition
3.0
For the most part, stories like this are not ones that I read willingly. I am not someone who follows after those persecuted and who have gone through many hardships that are based on reality because, like everyone else, I have enough hardships and things in my own life that I have to deal with. I read usually to get away from reality, and to expand the creativity and horizons of my imaginative mind. Nevertheless, I will give credit where credit is due, and although I did not love this story--for how could anyone love a tale of such great wrongs and horrors?--I respect it and truly was able to find my way through it without having the usual obscenities and injustices of slavery shoved down my throat.
I speak harshly, and many people would resent me for that. I don't deny that many people still are vulgar enough not to take matters like this seriously, and there is no way that I wouldn't take the cruelties of this to heart and advocate every right of every person ever enslaved in this country to shout their experiences and rights, and rub them in the faces of those who would ignore them. My own personal feelings are biased because of my education, where too often I had tales like this shoved daily down my throat in every literature class when all I wanted to do was to read something that would cater to my child-like imagination. I almost never received it.
Harriet Jacobs account of her own life experiences are a blessing to people like us, who never had to experience what she went through, and yet could face every single ounce of the horrors and injuries that she bore as she strove for her freedom, for her children's freedom, and for the safety of those around her who helped where help was least expected. It is an account that gives insight, that rumbles onwards with defiant and knowledgeable experience, and shows us all the things that a woman must go through when she is faced with the circumstance of slavery. And while fiendish, while cruel, while vile and disgusting--everything that Jacobs gave us was an account that awoke in us the ability to acknowledge what she went through, without being turned away by the grotesque descriptions of things already too well known. At least, in my part, too often thrown in my face.
I appreciated Jacobs for that, for writing something that for once did not try to force its way into my head and fill my mind with things that contaminated it more than educated it. Should the truth be concealed from us? Absolutely not! Can the truth be harsh? Of course it can. But thank the blessed Lord that someone had the decency to tell us her story without blatantly describing the--*Shudders*--the WORDS that planted slimy, obscene thoughts in a young girl's skull, or the way she was TOUCHED... *Turns away her face in disgust and horror* PLEASE. Do I understand that that's what some women went through in slavery and that it was horrible? YES. I DO. But God help me! All the absolutely base things that were written and described that I NEVER wanted to have to entertain! A child is smart enough to know when and what horrors lurk in words even when those acts of vileness are not described and only hinted at. Jacobs either could not bear to recount those things to us out of her own unwillingness to relive them in such graphic detail, or she was kind enough to spare us the horror of what she went through in order to give us the greater message: that she STROVE for her freedom, because she knew it was a God-given right to her and her children, and by keeping faith, by doing her very best and being an honorable, determined, persevering woman, she achieved something that should have been hers from the very beginning. It is a success story unlike so many others, and one well worth listening to.
For that discretion alone, and her magnificent character, I would give the book the highest rating, but I cannot lie and say it was amazing when I felt nothing of that feeling evoked in me throughout its pages. Yet, in comparison to the other books I have read on the subject, this one far outdoes the others. Some would say blasphemy! That I'm a coward and a poltroon, who cannot handle the truth. I tell them if they want to eat up all those disgusting details of others' sufferings, then go right ahead! I honor and respect the woman with enough discretion to CARE about what she reveals, and who still finds a way to leave us with the unblemished truths to think about while saving us from the tortures of her own experiences. It doesn't undermine them. Not one bit. It only heightens my respect and admiration for her, and though this has been written so long, long ago, I wish I could go up to her and shake her hand, with tears in my eyes. Because for this woman, no words are enough to express the joy I feel for her, and what she finally was able to receive in this life.
It's a good book. Is it fantastic? Like I said, something like this cannot be fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. It was, however, something I felt was worth the reading. On that note, if you would enjoy something written upon the subject matters it touches--slavery, oppressed women, and the like--then it's recommended. Pick it up. It's good for a read.
I speak harshly, and many people would resent me for that. I don't deny that many people still are vulgar enough not to take matters like this seriously, and there is no way that I wouldn't take the cruelties of this to heart and advocate every right of every person ever enslaved in this country to shout their experiences and rights, and rub them in the faces of those who would ignore them. My own personal feelings are biased because of my education, where too often I had tales like this shoved daily down my throat in every literature class when all I wanted to do was to read something that would cater to my child-like imagination. I almost never received it.
Harriet Jacobs account of her own life experiences are a blessing to people like us, who never had to experience what she went through, and yet could face every single ounce of the horrors and injuries that she bore as she strove for her freedom, for her children's freedom, and for the safety of those around her who helped where help was least expected. It is an account that gives insight, that rumbles onwards with defiant and knowledgeable experience, and shows us all the things that a woman must go through when she is faced with the circumstance of slavery. And while fiendish, while cruel, while vile and disgusting--everything that Jacobs gave us was an account that awoke in us the ability to acknowledge what she went through, without being turned away by the grotesque descriptions of things already too well known. At least, in my part, too often thrown in my face.
I appreciated Jacobs for that, for writing something that for once did not try to force its way into my head and fill my mind with things that contaminated it more than educated it. Should the truth be concealed from us? Absolutely not! Can the truth be harsh? Of course it can. But thank the blessed Lord that someone had the decency to tell us her story without blatantly describing the--*Shudders*--the WORDS that planted slimy, obscene thoughts in a young girl's skull, or the way she was TOUCHED... *Turns away her face in disgust and horror* PLEASE. Do I understand that that's what some women went through in slavery and that it was horrible? YES. I DO. But God help me! All the absolutely base things that were written and described that I NEVER wanted to have to entertain! A child is smart enough to know when and what horrors lurk in words even when those acts of vileness are not described and only hinted at. Jacobs either could not bear to recount those things to us out of her own unwillingness to relive them in such graphic detail, or she was kind enough to spare us the horror of what she went through in order to give us the greater message: that she STROVE for her freedom, because she knew it was a God-given right to her and her children, and by keeping faith, by doing her very best and being an honorable, determined, persevering woman, she achieved something that should have been hers from the very beginning. It is a success story unlike so many others, and one well worth listening to.
For that discretion alone, and her magnificent character, I would give the book the highest rating, but I cannot lie and say it was amazing when I felt nothing of that feeling evoked in me throughout its pages. Yet, in comparison to the other books I have read on the subject, this one far outdoes the others. Some would say blasphemy! That I'm a coward and a poltroon, who cannot handle the truth. I tell them if they want to eat up all those disgusting details of others' sufferings, then go right ahead! I honor and respect the woman with enough discretion to CARE about what she reveals, and who still finds a way to leave us with the unblemished truths to think about while saving us from the tortures of her own experiences. It doesn't undermine them. Not one bit. It only heightens my respect and admiration for her, and though this has been written so long, long ago, I wish I could go up to her and shake her hand, with tears in my eyes. Because for this woman, no words are enough to express the joy I feel for her, and what she finally was able to receive in this life.
It's a good book. Is it fantastic? Like I said, something like this cannot be fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. It was, however, something I felt was worth the reading. On that note, if you would enjoy something written upon the subject matters it touches--slavery, oppressed women, and the like--then it's recommended. Pick it up. It's good for a read.
akma's review against another edition
was reading this for fys, dnfed. probably will pick up in the future
ariel937's review against another edition
it canât be understated how incredibly valuable and heartbreaking this was. one of the most powerful autobiographies in the world, and is an absolute must-read. it touches on so many themes others such as WEB DuBois talks about in his work, and offers insight into the flawed idea that white women arenât just as guilty as the white men OR that racism âwasnât the only reasonâ why the South wanted to uphold slavery. white women were insanely jealous when their ârighteousâ white husbands would rape their slaves, and America abhorred black people and did everything it could to make it as easy as possible for black people to get caught, bought, or sold.
there were no âgoodâ slave masters because they cannot exist in a system that subjugates and destroys generations of lives. GENERATIONS. black men were torn from their families and used for their labor, and black women were used for their birthing labor, giving their masters children to sell. the South may have been the worst, but that didnât mean the North was innocent at all. itâs amazing that so many people recognize the atrocities we put black people through and still argue that itâs all behind us now, and we can just forget about it because theyâre better at hiding their racism behind laws.
i donât say that people should read this if they want to know why slavery is bad - that should be pretty damn obvious. but i think this book is so valuable because it offers a slice of what it was really like, how people really thought at the time, and the expectations black people were out on. it frustrates me that iâve seen people use the same justifications as they did back then, today. there are so many religious and conservative racists out there that seek harm by spreading disgusting, racist bigotry and itâs important to know our countryâs (and worldâs) history.
there were no âgoodâ slave masters because they cannot exist in a system that subjugates and destroys generations of lives. GENERATIONS. black men were torn from their families and used for their labor, and black women were used for their birthing labor, giving their masters children to sell. the South may have been the worst, but that didnât mean the North was innocent at all. itâs amazing that so many people recognize the atrocities we put black people through and still argue that itâs all behind us now, and we can just forget about it because theyâre better at hiding their racism behind laws.
i donât say that people should read this if they want to know why slavery is bad - that should be pretty damn obvious. but i think this book is so valuable because it offers a slice of what it was really like, how people really thought at the time, and the expectations black people were out on. it frustrates me that iâve seen people use the same justifications as they did back then, today. there are so many religious and conservative racists out there that seek harm by spreading disgusting, racist bigotry and itâs important to know our countryâs (and worldâs) history.
lyscrider's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0