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A review by hjswinford
Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
5.0
This was kind of hard to rate because as others have pointed out in reviews, only about half of this book, if that, is Cudjo's story. I think some important stuff was said in the prefaces (yes, plural), but ultimately most of it was unneeded or repetitive. (But it did cast Hemingway in a pretty bad light HA)
So aside, from that, I decided to only consider Cudjo's actual story in my rating because I couldn't rightfully give it less than 5 stars. It was a powerful snapshot of one man's outlook on US history. It brought me to tears. It was recorded in his own dialect, which Robin Miles (the audiobook QUEEEEN) read perfectly. I think it would have been difficult in writing, but her reading was amazing.
Before this, my only exposure to Zora Neale Hurston was reading Their Eyes Were Watching God in high school. I didn't even know she wrote any non-fiction. This book was written by her, but it doesn't really show her writing as most of the meat of it is simply recording Cudjo's words. Regardless, this makes me want to find more of her works.
Especially if Robin Miles reads the audiobooks.
So aside, from that, I decided to only consider Cudjo's actual story in my rating because I couldn't rightfully give it less than 5 stars. It was a powerful snapshot of one man's outlook on US history. It brought me to tears. It was recorded in his own dialect, which Robin Miles (the audiobook QUEEEEN) read perfectly. I think it would have been difficult in writing, but her reading was amazing.
Before this, my only exposure to Zora Neale Hurston was reading Their Eyes Were Watching God in high school. I didn't even know she wrote any non-fiction. This book was written by her, but it doesn't really show her writing as most of the meat of it is simply recording Cudjo's words. Regardless, this makes me want to find more of her works.
Especially if Robin Miles reads the audiobooks.