A review by wheredotheducksgo
Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

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.