Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alex HaleyIntroduction: Michael Eric Dyson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-05-22
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 899
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Book Reviews of Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Book Review: Tough stuff but an interesting read
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was a massive success when it came out , about 25 years ago, and was turned into a television mini series in the 80's (which is intriguing, as the book is very racially charged and is HEAVY content). Starring in that mini series as the main character was LeVar Burton (reading rainbow, Geordi in ST: TNG).
Anyways, back to the book:
'Roots' starts with the life of Kunta Kinte, a member of the Mandinka tribe in Africa, during the 18th century. We watch his life as he is born, raised, loved by his family, and instilled with a deep sense of pride, tradition, and work ethic from his village.
Now a young adult, Kunte goes to chop some wood down and BAM! Nabbed by slave traders (booo!). As the reader, you are already engrossed in the life of Kunta. I knew a little about the book while reading it, so i was waiting for this moment (very sadly, as I was enjoying just reading about Kunte's life in Africa).
Horrific boat ride over to the states, he tries to escape slavery several times until they cut off half his foot.
The rest of teh novel is about Kunte's assimilation into slave life, and the generations after him. You watch how each generation becomes watered down, and more complacent with their life. You can see what traditions and stories become altered with change between the families.
Ultimately, the story ends with the author, Alex Haley, who claims that he is descended from Kunte and follows the family tree to himself. Apparently he plagarized a bunch of the book from The African, and geneology experts contest against his claim of descent from Kunte. These facts kind of irked me once I read them on Wikipedia... I had enjoyed the book but seeing that he plagarized AND possibly miscontrued facts pisses me off. BUT he DOES say near the end that most of it is fiction, and I think Haley himself wants to believe the geneology tree (he wasn't just saying all this to pimp himself up).
A good read but difficult in terms of content (reality is always the biggest bitch). One of those tales of history that is painful to hear about, but history has it's lessons that we should all be mindful of.
Summary of Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Tracing his ancestry through six generations - slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lawyers and architects - back to Africa, Alex Haley discovered a sixteen-year-old youth, Kunta Kinte. It was this young man, who had been torn from his homeland and in torment and anguish brought to the slave markets of the new world, who held the key to Haley's deep and distant past.African-American & Black Books
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