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207th out of 404 books
—
466 voters
Song Yet Sung
Nowhere has the drama of American slavery played itself out with more tension than in the dripping swamps of Maryland's eastern shore, where abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, born less than thirty miles apart, faced off against nefarious slave traders in a catch-me-if-you-can game that fueled fear and brought economic hardship to both white and b...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
February 5th 2008
by Riverhead Hardcover
(first published June 30th 2001)
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I'll be honest, after Barack Obama won the election on 11/4/08 the LAST thing I wanted to do was read a book about the antebellum South. But alas, Song Yet Sung was the next reading in my African American women's bookclub. However I am so incredibly happy I read this book. The story is nothing short of captivating. It is extremely thought provoking.
Author James McBride does an amazing job of illustrating the complexities of slavery. By the end of the book I couldn't hate the slave owners or the...more
Author James McBride does an amazing job of illustrating the complexities of slavery. By the end of the book I couldn't hate the slave owners or the...more
Blah -- I was bored and this type of narrative is usually right up my alley. I saw a review in Essence about a month or two ago, so I added it to my book list. I figured I'd give James McBridge another shot because I wasn't a huge fan of " The Color of Water".
I'd normally devour a book of this nature but it took me about a week of carrying around the book in my purse and finally I forced myself to sit down today and read it because I just wanted to get it done to move on the my next book.
Very...more
I'd normally devour a book of this nature but it took me about a week of carrying around the book in my purse and finally I forced myself to sit down today and read it because I just wanted to get it done to move on the my next book.
Very...more
2 likes · like · see review
This was a hard one to rate. I would have given it a five if not for the violence and language. But it's hard because that graphic detail was a big part of what made the book what it is. I was really intrigued by so much of this book--the "code" the author comes up with as part of the Underground Railroad. I appreciated that it didn't divide by race who was good and who was bad. My favorite lines of the book:
---But I don't know who I am.
---Well, there it is, he said ruefully. That's a problem, a...more
---But I don't know who I am.
---Well, there it is, he said ruefully. That's a problem, a...more
2 likes · like · see review
I was absorbed in this book from start to finish. The storyline is superb and the characters are complex. It weaves gender, race, class, and geography to create a very real and moving portrait of what is must have been like to live during this time in eastern Maryland. McBride does an excellent job in the "gray" areas of the last 13 years of slavery. You really see how the institution dehumanized everyone, even the so called "civilized" people.
The book does an excellent job in dealing with ques...more
The book does an excellent job in dealing with ques...more
I was very excited to be able to get this book and read it. I loved "The Color of Water" so much that I would read anything James McBride wrote. However, I was a bit disappointed with this book. Granted, it was an extremely difficult subject to read about, I just felt like I never really connected with the characters. I didn't feel like I couldn't put it down. The truth is, when I did put it down, I had to make myself pick it back up. I did find certain things about the book intriguing, like "th...more
1 like · like · see review
After the 1oth or so page, i flipped to the back of the book to see how long it was and said "thank god, another 340 pages....". Yes, it is that good. This book is filled with rich history and much of the story is drawn from historical events (The story of Harriett Tubman).Song Yet Sung brings into full view a world long misunderstood in American fiction: how slavery worked, and the haunting, moral choices that lived beneath the surface, pressing both whites and blacks to search for relief in a...more
3 likes · like · see review
Feb 24, 2009
Nancy Oakes
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
african-american-fiction
Set on the east coast of Maryland, in the mid 1800s, Song Yet Sung's main character is Liz Spocott a runaway slave, running away from the attentions of her sexually abusive master. When we first meet her, she's been shot, and ends up chained in an attic of a tavern belonging to Miss Patty Cannon, a notorious slave stealer who also picks up runaways and sells them to slaveowners in the south. (as an aside, Miss Patty was a real person.) Liz comes to be known as "the dreamer," because she has prop...more
Feb 05, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
After a moving tribute to his Jewish mother (The Color of Water, 1996) and a novel about African American soldiers in World War II (Miracle at St. Anna, 2003), jazz musician and composer James McBride reaches even further into the past to explore the complexities and unpredictability of human nature against the backdrop of slavery. Based on actual historical figures, including Harriet Tubman, McBride's novel starts slowly but soon develops into a suspenseful, action-packed adventure. Some critic
...more
Song Yet Sung opens with the capture of a wounded runaway slave named Liz. Patty Cannon, a historical figure, allows Liz to be nurtured back to health but locks Liz away with other slaves intended for sell. As Liz regains her strength the other captives learn of her ability to dream of a future for African - Americans that includes everything from the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement to the prevalence of gang culture today. In exchange Liz is introduced to "The Code" used for communication by...more
Song Yet Sung by James McBride has everything I love in a book, a wonderful and exciting story, great characters, compassion and understanding and excellent writing. Once I opened the book up and began the first paragraph, I couldn’t put it down.
Liz Spocott is a two headed, one who sees visions and dreams, slave of 1850 Maryland, who is attempting to escape to the North. She is shot in the head and captured by some illegal slave traders who capture freemen or steal slaves and sell them in the de...more
Liz Spocott is a two headed, one who sees visions and dreams, slave of 1850 Maryland, who is attempting to escape to the North. She is shot in the head and captured by some illegal slave traders who capture freemen or steal slaves and sell them in the de...more
The book takes place just prior to the Civil War. It tells the story of runaway slaves and how they were able to find their way to freedom using the Underground Railroad and their use of the "Code". The code was a system by which they would identify those who needed help and those who could provide help. This had to be a very well kept secret because it could easily cause the death of many people in the system if the code was to be discovered.
The story is told through the life of Liz, a slave, w...more
The story is told through the life of Liz, a slave, w...more
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...
McBride's sweet 'Song'
Trek from slavery to freedom makes a compelling novel
By Jenny Shank , Special to the Rocky
Published February 8, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
James McBride's new book sheds light on a shameful aspect of American history: slavery.
More stories »
James McBride's 1996 memoir, The Color of Water, chronicled his life growing up in an impoverished Brooklyn family with 12 children, as the son of a black father and a Jewish mother who had emigrated from Po...more
McBride's sweet 'Song'
Trek from slavery to freedom makes a compelling novel
By Jenny Shank , Special to the Rocky
Published February 8, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
James McBride's new book sheds light on a shameful aspect of American history: slavery.
More stories »
James McBride's 1996 memoir, The Color of Water, chronicled his life growing up in an impoverished Brooklyn family with 12 children, as the son of a black father and a Jewish mother who had emigrated from Po...more
This a novel in which people say things like:
“-- With all I seen, I don’t know that I believe in God anymore….
“-- Don’t matter…. He believes in you.”
And:
“-- Every truth is a lie. I heard that said. Only tomorrow is truthful.”
But Song Yet Sung rises above its author’s sometimes clumsy attempts at profundity, because James McBride knows how to tell a story. His earlier novel, Miracle at St. Anna, is being filmed by Spike Lee, and his memoir, The Color of Water, about growing up in an interracial f...more
“-- With all I seen, I don’t know that I believe in God anymore….
“-- Don’t matter…. He believes in you.”
And:
“-- Every truth is a lie. I heard that said. Only tomorrow is truthful.”
But Song Yet Sung rises above its author’s sometimes clumsy attempts at profundity, because James McBride knows how to tell a story. His earlier novel, Miracle at St. Anna, is being filmed by Spike Lee, and his memoir, The Color of Water, about growing up in an interracial f...more
This is the One Maryland One Book library selection for this fall. After I found it, I realized I had read this author before--The Color of Water.
This book is set on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1850's. The characters are escaped slaves, free blacks, slave owners, slave catchers, watermen. I want to go wander around the places described in the book. I especially want to visit the birthplace of Harriet Tubman, near Cambridge, MD.
Liz, the Dreamer says to Amber, "You love the North. You love a...more
This book is set on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1850's. The characters are escaped slaves, free blacks, slave owners, slave catchers, watermen. I want to go wander around the places described in the book. I especially want to visit the birthplace of Harriet Tubman, near Cambridge, MD.
Liz, the Dreamer says to Amber, "You love the North. You love a...more
McBride is a beautiful writer and storyteller. From the beginning, his writing pulled me into the story and took me all the way to the end. In fact, it didn't take me very long to read it, at all. I really fell in love w/ McBride's writing when I read The Color of Water, so it was no big leap to guess that I'd enjoy this book. I'm now really craving to learn more about the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman - upon whom McBride based his main character Liz Spocott.
I found it fascinating to...more
I found it fascinating to...more
I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know much about the history of slavery in our country. It's something that I've wanted to learn more about and this book did just that. No, it doesn't detail specifics, but reaches straight into the souls of those people involved in such a horrific business. The traders, chasers, owners, and the slaves themselves are profiled in this amazing novel. I felt like I was right inside the minds of the characters and this book truly opened my eyes to the run away s...more
A gripping layered story of a runaway seer slave, her two pursuers, (an ex-slave chaser crippled in mind and body, and a ruthless female slave-stealer, charming as a rattlesnake and six times as deadly) and the young slave man who falls in love with her, to his detriment. Multidimensional characters, fast-paced action, and fascinating detail about the secret code of the Underground Railroad kept me glued to the pages from the opening chapter. Brilliant!
I had a hard time getting into this book. It took me about 50 pages before I felt fully involved and connected to the story. A lot of the opening pages were confusing for me to understand and I often would read a chapter and then stop for the night. That said I'm so glad I hung in there because once the background pieces were in place I couldn't get enough of the book. The confusing and nonsensical uttering of an old woman to runaway Liz, suddenly came alive and made sense as the narrative unfol...more
Mr. McBride, I assume that you regularly check out goodreads.com to see what the readership is saying about your work. I'm sure every criticism lobbed against your books stings you to your very core.
No doubt as you are trying to drift off to sleep you do so only after darkly pondering, "what did Barbara from Dallas mean when she said that I used chocolate as an adjective too many times. And, man, should I really listen to Trevor S. and censor my use of the n-word?"
I'm also certain that you love...more
No doubt as you are trying to drift off to sleep you do so only after darkly pondering, "what did Barbara from Dallas mean when she said that I used chocolate as an adjective too many times. And, man, should I really listen to Trevor S. and censor my use of the n-word?"
I'm also certain that you love...more
Apr 23, 2010
Stacey Peters
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
black-experience
Lyrical, paced, action packed journey of slaves, oyster farmers and slave catchers set in the Chesapeake region of Maryland and Virginia. Living in the area now surrounded by ocean, with intertwining maze of rivers, creeks, swamps and bogs, I can visualize the life described in this amazing book for all parties. Liz dreams of the future, a future that does not clearly show that freedom is nye. Her dreams, however, reveal a soothe sayer not yet born. And she must make sure that that it happens. T...more
The character known as the Dreamer was extremely interesting. I thought she was the main character in this story but she never fully developed and she rarely appeared. I would have loved to have more information and time with her in the book. The author's notes in the back of the book were much more interesting than the book itself. I would have loved to read a novel about the making of this novel.
Mar 18, 2009
Erika
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those into historical fiction, slave narrative,
I enjoyed this book and found myself getting pulled into the storyline, but I found the ending of it a bit dissatisfying and hurried. This book is similar to one of my favorite novels, Kindred, in that it takes place in Maryland, which is my home state, and deals rather directly with the issue of slavery and the daily lives of slaves. In this book, I felt that the novel opened with some powerful imagery and commentary on our modern American culture, but never really "dealt" with what it started....more
James McBride is now on my list of favorite authors. This complex story involves slave catchers, slaves, watermen and a varied cast of characters prior to the Civil War. A beautiful runaway slave who dreams about the future is at the center of this richly developed novel. The development of the characters and the continual building of tension kept me reading long after my bedtime.
Song yet Sung by James McBride was one of the more… interesting novels I read to say the least. Though it was different, I enjoyed reading the book. The characters were very interesting and well developed. Each one had their own little back story which would lead the reader to why the character is the way they are.
Aside from the story, I liked McBride’s use of description. One of my favorite examples of this when he describes the Woolman as “He was a negro, at least nineteen hands high, with m...more
Aside from the story, I liked McBride’s use of description. One of my favorite examples of this when he describes the Woolman as “He was a negro, at least nineteen hands high, with m...more
This book was recommended by a friend. At first, I didn't like it. I wasn't really enamoured of the writer's style; I didn't care about the characters yet; and I really hated the author's run-on sentences! Example: on page 31, McBride writes a sentence that's 120 words long!! Count 'em (give or take an article or two.) Honestly, I almost put the book away at that point. Why didn't I? Mainly for the characters. I didn't just love Liz, ostensibly the main character. Whenever I read a passage about...more
It's hard not to be interested in the characters the author creates, or what turns out to be the message(s) of the book at the end. But man, it is a long road to get there!
I think the best part of the book is it's magical, mystical feel. History to me feels like that when a good writer writes it, and fiction, I believe, should always have magic in it somehow. Otherwise, why are we reading? From the characters to the setting to the plot... everything was magical in a way that felt real, not Disne...more
I think the best part of the book is it's magical, mystical feel. History to me feels like that when a good writer writes it, and fiction, I believe, should always have magic in it somehow. Otherwise, why are we reading? From the characters to the setting to the plot... everything was magical in a way that felt real, not Disne...more
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I can't say enough about this important book. By the author of Miracle at St. Anna, Song Yet Sung is an absolute triumph for James McBride. I could not put it down. Set on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, this is a story of runaway slaves, Chesapeake Bay watermen, free blacks and slave catchers, this is the brutal story of how these lives intertwine for a short period of time prior to the Civil War. One of the main characters, Liz Spocott, a runaway slave, is nicknamed The Dreamer for her visionar...more
A very absorbing book set on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, pre-Civil War. Liz, an escaped slave with a terrible head wound, had the blessing and curse that she can see into the future of her people and her visions are at once hopeful and dystopian. In her bid for freedom, she encounters a wide cast of wonderfully developed characters. I particularly love McBride's imagined depiction of how the Underground Railroad worked, something we have precious little historical record of. The author does a...more
This book is the May selection for my other book club. Thankfully it was much better than Servant of the Bones. It incidentally is also this years One Maryland, One Book selection. The book takes place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland during the times of slavery, although I don't believe we ever get any exact dates. Harriet Tubman is referred to, so it would be at the same time she is freeing slaves. The story revolves around Liz, a slave who everyone refers to as the Dreamer as she has dreams t...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Staggeringly good | 2 | 44 | Feb 04, 2013 01:36pm |
James McBride is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. He is married with three children. He lives in...more
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“God I am looking for the one thing I have never felt but once, and I would walk through heaven and earth to find it, if he would but let me find him, so that I could feel it; and if I were to feel it again I would never leave that feeling, or him that gave it to me." - The Dreamer”
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“There ain't no time for foolishness now. You in it now. You got to stay in it.”
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Mar 31, 2012 04:57pm