The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Compelling work traces the formidable journey of an Igbo prince from captivity to freedom and literacy and recounts his enslavement in the New World, service in the Seven Years War, voyages to the Arctic, six months among the Miskito Indians in Central America, and more.
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
January 26th 1999
by Dover Publications
(first published 1789)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,272)
Shovelmonkey1
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
maritime historians, anyone interested in the african diaspora, 1001 books readers
Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by:
1001 books list
Olaudah Equiano and his interesting narrative provide an insight into a time and situation that few people survived to record or recall, and those that did survive were rarely ever literate. For this reason, and so many others, Equiano (or Gustavus Vassa as he was later christened) has a unique story to tell.
Kidnapped from his home in an Ibo village (Nigeria),Equiano is enslaved by people of his own race and traded between tribal groups for over nine months before he finally makes it...more
Kidnapped from his home in an Ibo village (Nigeria),Equiano is enslaved by people of his own race and traded between tribal groups for over nine months before he finally makes it...more
view all 5 comments
For some reason, human suffering has always been slowly and steadily insinuating itself into what I enjoy reading. Sometimes though, the understanding of it does not seem universal anymore, at least, not like it used to be. Sympathy is not as strong as it once was, but in my house and home, I was raised to believe that all creatures were made equal, well, the human ones anyhow. A contemporary novel(and quite a thick one too!), Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese was a touching decendant of t...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1834848.ht...
This is the autobiography of an 18th-century slave, sold from his home in West Africa as a child to work on the West Indian fleet and around the Anglophone Atlantic shores, before becoming a freeman, missionary and political activist. It's an absolutely riveting first-hand account, not only for the awful conditions of slavery (and indeed for freed blacks) in the British empire of the day, but also because of Equiano's unabashed enthusiasm for ...more
This is the autobiography of an 18th-century slave, sold from his home in West Africa as a child to work on the West Indian fleet and around the Anglophone Atlantic shores, before becoming a freeman, missionary and political activist. It's an absolutely riveting first-hand account, not only for the awful conditions of slavery (and indeed for freed blacks) in the British empire of the day, but also because of Equiano's unabashed enthusiasm for ...more
A few semesters back this was the first book we read for my African American Literature class. As a biracial student, and artist, this book sort of offended me -- but only because it was a required reading! You see, the issue I had with this book was that it wasn't high quality writing, by almost any standard. It was like reading a dull history lesson; the latter half of the narrative is what I call "Church in a Book." Upon finishing this text I asked my professor: "So, is this li...more
This is from my son Dallin, age 12, who read the book:
I learned that you should control your temper. If you are mad at someone and start beating up on them it's your own fault if they don't listen to you. They won't listen to you because you have been beating up on them. i learned that the Africans had slaves among themselves.
Equiano was a great man. He was the most famous anti-slavery man in England. Even more than William Wilberforce. England was a safer place for slaves t...more
I learned that you should control your temper. If you are mad at someone and start beating up on them it's your own fault if they don't listen to you. They won't listen to you because you have been beating up on them. i learned that the Africans had slaves among themselves.
Equiano was a great man. He was the most famous anti-slavery man in England. Even more than William Wilberforce. England was a safer place for slaves t...more
Slavery is something that is difficult to comprehend now, but it was big business when Olaudah was young. I visited The Gambia earlier this year where a lot of slaves were sold and on the tour we were taken to visit a holding island, they are quite honest that they are as much to blame for the slave trade as the white people, if there are people willing to buy, there are locals that will find them to sell. I had never really thought about it this way before, but I can see now how this would have...more
This narrative by Equiano Olaudah, was very interesting. The writer actually took me back into the days of slavery where Blacks were overtaken because of the color of their skin. I love his vivid use of imagery and the style in which he wrote parts of the story. For example, he wrote part of his narrative in letter form. He went into detail to show the other side to slavery, where as we would usually hear about the beatings, Olaudah explains how he was sold to do ship work. However, he also expl...more
This was an amazing story; I especially liked the preface where Lloyd Garrison basically praised Douglass for his courageous ways. The story of Douglass is a peculiar one because at the beginning he wasn’t maltreated or treated cruelly as other slaves. I think that’s why he wanted freedom so badly, because since he wasn’t used to getting treated cruelly he wanted to be treated well again. Douglass also presents a theme of equality because he makes a speech in front of whites, never before h...more
This is a good first-person account of Equiano's life and complex identity (as an African, as a slave, as a freeman, as someone who comes to identify with English culture, as a missionary, as a man, as a Christian, as a traveler). Equiano tells what he remembers of growing up in Africa, and how he was taken away from home when he was eleven or twelve years old. After that, he traveled extensively (in slavery) and was eventually able to buy himself out of slavery. He describes sights he sees arou...more
Written by himself and about himself, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is a memoir about an African boy, Olaudah Equaino, as he grows up as a slave. He recounts his life story, starting with being kidnapped out of his home in Africa and being sold into slavery, and concludes with his achievements of becoming a British antislavery advocate. Considering what slaves had to go through, Equiano was rather lucky when it came to his masters and how they treated him. However, fo...more
Describing an intense journey of being captured, enslaved, and freed, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, The African is a book, which provides firsthand details of the traumatic stronghold slavery held over those directly and indirectly affected by slavery. Olaudah vividly describes each capture, being with various masters, and working aboard various ships. Initially after his capture, Olaudah desires only one thing: DEATH. Eventually, Olaudah accepts his...more
This is a very impressive narrative of the life of a slave and sailor. Kidnapped from his village in the 1750s and sold as a slave to a British naval captain, Euquiano had an interesting life both as a slave and a free sailor. This book reads like an adventure story (he was involved in, among other ventures, an expedition to find a "northeast passage" from England to India via the North Pole). Fascinating stuff, and with several instances indicating the historic treatment of Africans b...more
Interesting to know that this was probably the first slave narrative written.
He uses a lot of interesting rhetorical devices to try and stir sentiments for the abolition of slavery, but he seems to undercut this when he tells the owners of slaves to treat their slaves well - because that means they will work harder and be more docile in their role. I understand that Equiano does this because there are those who will not vote to abolish slavery, so this is his way of still trying to make t...more
He uses a lot of interesting rhetorical devices to try and stir sentiments for the abolition of slavery, but he seems to undercut this when he tells the owners of slaves to treat their slaves well - because that means they will work harder and be more docile in their role. I understand that Equiano does this because there are those who will not vote to abolish slavery, so this is his way of still trying to make t...more
It was an interesting narrative. Olaudah certainly had an adventurous life and some of his insights are very telling. I particularly liked the fact that he thought Europeans were talking to books when he first saw them reading because of course at the time it was very uncommon for people to read silently. The drawback is the stop-start style with some incidents given huge attention and then great gaps of years and little incidents just dropped in (presumably because he remembered them)which don'...more
The theological elements in the final chapters, bogged down this mostly interesting read. As any memoir it has seen its share of questions on its historical accuracy. But it's a primary source people, the man only has himself to draw from for information. It is in narrative form because he wanted people to read it and understand the slave systems not because he was coping Robinson Crusoe. Like Dana's Three Years Before the Mast it is a narrative with a argument, a political work as well as a his...more
The Narrative of Equiano is truly an interesting story, just as its title states. Equiano's story is very unique, and while I can't say its in the same league as Frederick Douglass' narrative, it is effective in bringing forth a different story of the life of a slave, as it does not begin with birth into slavery, rather, he is taken from his home land of Africa and thrust into a life unimaginable. I do feel that fans of the Douglass story, or any slave narrative, would benefit greatly from readi...more
This is indeed and interesting story, not just for the depiction of his life's journeys, but also for the beautiful and educated writing. This book is a very significant literary work being the first of the slave narrative tradition,which is why I read it in the first place, but I found it to be a good story I would enjoy whether it was historically important or a literary classic. Olaudah is known as Gustavas most of his life. I don't recall an explanation of the change in the book. But he had ...more
3.5
I have been wanting to read this since coming across an extract in my English A-Level exam!! After reading Uncle Tom's Cabin last year it lead me to finally get myself a copy of his memoir - and also of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. So eventually - a year later I am reading it!
I enjoyed reading what I suppose you'd call source material. It didn't teach me anything new about slavery that I didn't already know of course, but there's one thing reading a text bo...more
I have been wanting to read this since coming across an extract in my English A-Level exam!! After reading Uncle Tom's Cabin last year it lead me to finally get myself a copy of his memoir - and also of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. So eventually - a year later I am reading it!
I enjoyed reading what I suppose you'd call source material. It didn't teach me anything new about slavery that I didn't already know of course, but there's one thing reading a text bo...more
I've read excerpts, but I'm out to find my own copy and read it in its entirety!
What Equiano did, and suffered through, was amazing -- an African slave cum man of Letters. Unfortunately, this is the kind of historical figure and narrative that today's racist apologists hold up as proof of "freedom" or "liberty" or other such gospels that Europeans (and Euro-Americans) have spread over the last four centuries. They turn a narrative of racist and economic oppressi...more
What Equiano did, and suffered through, was amazing -- an African slave cum man of Letters. Unfortunately, this is the kind of historical figure and narrative that today's racist apologists hold up as proof of "freedom" or "liberty" or other such gospels that Europeans (and Euro-Americans) have spread over the last four centuries. They turn a narrative of racist and economic oppressi...more
Most interesting! This is 1 of the 1,001 books you must read before you die (according to the book of the same title). Olahdah Equiano was born in 1745 in a village east of the Niger River in what is now Nigeria.
This book was first published in 1789 in London and is his own account of his varied and adventurous life.
At the age of 10, he was captured by slave traders and taken to the southern states of America. He was sold to a planter in the West Indies and worked there ...more
This book was first published in 1789 in London and is his own account of his varied and adventurous life.
At the age of 10, he was captured by slave traders and taken to the southern states of America. He was sold to a planter in the West Indies and worked there ...more
This man was amazing! A very articulate autobiography from his childhood in Africa to his life as a slave to freedom in Christ. His constant quest for knowledge and learning and his character growth as he related to the injustices and brutality of slavery were so inspiring, and the account of his eventual conversion to Christ thrilled my soul...a very good depiction of the transformation of a good man to a man sold out to the Lord. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
This was a very interesting book. It is the only narrative I have read written by an actual slave. His story is probably atypical, but it is fascinating.
I found his descriptions of culture shock to be particularly interesting - and they got me thinking. I could not imagine having zero knowledge of another culture and then being thrust into it at the bottom of society. It's sad and amazing at the same time.
I recommend it highly. You can find it online too!
I found his descriptions of culture shock to be particularly interesting - and they got me thinking. I could not imagine having zero knowledge of another culture and then being thrust into it at the bottom of society. It's sad and amazing at the same time.
I recommend it highly. You can find it online too!
This narrative reminded me of an African American version of Robinson Crusoe which was also published in the 18th century. It was informative in terms of the inter-workings of the slave trade, yet I felt that it was too bogged down with the sea voyage narrative style and I learned more about being on a ship than what the slaves of the slave trade endured. I enjoyed the few and far between moments when Equiano philosophizes about the morality of the slave trade. I was left wanting much more of th...more
I was very impressed with the writing of this man. He gained knowlegde in the English language as he traveled often on the sea and with each of his different masters. He was a faithful christian and had many amazing spiritual experiences. Some of the book was a little tedious and slow, but Equiano lived an amazing life and was instrumental in the abolition of slaves in England and other countries around the world as well.
This gives a look at Equiano's life as free person in Africa and a slave in the south. Because he is able to read and write, I learned about his past life in Africa from his point of view. The way he describes his life in Africa and how beautiful the land and people were. Also why people where sold into slavery by Africans. Very good read if you are researching past of blacks through the past and now.
This novel was on my reading list for a 2000-level English class, so I have sat through a number of lectures concerning Equiano. This book set the precedent for slave narratives, and is an interesting insight into the life of a "free" man, including his difficulty in gaining his freedom, and his struggle in keeping it. This work is a successful example of mimicry -- Equiano mimicked his oppressors and in doing so obtained some level of acceptance. However, due to his differences (in th...more
Okay, so maybe others won't find it "amazing", but I sure did! I didn't know there was slavery among Africans themselves, nor that his people would name their children the same way the Jews did, etc. A history professor I worked for years ago had me read it and take notes on it for him. Wish I could still get paid to read books and take notes on them. . . . Anyone out there want to hire me???
A largely bland and uniinspiring narrative, Equiano retells the incidents of his life in such a repetitive and scientific manner as to render all the emotion of the tale worthless. The tone is, for the most part, so utterly detached that it was near impossible to feel the slightest pity. A useful historical and political insight into the state of black slavery in the 1700s, but dull as a narrative.
This is a fascinating memoir of a man born in Nigeria who, as a young boy, was kidnapped for the slave trade. His story encompasses his experiences as a slave, a sea man and entrepreneur, and his eventual purchase of his freedom. Later in his life, he became a religious zealot and would-be missionary, and this part of the narrative lost me, but the rest of it was quite good.
A very interesting slave narrative from the 18th century. The writing can be a bit slow sometimes, particularly when Equiano gets into religion, but this memoir touches on some fascinating issues of race, slavery, justice, religion, economic issues, and humanitarianism. A crucial text for anyone interested in the history of slavery, post-colonialism, or the 18th century.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Also known as Gustavus Vassa, Olaudah Equiano was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. Although enslaved as a young man, he purchased his freedom and worked as an author, merchant, and explorer in South America, the Caribbean, the Arctic, the American colonies, and the United Kingdom.
More about Olaudah Equiano...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
