The Algerine Captive, or The Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill

by Royall Tyler, Caleb Crain (Introduction)

A predecessor of both the nativist humor of Mark Twain and the exotic adventure stories of Washington Irving, Herman Melville, and Richard Dana, Royall Tyler’s The Algerine Captive is an entertaining romp through eighteenth-century society, a satiric look at a variety of American types, from the backwoods schoolmaster to the southern gentleman, and a serious exposé of the horrors of the slave trade. “In stylistic purity and the clarity with which Tyler investigates and dramatizes American manners,” the critic Jack B. Moore has noted, The Algerine Captive “stands alone in our earliest fiction.” It is also one of the first attempts by an American novelist to depict the Islamic world, and lays bare a culture clash and diplomatic quagmire not unlike the one that obtains between the United States and Muslim nations today.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, American, 18th Century, Travel, Novels

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1967

About the author

Royall Tyler (1757-1826) was an American jurist and playwright who wrote The Contrast in 1787 and published The Algerine Captive in 1797. He also wrote several legal tracts, six plays, a musical drama, two long poems, a semifictional travel narrative, The Yankey in London (1809), and essays. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, he attended the Boston Latin School and then Harvard, where he earned a reputation as a quick-witted joker. After graduation, he joined the Continental Army. In late 1778, he returned to Harvard to study law, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1780. He opened a practice in Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1801, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Vermont as an assistant judge, and was later elected chief justice.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Royall Tyler's "Barbary captive" narrative has the distinction of being known as the United States' first novel, and it's still a good read today for its take on events in the early republic. Supposedly it's the tale of a young New England doctor named Updike Underhill, who unknowingly signs aboard a slaver as ship's surgeon, only to end up captured by Algerian pirates and sold as a slave himself.

Royall Tyler uses the novel format as an opportunity to make statements about the horrors of American and African slavery, comment on life as a Christian in Muslim North Africa, and poke fun at some of the political and educational standards of his time.

For a writer of historical fiction, these works contemporary to the period in which one is writing can be a valuable research tool. I would recommend The Algerine Captive to anyone interested in the history of the early American nation.

[Christopher Tirri · Rating 1 out of 5]

With one of the blandest plots I've ever encountered that is buried under pages of useless exaggerated "factual" details, this novel deserves nothing more than a quick speed read. Maybe it's just me, but I have no interest in having a white dude with a ridiculous name tell me about the horrors of captivity and the wonders of being a Christian Federalist.

[Thea Paraskeva · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anachronistic, sarcastic, stereotypical…all of these are words that could be used to describe this novel of 18th century American characteristics, complete with an uninformed look (the first such look) at the Islamic world, and a castigation of the slave trade. Tyler was a predecessor to Twain, Irving, and Melville, and I can’t think of another individual who could say the same.

This novel has the benefit of being the first of its kind, and as such, earned its place of distinction. That said, the novel is fairly straightforward and misrepresents so many facts that it is difficult to call this fiction historical. The novel essential serves as a time capsule, documenting for posterity the limitations of knowledge of the first American novelist.

[Lena Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay. I understand and appreciate it's importance to the Early American literature tradition, but I would not read it again. I think it points out the folly of America's anger toward Algiers for taking its citizens as slaves when America was currently holding millions in slavery at that time, but that it could have been much more effective. Underhill is not a dynamic character. He should have been changed by his experience, but he comes home just as impotent, misogynistic, and ridiculous as he began. that irritates me.

[Riff · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay book which is best known for being one of America's first successful/popular fictions & having been written by a bit of a rake, shall we say, who almost married John Adams' daughter. Tyler's depiction of the Barbary States (here Algiers) on the North Coast of Africa is utterly divorced from reality - really he just made it all up because it was topic which would sell well in the early US as we were quickly heading toward a short naval war with these states over an argument about piracy in the Mediterranean. But Tyler could not be bothered actually doing any real research, so he just made it up - other than picking up whatever he might from newspapers or whatever. The depiction of colonial America in the first half is mildly interesting. And that's basically all you need to know about it. Only finished it because I started it & it's short.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting foray into early American fiction. This book should be valued as an anti-slavery book; while problematic to the modern reader it was probably very daring and brave in its day considering the prevalence of slavery in America, and the economic and political power slavery provided many Americans. The point of having the main character taken as a slave was to demonstrate to Americans the immorality of slavery no matter the color of your skin or origins.

[Stephanie West · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars only for the mere fact it was a difficult read comprehension-wise. Overall really liked the theme of what it means to achieve common ground with a religion seemingly different from one’s own. Mahometan beliefs aren’t so different from other religions, and religious prejudice should not divide humanity. That’s just my take.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

None as one of the first novels written by an American, there is wit to the first volume of it. It has social conscience, although you will cringe at the racist way it is expressed. Deserves to be seen as an anti-slavery novel. A reminder that the world was wide and complex even before there was a United States. Well worth reading.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really great read if you can pick up on all the irony and satire - otherwise, it would probably be pretty hard to get through. It's definitely not a book meant to be powered through thoughtlessly. However, with the necessary consideration (and a little guidance), this is a fascinating read. While the beginning is admittedly a little slow and the second half is a little dense, it offers an incredible perspective on "The American Dream" that people still idealize today, despite it's many, well, lies, to be blunt.

Would I bring The Algerine Captive into a classroom? I think that this would really depend on the students. They would have to not only understand the concepts of irony and satire, but be very adept at recognizing them in texts. While I would love to teach this novel, I'm not about to try to pulling teeth to get students to read it. After all, while the content is good, it is a little hard to get through. The engagement factor is probably pretty low for the majority of the text (though there are certainly spikes of very interesting points in the narrative) and I think that there might be more relatable texts that teach the same things.

Usually, when I read a book, I can immediately identify it as a text I would or would not bring into my classroom, but this is one of the few that I hesitate to say either way. I do really like it, and taught well I think that students could gain a lot from it (it would work amazingly well with multiple literary theories).

All right, on that note, I've convinced myself: yes, I would bring it into the classroom (or perhaps excerpts of it would work better than then entire text, now that I'm thinking about it. Ooh, yeah! As excerpts this could be an /amazing/ text for scaffolding, especially in collaboration with a history class), but only after I'd carefully gauged the class as a whole. This would not be a text for every group of students that came through the door.

[Scott Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book interesting as a very early American look at the world. The first half is a fun little romp through American society with a clueless Ichabod Crane character in a way Twain would later copy. The second half is a much more somber account of his slavery in Algiers, that tries to make some sort of grand statement but largely falls flat I think. No life changer but an interesting little thing.

[Noran Amin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Volume II contains the central focus of the novel, which is the captivity narrative, I preferred Volume I when Updike Underhill was still in the US. Volume I is more credible and powerful. The captivity part, in my opinion, was a failure. Instead telling readers how he suffered as a captive, Updike gives readers a history, geography, politics, and religion lesson that is incomplete, fragmented, half cooked, and just scattered over few pages.

[Elizabeth]

As discussed in Jill Lepore's "Prior Convictions" in the 14 Apr. 2008 issue of The New Yorker.

Royall Tyler is, apparently, a Great American Novelist I have never heard of. I now feel that my eleventh-grade English class was deficient.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad - although he doesn't get captured until halfway through the book! And it's not so much about his captivity as it is a kind of travel narrative.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to read for class. Did not pick this by choice.