Roots: The Saga of an American Family in Crazy Challenge Connection

Apr 13, 2016 Book Concierge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, audio, africa, history, concierge, library, nonfiction, north-carolina, virginia

Book on CD performed by Avery Brooks.

Haley’s blockbuster history of his ancestors begins with the birth of a baby boy – Kunta Kinte – in a small African village in the Spring of 1750, and ends two centuries later in Arkansas.

It’s a gripping tale and Haley is a great story teller. I was engaged from page one and found myself very interested in all aspects of the book – from Kunta Kinte’s boyhood in Africa, to his experiences as a slave, to the continued story of his descendants and how they kept Book on CD performed by Avery Brooks.

Haley’s blockbuster history of his ancestors begins with the birth of a baby boy – Kunta Kinte – in a small African village in the Spring of 1750, and ends two centuries later in Arkansas.

It’s a gripping tale and Haley is a great story teller. I was engaged from page one and found myself very interested in all aspects of the book – from Kunta Kinte’s boyhood in Africa, to his experiences as a slave, to the continued story of his descendants and how they kept the story of “the African” alive through the generations.

Haley’s narrative focuses on three of his male ancestors. Kunta Kinte’s story takes nearly half the book. His grandson “Chicken George” occupies much of the middle third of the book. And George’s son Tom, is the focus of the next major section as the family is emancipated at the end of the Civil War. I am struck by the fact that Haley gives little attention to the women in his ancestral line. Not only is Kizzy given short shrift, but Tom’s daughter Cynthia and granddaughter Bertha (who is Haley’s mother) are given less attention than their husbands – Will Parker and Simon Haley. And this, despite Haley’s statements that it was the “old women” – his grandmother, aunts and cousin who passed along the story of “The African” and his descendants. Still, this is a small quibble.

Avery Brooks does a magnificent job narrating the audio book. He is an accomplished actor and really brings the characters to life. His deeply resonant voice was mesmerizing, and despite his naturally deep timber he managed to give a believable voice to even the young girls.

While the book is catalogued by libraries as nonfiction / biography, Haley obviously had to invent the dialogue he uses for much of the book. (I find it interesting that more readers tag this as “fiction” than nonfiction.) When published the book was a runaway best seller, but also somewhat controversial. Haley was accused of plagiarism and he settled the case out of court, admitting that many passages from The African by Harold Courtlander appeared in his book. Additionally, many genealogists have questioned his research and feel that official records do not confirm the story much before the Civil War. None of this information takes away from the great story, however.
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Aug 26, 2024 Bucket rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, non-fiction, culture, reviewed, literary, classic, bildungsroman, generational-epic, life-and-death, american-dream

I've read a bit about the controversies surrounding Roots - plagiarism being foremost, but also the combination of fiction with non-fiction here that is at least a little problematic. I'm no expert, though, so I'm rating Roots here as a work of literature, untied from its social and political contexts and its author's agenda and/or poor behavior.

More than half of this tome focuses on Kunta Kinte - growing up in Gambia, captured and shipped to the U.S., life as a slave. The story is fascinating, ...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Marisa rated it it was amazing

This is a very powerful book. It is great how every generation passed on the story of Kunta Kinte until Alex Haley researched it and wrote it for everyone to read. The book really takes a honest look at slavery and it is not "sugared over" so to speak. It is sad, brutal and yet it has its funny moments and it ends happy. ...more

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