DNF at 13 percent.

I feel bad for not finishing this, but this whole book has been a struggle, which is why it sat on my currently reading shelf for months.

The book is a stream of consciousness writing by Olaudah Equiano. Mr. Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa was a prominent African living in London. He was a freed slave that supported the British movement to end the slave trade. This autobiography is considered to be one of the main reasons that the the Slave Trade Act of 1807 ended up being favored by many.

I feel terrible that I could not get into this book considering this is listed everywhere as a must read book for African Americans.

I just really could not get into the writing. I mean this was first published in 1789 and the wording and style of writing took a bit to get into. But at this point, the autobiography has no flow to it. There is just regurgitation of information being thrown at the reader and I can't take it anymore. ( )

By his own account, former slave Olaudah Equiano (known in life by the slave name Gustavus Vassa; born c. 1745) was an exemplary success. Kidnapped from his native West Africa as an eleven-year-old, he endured the horrific Middle Passage. He made himself indispensable to several owners, until he was finally able to purchase his own freedom in 1766. Blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit and an unshakable belief that he was especially favored by God, Olaudah navigated several layers of society in the West Indies and England, and even sailed to Greenland as part of an Arctic expedition. During one period of his life, he was even involved in the slave trade, but eventually he became known as an early abolitionist. He married a British woman and had two children with her before passing away in 1797.

The Interesting Narrative is, well, interesting as a historical document, but I have to admit I found Olaudah rather insufferable. I found this passage, from Chapter 9, remarkable (it also gives an idea of Olaudah's writing style): "With a light heart I bade Montserrat farewell, and never had my feet on it since; and with it I bade adieu to the sound of the cruel whip, and all other dreadful instruments of torture; adieu to the offensive sight of the violated chastity of the sable females, which has too often accosted my eyes; adieu to oppressions (although to me less severe than most of my countrymen); and adieu to the angry howling, dashing surfs. I wished for a grateful and thankful heart to praise the Lord God on high for all his mercies!" As long as he doesn't have to see bad things happening, he's ok about it.

I don't recommend this book to the casual reader. ( )

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The narrative is argued to represent a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative. The book describes Equiano's time spent in enslavement, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.

This is a remarkable book written by a very intelligent man who was cast into slavery. It was reportedly a major influence in the anti-slavery movement. ( )

Questa che è la prima autobiografia di uno schiavo nero (1789) ha dovuto attendere 220 anni, e una minuscola casa editrice, per vedere la luce in italiano. Oltre ad essere un documento eccezionale, è anche un avvincente libro di avventure, poiché l’ex schiavo nigeriano («l’etiope oppresso», come si firma), rapito (all’età di 11 anni), venduto (in Virginia) e rivenduto (in Inghilterra), arriva infine a riscattarsi e naviga ogni mare, Polo Nord compreso, prima di fissarsi a Londra dove si dedica alla causa abolizionista. Fattosi battezzare per evitare di perdere, oltre alla terra, anche il Cielo, mostra comunque un sincero interesse alla nuova fede e sparge di citazioni bibliche il suo racconto. ( )