Roots
Book description
Now a major BBC drama starring Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Laurence Fishburne
Tracing his ancestry through six generations - slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lawyers and architects - back to Africa, Alex Haley discovered a sixteen-year-old youth, Kunta Kinte. It was this young man, who had been…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Roots as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Reading this book changed my life. It gave me a sense of pride and place that extended beyond the shores of America. The enduring message of Roots is that enslavement severely tested Black people, but it did not break them.
The “factional” story of Alex Haley’s family encouraged me to go in search of my own roots, a quest that continues to this day.
From William's list on historical fiction by African American authors.
The gold standard of family sagas. A treasure trove of oral history, indomitable spirit, narrative genius, and breathtaking empathy even for those who might not deserve it. A spellbinding combination of scenery, history, dialogue, emotion, and suspense.
The chapter about the ocean crossing aboard the slave ship shook me physically yet held me firmly in place, for I knew I might never experience literature as muscular as this again.
From John's list on multigenerational family sagas.
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