Rating: 
Summary: Required reading for all members of the human race.
Review: I believe that this autobiography can best be summed up by a quote in the middle of the book: "You have seen how a man becomes a slave. You will now see how a slave becomes a man." As a small child, Douglass overhears his master berating his mistress because she was trying to teach the boy to read. Douglass realizes that his master wants to keep him ignorant. From that point on he vows to become the best man he can possibly become, and to become his own Master. His challenges as a child are simpler; tricking other children into playing Alphabet games so that he may slowly learn to read. As he becomes older, his challenges become more complex and dangerous; dealing with the Slave Breaker, a man that uses brutality to condition slaves into complete submission. When it suits his needs, Douglass allows his oppressors to believe his is defeated, but he never allows anyone to take his humanity or dignity. The reader travels with Douglass on his quest from the moment he is separated from his mother as an infant, to his days beginning in the abolitionists movement. It is unfortunate that Douglass was unable to write of the details of his final escape from slavery because he was still worried about exposing those who assisted him in his flight. Douglas also does an excellent job of demonstrating how slavery is also destructive to the spirit of those who practice slavery. We meet not only the Master and the Slave Breaker, but we also meet kind and loving women who eventually become hardened and cruel after being forced to accept their fellow man as only chattel. Everyone should read this short book at least once in their lives. It is important to experience a first hand account of the past evils of our society. It is equally important to experience a first hand account of one man's triumph over such evils. For every black mark described, Douglass paints a ray of hope. The book is also very well written. And for a historical period piece that was written 160 years ago, it stands up remarkably as a captivating page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: One of the best handled, smoothest reads in all of literature, American and world. Douglass keeps a level head and never comes down upon the reader too hard. A great read that everyone should open their eyes to and enjoy and regret (that he had to write it) in the same token.
Rating:
Summary: A classic "narrative"
Review: This is one of the most lucid, absorbing autobiographies I've read; that it has much to say about American history, specifically the institution of slavery, only adds to its luster. It is remarkable that someone born into slavery could learn to write as well as virtually any "man of letters" in his era. Despite Douglass' unhappy lot (or maybe because of it), he managed to acquire a great deal of insight into the people, white and black, around him. Douglass convincingly depicts how the institution of slavery damages both oppressed and oppressor--it dehumanizes the former and brings out the cruelest qualities of the latter. (A hundred years later, Martin Luther King would say much the same about the practice of segregration.) There is much anger in the Narrative--but also a wise and noble spirit. Compulsively readable, this book is still very much "relevant" today, and I can hardly imagine a time in which people will no longer wish to read it.
Rating:
Summary: great insight
Review: I expected this book to be rather historical in nature and probably pretty boring- but I was pleasantly suprised to find it to be a definite page-turner! This book offers valuable insight into what slavery was truly like for Douglass and many others of his time. His account is heart-wrenching. I definitely suggest this book.
Rating:
Summary: An insightful and powerful portrail of humanity's many sides
Review: What at first glance appears to be a gripping story of the evils of slavery and the excitement and thrill of the battle against and escape from those evils, on second glance reveals itself to be a deeply insightful look into the nature (and in some ways the meaning) of humanity. We see the cruelty, the evil, the jealousy, and the brutality and we see the dignity, the honor, the kindness, and the compassion of humanity. We see nearly all that we as humans are capable of and through reading this short narrative we may become aware of the fact that humanity is what we make of it and that inhumanity is not so different from humanity as we had wished. This book presents a great story that is interesting in and of itself, but it also presents lessons to be learned. Lessons made clear by experiences among the most horrifying in all of human history. Hopefully these lessons will be learned from the experiences of the past and not from new horrific experiences in our own time.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for all americans
Review: Everyone in America who has at least a high school diploma has a vague sense of who Frederick Douglass was, and maybe something about his connection to the Underground Railroad. But few have probably read this book. It is truly a classic, and like many classics, gets ignored. This is a powerful book which no brief summary can do justice. Anyone interested in the antebellum South will find this book fascinating. Douglass's narrative is gripping, and his moral struggles are equally arresting. It is difficult for us at the end of the 20th century to believe that such attitudes and practices were once prevelant in an entire culture. It is for this reason, if for no other, that this book should remain relevant.
Rating:
Summary: This moving story creates an empathy for negro slaves.
Review: This book was moving and a good summer reading book for students like myself in high school.
Rating:
Summary: 1sthand account of the evils of this "peculiar institution"
Review: This is a great book, and I feel everyone should read it. Iwasn't forced to read, but I chose to read it on my own in order tobetter understand the nation's injustices. Douglass' first hand account of slavery is one of the best sources. His writing isn't wordy or difficult to understand, either. Great man, great book.
Rating:
Summary: compare with Dr. King
Review: Compare this book with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"--the parallels are ineresting and informative.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding read
Review: I Read Douglass for an assignment in my college U.S. History class, and was almost dreading opening this book afraid that Douglass would blame every white person for his torment. Instead I found that Douglass knew the difference between the slave owners and the people who were trying to stop the practice. I finished this book in a matter of days, and respect Douglass as the extreamly brave man that he was. The paper I wrote reflected my outrage that such an occurance could have happened in this beautiful country.
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