Roots

Rating:
Summary: Great piece of work!
Review: After watching the DVD release of Roots, I had to once again repurchase the book that made the movie version possible. Such vividly written material...it made you feel like you were actually there.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Alex Haley is truly a genius! I missed the TV mini-series and picked this book up on a whim one day and couldn't set it down until I had finished.

First of all, anyone who has ever attempted to trace their family tree knows just what a daunting task that can be. However, for a descendant of slaves, it is next to impossible. Perhaps that's what makes the story such a masterpiece.

The harsh reality of slavery is never more evident than when we are living through the abduction of Kunte Kinte from his village. As he makes his voyage across the sea to an unkown land, we are held together only by the fact that we know he has to live, if only because this book is about him.

The Murray family's story is one that is truly telling of many of the slave owners at that time. Their attempts to balance their religious beliefs with their ownership of other human beings was something that apparently many at that time dealt with. Despite their kindness; however, one had to wonder if they dealt with that struggle by still not truly seeing their slaves as true humans.

Like many, I think the character "Tom" represents the American spirit. His ability to realize that he was beholden to no man, white or black, and his courage in taking a stand depicts the beliefs that eventually led to the Civil Rights movement.

"Roots" should be a must-read in any class on American history. I don't think I have ever read a book that was so honest in its depiction of America's great sin.

Rating:
Summary: ROOTS, ROOOTS, ROOOOOOOTS
Review: Ladies and gentlemen everyone on the planet earth has heard about this book or the USA's televised version of his book . Naturally, it is a story based as close as possible to the facts as possible. Who cares if there are some small mistakes is his writing. He succeeded in doing what no man Black or White or any other color or natural origin had done before. How many of his critics could boast such a legacy. He had gone where no man had gone before him in 500 years here in these United States. So, bow before him to show him your respect. Trust me, if he could have gotten all of his facts straight, he would have. It was not he who had erased his history, but rather, the enemy did it. We all know who the enemy is in the slave trade scenerio.

Rating:
Summary: the book that started it all
Review: These days it's fashionable to attack Roots becuase of the mistakes Alex Haley made with certain details. Forget all that. Alex Haley turned the thin facts of his family history into a gripping novel that caught the attention of the entire country. The book made it's readers cheer, weep and rethink their feelings about race.

This book also is responsible for creating an entire movement of folks who study black geneology. Every work of historical fiction concerning black characters, and every black family history book on the market today owes it all to Roots.

Rating:
Summary: MAGNIFICENT! EXTRAORDINARY!! AND MUCH MORE!!!
Review: This outstanding work of Alex Haley is one of the finest books of all time. It is literature at its optimum gear.
"ROOTS" will touch your heart, pierce your soul, and calm your conscience. It is a literary experience that endures for life.

Rating:
Summary: Deserves A Valued Place in History
Review: With a book as socially important as "Roots" you must focus on two things as you read. First, consider the book on its own literary merits and quality, as you would with any other book. But in this case you must also take account of the book's importance to American culture and society. The importance of "Roots" is beyond reproach and it clearly deserves its reputation as a classic. The way this book has illuminated the African-American historical experience is obvious and can't be denied, and the sweep of this novel is up to the challenge.

Outside of the imposing social importance of this book though, there are a few things to quibble about if you just look at this book on its own strengths. In its attempt to cover seven generations of an extended family, the book is certainly lopsided, with a huge amount of space given to Kunta Kinte, and less and less to each successive generation. Of course, this was a choice of Haley's in order to keep the book to a manageable length, and Kunta's story is certainly the most dramatic, but you are left with many unanswered questions about the lives of his descendants. Kunta's early life back in Africa takes up the first fifth of the book, and this section is overlong and difficult to get through due to its lack of suspense. Kunta's happy, proud life, along with that of his village, are described in such an overly sentimental way (I hesitate to use the word "sappy," though it comes dangerously close) that you are left with the suspicion that Haley is trying to play cheerleader for the softer side of African history. Of course this was necessary back when Haley wrote the book, as ancient African cultures were barely appreciated at the time, and historians still mostly thought that Africans had spent thousands of years doing nothing until the Europeans arrived. So Haley has done a service in his coverage of Kunta's childhood by using solid African history as the backdrop, but the picture is just a little too rosy for belief. One other flaw with Haley's coverage of this period concerns the African role in the slave trade. It is now common knowledge that the slave trade got off the ground because a small number of white traders recruited vast numbers of Africans to round up their countrymen and bring them to the slave ships. This was the tragic outcome of inter-tribal rivalries, with the recruited slave raiders unaware of the horrific implications of their actions. This phenomenon is mentioned in passing, though Haley suspiciously fails to dwell on its significance, as if it were too embarrassing.

Those minor flaws aside, the book becomes impossible to put down when Kunta's life takes a tragic turn as he is kidnapped into slavery. Here is where we begin to appreciate the full power of Haley's achievement. His vast research into the experiences of the slave makes the story truly heartbreaking, with the horrific conditions of the slave ship described in great detail. We also learn of the lives of quiet desperation led by Kunta's descendants both on the plantation and on through post-slavery discrimination. Despite the severe hardships of living under a system designed to crush them, African-Americans held out with a strong hope that things would eventually get better, and a strong modern culture developed under amazing circumstances. Alex Haley's insights into the crushing despair, strong moral fortitude, and hopeful faith behind the development of African-American culture are the ultimate achievement of this book, and this should be appreciated by all Americans.

Rating:
Summary: The Book that surprsed me!!!
Review: This book was presented to me by a friend on my 13th birthday...I read it when i was 15. The book just sat on my book shelf for two years and I decided to read it because I had nothing else to do. But after reading the I can say that it is one of my all tie favorites. The book is about slavery and goes through 7 generations of a family affected by it. I still remember each and every part of the book and I'm 20 now. This book is a must read. You might be a little bored at first but this book is worth it. Dont miss out on it!

Rating:
Summary: A Somewhat Good Book
Review: Roots was a book about a couple Omoro and Binta who have a baby boy named Kunta. However, Kunta is kidnapped by whites and he becomes a slave. His master is very nice to him by not using the whip on him and he gives him the name Toby when he arrives. Later on he marrys Bell a cook and they have a daughter named Kizzy. However, Kizzy is put in jail for writing a fake pass for her loved one.
My grandfather thought I should read this book, because he thought I would like it. When I first looked at it I didn't think I could read all of it and it would be boring. Then as I started reading the book I got more interested. I even stayed up late to finish the book.
My favorite part is when Kunta is on the ship going to America. I felt so sad and couldn't believe someone would do such a thing.I felt so sorry for his mother and father. Also I would really recommend this book to others.

Rating:
Summary: Very well done, very thorough
Review: I first read this book ten years ago, and since then have read it three times. I am about to read it for a fourth time. In my opinion the book gives an in depth look at slavery without sugar coating it. I was drawn in by the characters, and there were times I became so emotional, I had to put the book down. Even while I was away from the book, I found myself thinking about it. Very intense. The genius of this book is the author's ability to get the reader to walk in the shoes of those in the book. Too many times the period of slavery and the impact of slavery has been minimized or glossed over. On the other hand, it has also been sensationalized countless times just to make a point. This book neither hides the truth, or comes off has a blazing neon in your face sign. It simply is, and without a doubt that is the harshest reality of this all. These things really did happen.

Rating:
Summary: Very moving, depressing, and thought-provoking
Review: There are few acts of inhumanity that I regard as worse that the Holocaust, but slavery is now one of them. Roots reveals the real "roots" of all African Americans and all that their ancestors went through to become established here.

Don't read Roots unless you want to learn the truly bone-chilling history of black people in America.

Haley spares no detail in describing the ordeals of slaves, from the horrific journey on the middle passage, to being sold away from their families never to return, to their dehumanization in slave auctions. It is appalling that after all these injustices that things like racial profiling and prejudice still go on.

I think that Roots is essential for anyone who calls themselves an educated American.