At once a novel of the Middle Passage and a novel of adventure and the sea. A worthy winner of the National Book Award in 1990. ( )

At once a novel of the Middle Passage and a novel of adventure and the sea. A worthy winner of the National Book Award in 1990. ( )

A piquant and lively adventure story of a freed slave who escapes an undesirable marriage only to discover he has stowed away on a slave ship bound for Africa. ( )

Middle Passage by Charles Johnson won the 1990 National Book Award. I was reluctant to read it because I thought it was going to be too depressing and preachy. It was depressing at times, but it was also, well . . . goofy. Very engrossing, even exciting, but a little haphazard. It has a ne’er-do-well hero, multiple plots, and exciting adventures -- a real sea yarn.

I could not get my brain around the notion that the narrator knew about and referred to things that didn’t happen until decades after the story takes place (he mentions things like time zones and squeegees that didn’t exist in 1830, for example, not to mention philosophical and scientific theories that didn’t develop until much later, such as evolution). But once I decided to let that all flow over me, I enjoyed the book. It certainly packs a lot into its 206 pages. ( )

2679 Middle Passage, by Charles Johnson (read 25 Nov 1994) (National Book Award fiction prize in 1990)This tells of a criminally-inclined black freeman in southern Illinois--manumitted by his master--who at 22 in 1830 goes to New Orleans, stows away on a slaver, and makes a trip to Africa and on the way back the slaves revolt. The book is politically correct and I could not like it. It tells of awfulness on the voyage, but Roots told the story better. The characters are weird and the events weirder. I do not have a high regard for the book. ( )