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Loading... Roots: The Saga of an American Family (original 1976; edition 2016)by Alex Haley (Author)
Work InformationRoots by Alex Haley (1976)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This story of seven generations taken from birth of Kunte Kinte in Gambie in 1750. Kidnapped, beaten, taken into slavery to America. Next generation, man refused to take a name. He taught his daughter Kizzy - his history and some words from the Homeland and Kizzy passed them on to her son George. Slavery was brutal. Powerful and terrifying reanactment of Slavery - capture, toubobs, Black slavers, Middle Passage, auction, escapes, massa, family, rape, and movement toward freedom - Kunta Kinte stays silent and learns to survive in dignity, even forgiving those around him, from his shaklemate to his wife and child, for not worshiping Allah. For years, he often turns to friends on the plantation, yet is often so beset by self pity, hatred, and guilt that he develops no trade and mentally berates all the Blacks for not knowing or caring about their African heritage. Had he spent more time carving wood than blaming, he might have been happier. Without Kunta Kinte, the tale folds. Chicken George and his cruelty to roosters is unbearable to read. Story picks up again when Alex Haley hits his stride with new found research friends, journey to Africa, and encountering the impressive griot! no reviews | add a review
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It begins with a birth in an African village in 1750, and ends two centuries later at a funeral in Arkansas. And in that time span, an unforgettable cast of men, women, and children come to life, many of them based on the people from Alex Haley's own family tree. When Alex was a boy growing up in Tennessee, his grandmother used to tell him stories about their family, stories that went way back to a man she called the African who was taken aboard a slave ship bound for Colonial America. As an adult, Alex spent twelve years searching for documentation that might authenticate what his grandmother had told him. In an astonishing feat of genealogical detective work, he discovered the name of the "African"--Kunta Kinte--as well as the exact location of the village in West Africa from where he was abducted in 1767. Roots is based on the facts of his ancestry, and the six generations of people. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)929.20973History and Geography Biography, genealogy, insignia Genealogy; Heraldry Families Families Geographic Treatment (Families) North America (Families) United States (Families)LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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