Customer Reviews

Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (Penguin Classics)

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A compelling and highly readable indictment of slavery in America, "Dred" takes risks that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did not. The ending of "Dred" is powerful and strong, unlike that of "Uncle Tom", which seemed to advocate ultimately that the slaves should be freed and encourged to return to Africa. Harriet Beecher Stowe is just as sharp in her criticism of the North and she is to the South. She is quick to condemn the passive profiteers of slavery as she is the slaveholder himself. I throughly enjoyed this book. I will read it a secod time.

While Uncle Tom's Cabin will likely remain Harriet Beecher Stowe's best known work, her 1856 novel Dred should not be overlooked. If you like this time period, you should like Dred. Stowe avoids the heavy-handed authorial commentary that characterizes Uncle Tom's Cabin; in other words, she lets the events of the story speak for themselves. The story is slow-burning plantation drama--again, if you're a fan of 19th century literature, you'll love Dred. Dred compares favorably to Moby-Dick, as both novels turn on gradual plots where the reader's bond to the characters becomes crucial. Because the plot takes awhile to develop, the true reward of the novel comes from watching the characters grow and evolve.

This edition features an introduction and notes by Robert Levine, which do a great job of placing Stowe's work in a historical context. Dred should appeal to students of 19th century literature, and anyone else with an interest in slavery and abolition.

I am shocked at how many of the "modern" views were actually in writing over an hundred years before I became acquainted with them. A great bit of liberal understanding.

She presents the arguments pro and con about slavery.

Harriet Beecher Stowe must have ruffled quite a few Southern feathers (at least the upper class ones) with this tell it like it really is novel of the Antebellum south. She presents a diversified picture, not only of the ruling class and those who were unfortunately owned by them, but glimpses into the lives of the lower class whites, free people of color, and the choices they had to make out of necessity that would condemn them in society's eyes, the same society that forced them into making these choices.

In writing this novel she was inspired by the case of Nat Turner (who the character of Dred was based on) but in a sense all her characters were based on real people. There were most likely countless Tom Gordons, selfish, destructive, unworthy heirs to the family estate, as well as the character of Harry, intelligent, morally upright, a better human being than his half-brother could ever aspire to, who pretty much manages everything himself, and who'll be denied what should really be his by both his illegitimate birth and his skin color. How many parlormaids, kitchen staff, etc. were actually the unacknowledged children of the master? It must have been quite a number or Stowe wouldn't have created the character of Harry with so much realism.

Nina Gordon is a most interesting as well as entertaining heroine, as she at first appears to be a spoiled southern belle but it's soon revealed that there's much more to her character. The reader will enjoy both the development of her social conscience and her way of telling off those who really need to be told, like her self-righteous aunt and a persistent - and very unwelcome - suitor.

Stowe is great with language dialects as well. When you read this novel you're not only entertained but also informed, a history lesson as well as a leisurely read.

I just read that Harriet Beecher Stowe's second book was as popular as her first, so I wanted my book club to read it as one of the selections for the coming year. But, the price of the book was quite prohibitive and I will have to choose another book for my selection. I am happy to have it in my book collection though.