The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Equiano's Narrative was so richly structured that it became the prototype of the nineteenth-century slave narrative."
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

He was born, he tells us in his Interesting Narrative of his life, in Essaka, a small village in what is today eastern Nigeria that was ruled by the powerful eighteenth century King of Benin. His parents prophetically named him Olaudah Equiano, to signify his expected role as a leader—as one favored and who spoke with a loud voice. They dressed him after the tradition of their greatest warriors. Through age ten or eleven he was rooted in the cultural, spiritual, economic, religious and political customs of this charming fruitful vail, which he describes as ‘a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets.'

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Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Coffeetown Press (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603810196
• ISBN-13: 978-1603810197
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,450,916 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an 18th century spiritual and political autobiography, December 16, 2003

By	Chutes (East Brunswick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of Olaudah Equiano (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

As an American who has grown up hearing and learning about slavery and the slave trade in the US, and mainly in the 19th century, I appreciated the insight Equiano's book gives into the institution from other parts of the world, and in particular how racism evolved within an institution that had been taken for granted for centuries and had not been particularly racist.

It is not the narrative of a victim. Not only does Equiano purchase his freedom halfway through the book, but also you can tell from the incidents he describes and from reading between the lines that he was a strong, even pugnacious person who didn't take any guff from people he did not respect. He was pragmatic, ambitious, and a fighter. While he accepted the social hierarchies of the time, including slavery itself until the latter part of his life, he shows no humility (except in terms of his spiritual condition). When he proposes to another person that he work for him as a servant, you get the feeling that he has just given that person an honor.

Equiano's autobiography is important for many other reasons. It is very much a book of its time, the late 18th century, when spiritual autobiographies were important both to the writers and the readers. (Make sure that when you buy an edition of this book you do not buy an edition that has been abridged, as the account of Equiano's religious/spiritual development is what has been cut, making hamburger of what remains). He has wonderful, sometimes acid, comments, to make on the churches he observes at the time. For example, here's his comment on a church service run by the Rev. George Whitfield, at which people are crowding out into the yard and standing on ladders to see into the church: "When I got into the church I saw this pious man exhorting the people with the greatest fervor and earnestness, and sweating as much as ever I did while in slavery....I thought it strange I had never seen divines exert themselves in this manner before; and was no longer at a loss to account for the thin congregations they preached to."

Equiano's autobiography is also a tale of his adventures: he served on board battle and merchant ships much of the time and saw action during the French and Indian war. He was also part of Phipps' search for a passge to India through the north pole, where their ship was frozen in ice just as Shackleford's was two centuries later.

And finally, Equiano's life and story become entwined with the British abolition movement. His book was intended to serve the movement, raising revulsion by demonstrating the cruel and unethical practices that rose from slavery and appealing to logic and the reader's sense of shame. He is one of the earliest writers to point out a psychological blindess in slave holders, the denial and the double vision they had to develop in order to justify themselves. The very existence of the book, written by a literate, very bright, and comfortably wealthy former slave put the lie to the racist arguments that Africans were best suited to slavery. And in one part of the book that is reminiscent of Mary Wollestonecraft, he speaks passionately that the ignorance and helplessness that was so striking in so many slaves had nothing to do with nature, and everything to do with social conditioning.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars allows for personal reflection...., December 24, 2002

By	franda "mscheesecake" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of Olaudah Equiano (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

It is hard to rate a book like this...

You must read it if you're even considering it and once you've read it, you should pass it on to someone else. Life dishes us a lot. Life dishes out some people more hardship than others and sometimes we get the opportunity to give ourselves and those we love a chance at a better life. Not only does this book tell a wonderful story of a man who found strength most of us never realize we possess, but in doing so - has proven the power of language, written and spoken. The world can be full of possobilities in even the most impossible situations - to say nothing of the horror we inflict upon each other...but that's another story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Equiano's Life..., December 16, 2008

By	ZMC "Virtuous Reader" (Dorchester, MA) - See all my reviews

"The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano" has always been spoken of in literature courses but to finally read his book gave me good insight into who this man really was. To understand the language used in the 18th century and how that language helped to push the abolitionists into action is key within the study of slavery during this time. If you have never read a narrative by an African who was stolen into slavery and eventually became a self made man, this is the book for you.