The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written by Himself (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

Olaudah Equiano (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2007

Autobiographical work from the eighteenth century merchant seaman. His was the first influential slave autobiography. It exceeded all expectations for the quality of its imagery and description as a literary style, as well as its profoundly shaming narrative towards those who had not joined the cause of slavery abolition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (May 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406524921
• ISBN-13: 978-1406524925
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Brave Slave's Escapades", July 2, 2011

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written by Himself (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

How many millions of Africans were sold into slavery, died on the Atlantic crossing and suffered captivity as possessions of other humans till they died? Nobody knows, but the number is overwhelming. It was another, earlier holocaust brought about by a brutal combination of African rulers and Euro-American dealers. Unlike the survivors of the Holocaust during WW II, few Africans were literate, at least not in European languages, nor did they get access to pen and paper. So, we don't have the same number of stories. That's why this autobiography is so important. It tells in stark, yet very human terms, how a slave's life could go, from a slave's perspective. Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped at age 11, from his Nigerian village (of course, that nation had not come into existence yet), was sold and re-sold, shipped across the seas in a slave vessel with abominable conditions, then sold and sold again. He prayed continually for freedom, but did not win it for many years. Even `good' masters betrayed him, what to say of the devils who treated him worse than a dog. He survived battles, shipwrecks, the attentions of American kidnappers of freed slaves, and much more. He learned good English, reading, writing and navigation. At last, in the West Indies he bought his freedom with money he'd earned by bitter toil, returned to England and roamed no more. Born in 1745, he died in 1797, at about 52 years of age, having published this book eight years before.

Not only is this an interesting, amazing slave narrative of suffering and adventure, containing one of the earliest insider descriptions of African village life, it is also a monument to humanity. Olaudah Equiano, known to Europeans as "Gustavus Vassa", still had faith in God after all that had befallen him, he writes without much malice, but crying out against the evil of slavery with all his might. I think there are few people who advocate slavery today, but for those who would read of the triumph of the human spirit, this is your book. Read it !

2.0 out of 5 stars Read as Scholarship, December 1, 2011

By 

JSmalls - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written by Himself (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

This is one of those cases where Equiano deserves a lot of credit for getting his work published. However, he doesn't deserve a lot of credit for drafting a readable narrative. This is tough to get through (even for those of us interested in African scholarship), and it may be best to read only excerpts. As primary source, this does continue to enlighten the period and problem of slavery.