Customer Reviews

The Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Long journey home is a very intresting book. Reading about African American Slavery in history books doesnt have the impact that reading these simple stories have. Here I am actually reading about the experience of real people.

I find the stories so intresting I did not want to stop to have my supper. If you knew me you will know that does not happen too often.

As a young person living in England, I recommend it highly not just to other people of colour like myself, but to anyone who likes a well written story. The stories are sad and happy and they make you think about life, and to be glad that the world has become a more understanding and place.

Winston (London)

Julius Lester has written 6 stories about the Black struggle for personal and political freedom--an innate desire in all mankind.
His style is direct and engaging; readers immediately understand and sympathize with the motivation and emotions of the various protagonists, suffering their setbacks and sharing their dreams.
Highly readable this anthology presents a diverse group of settings and eras, all bound together by the natural wish for freedom of movement and the search for personal dignity.

SATAN ON MY TRACK is party biographical, the story of a blues guitar player, who rides the rails and refuses to put down roots.
LOUIS is also biographical, detailing the events of escape via the Road--the Underground Railroad, that is. BEN explores the difficult relations between races when slaves are raised almost as one of the family. The narrator, surprisingly, is a personable and fair white man, who may have to choose between an abhorent institution and the woman who is his heart's desire.

THE MAN WHO WAS A HORSE describes the quiet patience of a Black cowboy, who actually brought in an entire herd of wild mustang singlehandedly. WHEN FREEDOM CAME studies the fate of the suddenly emancipated slaves and how they handled this unknown
social condition. LONG JOURNEY HOME is as patchwork of diverse
facts about slavery, recounted by an unnamed narrator to his young grandchildren, who are skeptical about tales of the old slave days. The ending is based on an actual account of a mass escape attempt. The ensemble effect will cause readers to marvel at the tenacity of one race to be free, and the audacity of another race to treat human beings as mere property. Lester has interwoven Literature, History and Morality in one slender volume, for all ages.

I've read a lot of slave narratives over the years and, like the first reviewer, found these very compelling. I wanted to know what happened to the characters after "the end" and didn't want the stories to stop. I'll be reading more work by this writer.

I read this book several years ago when I was required reading for the students at the school I was associated with. I believe all African Americans should read it to know how our ancestors reacted to being enslaved. Indeed we should have it in our library.

I just finished reading this book like 15 minz ago & i thought it was great! i came online 2 find out more info on the author & stuff so it was aight & i might read another book by Julius Lester well thatz my opinion i*m out ~holla~ represent

The stories were all extremely boring to read. I found them to be a waste of my time and they seemed to have no point to them, which made them hard to understand. There was no plot and the stories were probably among the worst I have ever read. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.