Today's Featured Book:
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: August 17, 1976
Page Count: 913 pages
Summary:
Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte—a young man taken from The Gambia when he was 17 and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States.
Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoto and Binta Kinte.
THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky.
Only recently a girl out gathering herbs---and before her two grown men out hunting---had disappeared, and everyone was certain that toubob had stolen them away.
.png)
I was twenty when this book was published, but I was busy finishing college and I missed both the wildly popular book and miniseries. Still, I always wanted to read the book, and when Chapter-a-Day chose it as the first book for 2025, I joined in.
Roots is the story of the ancestor of Black American author Alex Haley, Kunta Kinte. The African, as his aunts referred to him, had a mythological status in the family. Haley felt inspired to find out more about him based on the few clues provided by his last remaining aunt in the 1960s. He found a scholar familiar with African languages, and that led him to The Gambia where he discovered an oral historian who recited the lineage that led to this very ancestor, Kunta Kinte. He found him in America, enslaved, renamed as Toby, in the census records. He began to tell the story of his life.
I was fascinated to read about the life of Kunta Kinte in Africa, the trials he faced during his captivity on the ship to America, and his life as an enslaved man in 1700s America.
I want to know more about the people of Africa. I hope to read a book about the history of the African people soon.
The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.
March 7th - 13th - What fantasy or Sci-fi should be part of the literary canon? (submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove)
Here are my lists. I'd love to hear your recommendations.
My List of Science Fiction Classics
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
- 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
- Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (1951)
- Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1950)
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968)
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1961)
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
- The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1895)
- Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (1959)
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)
- Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1959)
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962)
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller (1959)
- It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935)
- Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Jester (1961)
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
- Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
- The Once and Future King by T. H. White (1958)
- Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (1968)
- The Word for World is Forest by Ursula LeGuin (1972)
- The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (1983)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
OOh nice! I'm not sure I understood this question per se, so I have a really weird answer this week! Lol.
ReplyDeleteHere's my BBH
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
I've seen the original miniseries and one day I'll have to see the newer one and read the book as well. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSeeing this post reminded me that while I've seen the series, I've never read the book. I think I just added another to the list!
ReplyDeleteRoots now (as you say) is considered historical fiction, but when it was new, it was claimed to be history, not fiction. I’m interested in your reaction now, as the book was incredibly influential and followed by many other historical novels and dramas about the origins of American slaves in Africa.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good lists of SciFi and Fantasy… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Roots is based on history as well as family mythology.
DeleteI read and enjoyed Roots when it was first published and I watched the miniseries, at least I think I did. I wonder what has happened with the allegations that Haley plagerized others' works for this book?
ReplyDeleteEnslaving one another is one of the horrible realities of all human history. Whether this story is strictly true or not, the truth of the message remains.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching the mini-series when I was younger, but I never read the book Roots. It made quite an impression on me though. Perhaps one day I will read the book.
ReplyDeleteI recognize a lot of the titles and authors on your list of classic fantasy and science fiction and have read several too. I mentioned a couple of them in m response too. :-)
I watched parts of the original mini-series. I need to see if I can find it anywhere and watch it in it's entirety. I'm glad you enjoyed the book.
ReplyDeleteI read this almost five years ago now (review here: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2021/10/12/book-review-alex-haley-roots/ ) and I went on to read Queenie, about his mother's family, too. I recommend An African History of Africa for a good basic history, I have a few more I'll be reading soon.
ReplyDeleteThat was me, Liz/LyzzyBee
DeleteThank you for sharing your link!
DeleteAnd thank you for the recommendation!
Delete