12 Years a Slave Paperback – April 23, 2014

Edit—this is the link Amazon gave me so this is the edition I read. I read a 99¢ Kindle edition. There were some obvious typos and wrong words. It looks like it might have been done with optical character recognition. I only recall one or two sentences in the book whose real wording could not be divined. It was not so big a problem to interfere with my voracious reading of this outstanding book. I enjoyed the convenience of an cheap Kindle version, but I will likely purchase a critical edition in the future.This is not just an important historical document, it is a gripping story. Witten in eloquent English prose (with occasional Victorian flourishes in language as well as deference to public modesty), it offers a compelling tale rich with vivid and detailed descriptions of slave life on the lower Mississippi circa 1841–1853. Personally for me, as a white Southerner who grew up with the spectre of slavery in the United States heavy on my shoulders, I have not sought out much of this kind of material. Reading it turned out to be a revelation, bringing details into sharp focus—the specifics of the privation, the discomforts, and the wanton cruelty of that society. Just the fact that Northup initially finds himself with several other free persons who were abducted into slavery is chilling. It must have happened a lot, and in an era when by law no slaves could be imported into the U.S.—they had to come from existing "stock". So this business of abducting free men and women must have been a brisk trade in those days.Nor is this book a nonstop grind of horror. It is certainly harrowing, but there are moments of joy and humor (intended and unintended—there is a hilarious passage where he describes in his oblique Victorian way that he subdued a white man who tried to kill him by kicking him in the testicles). The description of slave Christmas is memorable and deeply melancholy. There is a very funny description of several slaves at a Christmas dance competing for the affections of a girl named Lively. There are also thought provoking observations about human nature and the times Northup lived in, as well as fascinating details about agricultural practices.I feel this book has deepened my compassion for my African-American contemporaries and the size of the problems they face. I look forward to reading more slave narratives. I remember being impressed by Frederick Douglass and his powerful, lyrical prose, but all I read has been things he wrote in the cause of Abolition. I am looking forward to reading his account of being born a slave and becoming literate under that condition, and gaining his freedom. It will present an interesting contrast with Northup's tale, since he was born a free man in the North, and was kidnapped and forced into bondage.Every American should read this book. I wish it was assigned in every public school in maybe seventh or eighth grade. This detailed look at the experience of slavery from the point of view of someone who was very intelligent with a great memory, a great stylist of English, and having the perspective of growing up a free man gives the reader a rare front seat to history in a gripping and satisfying story.

I read this prior to seeing the movie because I wanted to see what the story really was without Hollywood embellishment. This had no embellishment as far as I could tell and I could really get in touch with what this man went through. It read like a personal biography told by your grandfather. I could imaging Solomon Northup sitting in a room with a group of people just telling his tale while someone recorded it. It seemed very genuine.Because of it's matter of fact voice, I was able to read the story with a detached emotion. While I got interested in the characters and their stories, I was not overwhelmed with the emotion that I'm sure I will be when I see the movie and hear it with personal feelings from the characters along with all the cinematic glitz.. I do not mean to take away from what this man went through, as I am very certain it was extremely emotional and critical to the development of the rest of his life, but his straight fowardness with the facts just made the terrible truth of this time in American history easier to read for me.I like to listen to narratives as the details of peoples lives often interest me. But, they can become mundane sometimes. Since this is a situation that I have no first hand knowledge or experience with, it fascinated me from beginning to end. The only part that seemed to drag to me was the full chapters on how to plant, cultivate,and harvest cotton and sugar cane. While very important for explaining the everyday life that Mr Northrup lived during these years, it was very difficult to read because I have no knowledge or interest in anything agricultural.I would recommend this as a great narrative of a man who suffered great injustice and lost 12 years of his life in an American institution that no one living today will ever experience first hand. It is a testimonial of how awful humans can be towards one another and hopefully it can help modern day people to turn away from such things and treat each other a little better every day.

This is a really good book to read, the author Solomon is very educated and his 12 years in slavery was horrible. Luckily, he doesn't go into to much detail about punishments but enough to make you disgusted with mankind.

A very well written, true story about the horrible life of a slave.

This is a soul stirring story which compels you to ponder about the inhumanity of the so called humans.This is the best book out of all true stories i have read till date.

Il libro e' la storia avvincente di un uomo libero che viene attirato in una trappola e venduto come schiavo al Sud degli USA. Fino a quando un uomo di buon cuore segnala la sua situzione ai famigliari che riescono a liberalo. dopo 12 anni di schiavitu

People ask me why I can read horror books and not get scared... Because nothing is as scary as what humans can do to one another. Ghosts, vampires and monsters aren't real, history shows us we don't need pretend monsters.Even though the history of slavery is well known it is still so difficult to comprehend how it is possible that "respectable people" thought it right that they could take ownership of another human being and treat them however they want. It really is a stain that will never come out of the fabric of our history.As a read, it is interesting, informative, engaging and moving. I would say that no-one could read this and still not try to understand how the long reaching impact of slavery still reaches into modern life. Heartbreaking, especially Patsey.

This paperback is totally different in paper and quality than all other penguin versions. Is it perhaps not an official one? The colors are slightly different as well. A pity!