Review of The Life of Josiah Henson

I decided to shorten the title of this book in the title above because it's a bit of a mouthful: The Life of Josiah Henson, formerly a Slave, now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. However, the entire title is incredibly important - it highlights the progress Henson made through his bravery and belief in the right of his freedom. Although he did not physically write the book itself (having had that privilege snatched from him by his "masters"), Henson is remembered as a powerful orator and narrated this book to be written word for word from his speech.

The novel begins with Josiah Henson as a child. He was born into slavery and at first sees no other way forward in his life. However, as he grows to reach a pre-pubescent age, he begins to realise that he is physically superior to many of his fellow bondsmen. This offers Henson, or "Siah" as he's known, to gain opportunities which he recognises that others around him do not have. Even though he is able to accomplish tasks with a great level of alacrity he still suffers at the hands of dominant white men. By the time he reaches adulthood he is physically impaired. The beating which did this irreparable damage to him really stuck out to me. He was set upon by a white man and a couple of his slaves. Although strong, Siah could not fight against four men, and was almost beaten to death. He received this because he was perceived to have done something wrong: if this fit and able, incredibly intelligent man was liable to such beatings, then one can only imagine the sufferings of those who couldn't fulfill their tasks as readily. Siah uses his wit and incredible physical abilities to earn money during his time as a slave. I'm NOT going to spoiler this one, as I think it's an incredibly important book to read, but I will just say that his attempts to buy himself freedom do not go exactly to plan ...

So if you've been keeping up with my recent posts, you'll know I reviewed Twelve Years A Slave (http://the-darkness-will-never-win.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/review-of-twelve-years-slave.html) and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (http://the-darkness-will-never-win.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/review-of-narrative-of-life-of.html). Although I felt the style and narrative of The Life of Josiah Henson reminded me a little of Twelve Years a Slave, they obviously still offer an incredibly different viewpoint on the topic of slavery. The biggest lesson which I feel Henson tried to express through his writing is that slaves are no less intelligent than their masters. Henson himself was stripped of all means of education as a child and all contact with the commercial world, however, by adulthood he had enough wit and sense to free himself from captivity successfully and build a safe haven for former slaves. He is largely the reason why the next generation of his family were schooled - he chose the correct way forward at every turn point so that the community had enough money to build a school. Moreover, Henson expresses more potently than the other writers just how great an affinity there was amongst the slaves owned by each master. They were not just holed up together like animals as the masters thought, but had genuine bonds and feelings for one another. 

The utter barbarity of white slave traders was (I think) expressed and felt by Henson more through their words and legal actions than their physical abuse. The tragedy of the plot lies in Henson's attempt to purchase his own freedom. He is thoroughly respected by his master and purchases his freedom, only to find that he has been betrayed in the worst way. The document which declares his freedom has been destroyed, to be replaced with another one which indicates that he owes an insurmountable sum of money in order to become free. At this point it really struck home for me that, no matter how well you performed as a slave, or how much you had done for a master personally, they would rarely (if ever) see an individual as more than a piece of property.

Have any of you read it? What did you think?

Steph

Trends in Chick Lit

Everybody has a guilty pleasure when it comes to reading. For some, it’s fantasy novels, comic strips, or even the likes of Fifty Shades of Grey. For me, it’s the generic chick lit novel: girl is lonely, girl meets unlikely match of a boy, girl and boy fall in love (surprise, surprise). The simple and near-identical structure of these novels appeals to my willingness to remain right in the centre of my literary comfort zone. However, recently it’s come to my attention that this style of book isn’t quite as superficial as it first appears to be.

A few years ago, a large proportion of this genre of literature was centred on female body image. Obesity was a hot topic in the UK and USA at this point as shocking statistics were being poured out over the media concerning the 61% of the population deemed to be within this category (statistics as of the NHS’ report concerning obesity in 2010). At this time, and for a couple of years preceding it, chick lit authors positioned this issue at the forefront of their novels. This encouraged people, especially young women, to love their bodies even if they are technically overweight. This body-beautiful campaign as such was taken up by many authors worldwide, including one of my personal favourites, Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries anyone?). Her range of adult novels includes the Heather Wells mystery series, which tracks the progress of a young woman who has been criticised because of her large size. The books explore the idea that being overweight does not make a person unattractive, or unsuccessful. Thus, they serve to work against the “fat shaming” that goes on in the media: critiques of celebrities gaining a few pounds and the endless advocation of (unhealthy) fad diets in seemingly every magazine with a female target market.

Recently however, as the issue of obesity has become a less pressing issue in the media, chick lit authors have turned their attention elsewhere. Recent figures in mental health statistics have becoming increasingly alarming, to the extent that 1 in every 4 people experiences some form of mental health issue every year; the most common being depression and anxiety disorders. Again, as the media has begun to focus on these issues, so have chick lit authors. The two novels which I have read so far this summer as part of this genre have adhered to this. Both feature mentally unstable female protagonists who have undergone some form of trauma in their lives and thus (unfortunately) need to be rescued by the loving, handsome boy-next-door as it were.

After a hectic period of second year English Lit exams and getting a new kindle for my birthday I really wanted to chill out with a simple chick-flick on holiday. As a student I obviously instantly started scrolling through the reams of (largely awful-looking) free books in this style on Amazon. Coming across "Twenty Eight-and-a-Half Wishes" I didn't expect much and the opening chapters held out to this expectation.

The book is set in a modern Southern style landscape. The protagonist is an anxious 24-year-old girl who finds it hard to feel appropriate emotions towards events. She lost her father at a young age and is controlled by a wicked mother. This Cinderella-esque storyline was waiting for a Prince Charming to arrive, but, akin to most other romantic novels of our era, Joe McAllister is a rugged, mysterious figure. This generic outset initially jars with the magic realism that Rose's visions imbibe the plot with. Her blunt reaction to (not giving any spoilers) certain tragic incidents in the novel heightens this; in my opinion making this protagonist and the book itself too unrealistic.

However, after the disappointment of these first few chapters the novel improves greatly. It develops into a mystery-romance novel rather than a mere romance one, which allows it to offer much more to the reader in terms of plot and interest. Moreover, Rose's visions no longer seem to jar with the main plot, but cohere with it and enhance it, allowing the reader as well as Rose to have a stronger grasp of the mystery at hand than most other characters in the text. Rose’s visions as well as her social anxiety arguably hint at deeper mental issues within her character. However, the fact that the visions save Rose’s life portrays an important message to the reader: mental illnesses do not have to destroy your life. This is something which Rose learns as she develops as a character.

Similarly, Natasha Preston’s first book in her (appropriately named) “Silence” series raises a great number of important issues surrounding the moving issue of childhood sexual abuse. Despite a pretty good (albeit clichéd) romantic back story to the plot, the traumatic effects of this type of abuse upon a teenage girl remained the key focus of the novel. Silence follows the story of 15-year-old Oakley who hasn’t uttered a single syllable since the age of 5. Her overwhelming love for her 17-year-old best friend/neighbour/all-round good guy Cole encourages her to consider the impact of her silence on others, including her family. Oakley, her loving parents and sex-obsessed older brother make up the Farrell family unit. But as the novel rapidly makes clear, Oakley’s silence isn’t the only aspect of the family’s problems which doesn’t immediately meet the eye …

Set in England, the social issues which this novel raises really struck home for me. Moreover, with the recent numerous allegations of child sexual abuse by famous men in the media business, the concerns this novel raises are at the heart of heated discussions in the UK: can we really trust our children with anyone? How does this kind of abuse affect the mental health of the victim as they reach puberty and beyond?

I believe that the most important aspect of this novel is the exploration of the ways in which sexual predators transform their victims in order to cover up their horrendous acts against human decency. Oakley has her voice physically and metaphorically removed in a hyperbolic symbolization of the fear in which these victims live.

Once you get past the slightly bad writing that characterises the initial chapters of both the books discussed above, they really do expose some harsh realities about the state of modern life. Women are statistically more likely to suffer from depression than men, which perhaps explains why these authors have chosen for their female protagonists to be portrayed as fragile, imperfect creatures. Perhaps they want to suggest that if you really get to know a person (as the reader does with the narrative voice) everyone is broken. However, there may be a greater issue at hand: are these modern chick lit authors falling into the fallacy of creating almost 19^th century female protagonists who can’t survive without swooning into the arms of a life-giving, life-saving man?

Review of Silence

Natasha Preston's first book in her "Silence" series (appropriately named) raises a great number of important questions surrounding the moving issue of childhood sexual abuse. Despite a pretty good (albeit cliched) romantic back story to the plot, the writing completely dragged down my overall impression of the book. My kindle edition unfortunately also had quite a number of spelling and grammatical errors and typos. Though this was obviously not a bad feature of the book itself it too detracted from the strikingly good storyline. 

Silence follows the stroy of 15 year old Oakley who hasn't uttered a single syllable since the age of five. Her overwhelming love for her 17 year old best friend-stroke-neighbour-stroke-all round good guy Cole encourages her to consider the impact of her silence on others including her family. Oakley, her loving parents and sex-obsessed brother Jasper make up the Farrell family unit. But as the novel makes clear, Oakley's silence isn't the only aspect of their family's lives which doesn't immediately meet the eye ...

Set in England, the social issues which this novel raises really struck home. Moreover, with the recent numerous allegations of child sexual abuse by men in the medial business, this novel is at the heart of heated discussions in the UK. The most important aspect of this novel, I believe, is the exploration of the ways in which sexual predators transform their victims in order to cover up their horrendous acts against human decency. Oakley has her voice physically taken away as a hyperbolic symbolization of the fear in which these victims live. The question it most potently raises is: how does one grow and adapt to deal with normal life after life-destroying incident like this have taken place?

So, once you get past the somewhat awful writing and the lack of suspense in the novel (the author reveals the nature of the cause of Oakley's silence in the first few chapters), Silence develops into a heart-warming, tension filled novel.

What were your thoughts?