"A novel in the honorable tradition of Billy Budd and Moby Dick . . . heroic in proportion . . . engrossing."--The New York Times Book Review. Middle Passage is an astonishing work of historical fiction about the slave trade which combines elements of classic 19th-century sea-going novels with the existential angst of a 20th-century philosopher. The result is a resonant work that is completely original and truly unforgettable.
In this savage parable of the African American experience, Rutherford Calhoun, a newly freed slave eking out a living in New Orleans in 1830, hops aboard a square rigger to evade the prim Boston schoolteacher who wants to marry him. But the Republic turns out to be a slave clipper bound for Africa. Calhoun, whose master educated him as a humanist, becomes the captain's cabin boy, and though he hates himself for acting as a lackey, he's able to help the African slaves recently taken aboard to stage a revolt before the rowdy, drunken crew can spring a mutiny. Middle Passage won the 1990 National Book Award.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Middle Passage:
Interesting: a glimpse of life early/mid-19th century New Orleans and the slave trade. 6.5/10.
Wonderful!!!!!:
This book was in great condition. And it was a great pleasure doing business with the seller would do it again anytime.....
Wow (a review of the audiobook):
I have rarely heard a narrator's voice so well-suited to a character as is Dion Graham's voice is to Rutherford Calhoun. The entire book is written in first person as a personal journal of a ne'er-do-well former slave from Illinois who lives in New Orleans in 1830. Calhoun stows away on a ship that he discovers is a slave ship bound for West Africa. It is captained by an American explorer and adventurer with a strong personality and an insatiable desire for new experiences. Along the way, Calhoun... more info
Wow:
I have rarely heard a narrator's voice so well-suited to a character as is Dion Graham's voice is to Rutherford Calhoun. The entire book is written in first person as a personal journal of a ne'er-do-well former slave from Illinois who lives in New Orleans in 1830. Calhoun stows away on a ship that he discovers is a slave ship bound for West Africa. It is captained by an American explorer and adventurer with a strong personality and an insatiable desire for new experiences. Along the way, Calhoun... more info
