My Reaction to Equiano's Narrative
An Interesting Narrative is by far one of the more grueling novels that I have had to read this quarter. I was hoping for this particular read to have more dialogue, as The Secret River was pretty detail heavy and light on conversation, so I was a little disappointed to face the same type of reading. I find Equiano's language to be very formal, which I think contributes to my having a hard time digesting the material. It is a difficult read for sure but I believe there is important discussion and conversation to have regarding its contents. I don't know if I have been fully exposed to slavery outside the U.S, so it's been very eye opening to be introduced to this new perspective. I'm excited to see how my growing knowledge of the slave trade outside the U.S can be compared and contrasted with my current knowledge of slave trade history within the U.S.
Hi Catalina! I definitely agree that I am more comfortable with the dialogue heavy novels over exposition heavy ones, especially ones written in this style. I found that I could breeze through "There There" but take a long time reading Hayy Ibn Yaqzan and this novel. Some sentences are very loaded and are not very concise, but despite the difficulties I am interested in the material and in learning more about Equiano's life.
ReplyDeleteHi Catalina, I completely agree that it is a bit of a tough read and I frequently have to go over the same paragraph two or more times. Seeing a perspective of the slave trade that isn't completely centered around specifically the African American (United States) experience has been interesting.
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