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| |  | Health & Personal Care | Home » » Roots: The Saga of an American Family | | | | | | | Description: | | Tracing his ancestry through six generations - slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lawyers and architects - back to Africa, Alex Haley discovered a sixteen-year-old youth, Kunta Kinte. It was this young man, who had been torn from his homeland and in torment and anguish brought to the slave markets of the new world, who held the key to Haley's deep and distant past. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Alex Haley | | Paperback:
| 899 pages | | Publisher:
| Vanguard Press | | Publication Date:
| May 22, 2007 | | Package Length:
| 8.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.7 inches | | Package Height:
| 2.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 179 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 excellent characters, but too long and a hurried endingFeb 25, 2010
The ingenuity of the characters is what I enjoy most about Roots. What irritates me, though, is the novel's length. There are too many chapters about Kunta Kinte in Africa and in Virginia, and there are too few chapters about the last two generations preceding Haley himself.
Each successive generation is memorable: there is, of course, Kunta, the native of Africa. His only daughter, Kizzy, is sold away and raped by her new master. The son begotten from that rape is "Chicken George," an accomplished cockfighter. His part is my favorite.
Chicken George has many children, chief among them Tom, the blacksmith. Once the family is freed by their masters and moves to Tennessee, the book picks up pace, going over two generations in the same amount of print used to describe Kunta's miserable, horrific passage across the Atlantic. These generations are less memorable because the book moves too quickly at this point to give juicy details. And the final few chapters, chronicling Haley's research, is gratuitous and self-aggrandizing.
Aside from a slow first two acts and abrupt ending, Roots is excellent, character-driven story-telling. I don't mind that there factual errors (that scholars have pointed out) and much of the meat of the story is a novelization of Haley's "roots." Go in regarding this is a novel, which it is.
 Black History- Roots by Alex HaleyFeb 07, 2010
This book written by Alex Haley, has helped everyone to trace their roots even more. We're all connected to each other no matter where we live or who we are.
Black History should be taught throughout the year, not just one month (FEBRUARY). All races should be included, it's part of life.
RootsJan 30, 2010
The book is great and better than teh TV series. However, the provider is very slow in shipping merchandise out. It should not take 6 weeks to receive a single book.
Unabridged audio book is wonderfulDec 04, 2009
I listened to the audio book on my commute and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The reader is Avery Brooks and he was perfect for the part. His accents and characterizations were ideal for each character, which made the story very easy to follow. His deep baritone voice is very easy on the ears. This is one of the better audio books I have listened to.
The story itself left a great impression on me. It clarified to me once again how horrific the practice of slavery was. When one imagines this story being repeated by millions of slaves, it really has an impact. The detail Haley went into on the capture and transport of Kinte to America was very vivid and made me realize how horrible this experience would have been.
Haley's summary at the end of the book on how he acquired the information for this story was fascinating and illustrates to me that it really is a story that needed to be told. I was also impressed at how accurate the oral history through seven generation turned out to be.
I highly recommend this book to all. This story deserves to be a classic. I will now go ahead and watch the miniseries. I haven't seen it since it first came out.
Excellent Condition!!!!Oct 03, 2009
Great Seller!!! Was sent as a gift to a friend, and book arrived in great condition, within a few days!! Would most certainly use the seller again!!!!
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