Customer Reviews

Uncle Tom's Cabin

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I read a lot of books and very few of them are ones that I will NEVER forget. Uncle Tom's Cabin is among the few that will be with me for a lifetime. This book is of course about slavery - the evil of it and the necessity of freeing slaves but there is so much more to it. It is also a social commentary. It is a story about hope. 'Uncle Tom' is perhaps the most incredible hero I have ever read about. He is a character of such simple Christian faith that he has encouraged my own walk with Christ. If you are searching for a book that will make you smile at the warmth of the human soul and cry over the evil of people this is the book to read. You will never forget Uncle Tom's Cabin and it very well may change how you live your life. Books that can do that are precious, grab a hold of it!

I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Uncle Tom's Cabin. I've read the history books. I know it first appeared as a serial story in an abolitionist magazine in 1851. I know it appeared as a novel in 1852. I know it is credited by many with having pushed the nation into the Civil War. I know that it is the best selling American Novel of the 19th century. I know it is the 2nd best selling book in America in the 19th century, second only to the Bible. I know it is recognized as one of the most influential works of literature in America and set the stage for many political works that followed for quite some time. I know many of its images and terms have since served to themselves become stereotypes over the years seen very differently today, than they were in the days before and even shortly following the Civil War.

So, when I saw that the novel was available on the Kindle as a free download, I wasn't sure I needed to read it. But I went ahead and I'm glad I did.

There's always a temptation in reviewing a book critically, that the more popular a book is, the more tempting it is to adopt an elitist attitude that serves to further, not the value of the book, but rather the size of the ego of the reviewer. I was tempted while reading this to adopt some of this attitude.

The book plays out as a Victorian morality play and it sermonizes in true Puritan and Calvinist form to seek to bring shame on both the North and the South for their direct and indirect support of the institution of slavery in America. Many of the characters are, from the perspective of a 21st century reader, contrived representations which seem very unrealistic and are designed to tug at the emotions of the reader.

However, the measure of a book is not how it is read by those removed from its time, but rather those of its time. In spite of myself, as I progressed through the book, I found myself grudgingly in places, entering into the story and spirit of the book. In some ways, the effectiveness of the book, even with the elements mentioned comes from Stowe not painting things as negatively as might have been her temptation. With the notable exception of Simon Legree the main characters of the book, in the South of the slaveholder class, are presented in a somewhat sympathetic light. "Good" masters are shown for their benevolence and care for their slaves and in come cases it could be argued that these servants are better off than they might otherwise have been as free. But this works its way clearly to the conclusion that even with good masters the system itself is evil and there is no guarantee that benevolent circumstances will continue. Good masters can fall on hard times and be pressed to sell their property.

I found myself, despite resisting and recognizing the in places heavy handed methods used in the book to appeal to emotions, entering often into and sensing the humanity and emotions of the characters. There is in places almost a Dickensian appeal to social justice that works quite well and makes it evident why the book had the impact that it did.

In short, I enjoyed the book and feel now that I know, not only about the book but have entered into the book and seen America as it was before the Civil War. The final afterword of the author that appeals for action of all Christians (the primary target of the book) is quite effective and the arguments presented against some of the common defenses of slavery of that age are laid out and shown for the rationalizations they were.

5 stars. It not only shows history, it is history.

bart breen

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very melodramatic book. I have read it several times over the past twenty years and must say that it has something new for every decade or even for every generation. When considered for our time, Uncle Tom's stands out as a classic prose that hits directly at those turbulent times before the Civil War, and reflects issues of war and principles today. Harriet Beecher Stowe had a great cause to write about and wrote a work that still is as relevant today as it was during his time.

The author's masterful story summarizes the conflicting attitudes of a nation on the brink of civil war. Melodramatic though it is, it was written in the style of the times and for a situation that required it. This is a highly recommended book.

Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, WAR AND PEACE, THE USURPER AND OTHERS

this book is horrible and the only reason you may need to read it is to realize how bad it is. the portrait of that black man being punished and blessing his masters is impossible to bear. and she sermonizes a lot. i know she was against slavery but her depiction of black people is simply unbearable. oh god

Slavery was ugly. We need to know that. But not the way Stowe writes, I felt like I couldn't bear another page. Unbelievably flat characters in an unbelievably flat setting. Stowe wrote sophomorically about a place she had never been, and instead of creating a good book about the horrors and issues of slavery, she wrote characters who were exaggerated caricatures, from Eliza to Uncle Tom to Simon Legree. Little Eva? Please. I didn't shed a tear. Maybe it worked as propaganda then but I've read much better since.

As a classic, Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" deserves its status as a powerful indictment against the history of black slavery in America. With courage and insight unprecedented in her time, Stowe uses moving family tales of a number of black and white families to pillory the violence and hatred to which blacks were subjected prior to the American Civil War and thrills the reader with convincing philosophical debates that reveal the astonishing hypocrisy and weak-willed rationalizations that the white population used to justify their actions.

But, as a novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is unsatisfying, overly long and poorly edited. Stowe's insistence on writing her dialogue in a faux black English dialect is unconvincing at best and is actually often irritating and distracting as it becomes more and more difficult to decipher what her characters are actually trying to say.

Her insistence on preaching and using Christian church teachings and the bible as the primary basis for criticizing prejudice, racism and slavery frankly grated my sensibilities. There is plenty enough wrong with slavery and its history in America from a purely humanist point of view without resorting to what would be categorized as "bible thumping" today. (That said, I will admit that it may have been an appropriate approach to convince what she saw as her potential audience at the time).

The white characters she uses to support and convey her message of understanding, compassion and her political agenda of abolition are so sugary sweet as to be positively cloying. A scene in which her primary white character, Evangeline St Clare, gathers her family and her family's slaves around her death bed in order to distribute locks of her hair to one and all was so melodramatic and pointless as to approach the level of bizarre.

I would never say to any potential future reader that I enjoyed "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I didn't! In fact, at times, it was even a struggle to finish it. But the message, the history, the overwhelming importance and the power of the arguments conveyed by the story are more than enough reason to read it anyway. If enough people take the message to heart then perhaps the world has a possibility of avoiding repetition of events like the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, the rape of Nanking or the slaughter of the Muslims in Bosnia by the Serbs.

Paul Weiss

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a very melodramatic book. I have read it several times over the past twenty years and must say that it has something new for every decade or even for every generation. When considered for our time, Uncle Tom's stands out as a classic prose that hits directly at those turbulent times before the Civil War, and reflects issues of war and principles today. Harriet Beecher Stowe had a great cause to write about and wrote a work that still is as relevant today as it was during his time.

The author's masterful story summarizes the conflicting attitudes of a nation on the brink of civil war. Melodramatic though it is, it was written in the style of the times and for a situation thatNG ON THE EDGE required it. This is a highly recommended book.DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,WAR AND PEACE, THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, TRIUMPH OF THE SUN are other fascinating and insightful stories

This book is beyond the term "classic." I tend to think of classic books as those you're made to read in school. We didn't have to read this one--I came upon it by myself. The book is a tale of adversity in the struggle for freedom, a look into human cruelty as well as human compassion, and one man's loyalty to those he is indentured to. The novel is set in a period just before the Civil War; during the time when the black people of America were not citizens, and had no rights. In the south during this time, the blacks were forced to work hard labor on plantations and were required to live in small dorms outside of their owner's homes. However, the novel is more than just a narrative of slaves, but of human emotion rising up in the face of adversity. It is a story of the fight for freedom, and an account of the history of America. The author brings out the humanity in the slaves, and describes the great injustices that took place during the time. The characters of this book are strong, resourceful, and respectable. If you're interested in race and racial relations also try "Raising Fences" and "The Bark of the Dogwood."

I usually don't expect 150-year-old novels of ideas (and this is the quintessential novel of ideas) to be page turners, but Stowe is to be commended for writing what is first of all a great story. Never mind all the political sermonizing she does here -- and there's plenty of it -- this is above all a gripping story. Every time I expected a chapter to head into tedious territory, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though everyone knows what will happen to Uncle Tom -- this being a slave narrative written before the Civil War, after all, -- I couldn't help but continue wanting to read on. This was the second best selling book of the 19th century not only because it was highly controversial, but also because it's a well-told story, and I say "told" because Stowe herself often claimed that God dictated it to her. And it seems to be more spoken than written, especially with her frequent direct addresses to the reader.

While there may be something to Stowe's claim of divine inspiration given its impact, the book is certainly not without its faults. The character of Eva, for instance, is unlike that of any normal living child. She's a saintly caricature. And her neverending conclusion drips with maudlin sentiment exaggerated to Biblical proportions. Similarly, Uncle Tom doesn't bear resemblance to anyone I've ever met. But most troublesome is Stowe's romanticism of the black characters. She lumps them together and stereotypes them in one way or another. Clearly she means no harm; just the opposite is her desired effect. But it sometimes comes at the price of preachy condescension. They may be positive sterotypes, but they are stereotypes nonetheless, and they weaken her case against slavery.

Having read and enjoyed the highly-acclaimed and abundantly-awarded "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones, it dawned on me that Stowe really had a more thorough understanding of even the most subtle effects that the institution of slavery had on blacks and whites both northern and southern alike even with ideal slave masters. She even appears to foresee the differences of opinion that would later crystallize in Martin Luther King's brand of civil disobediance and the more militant versions advocated by the Nation of Islam and Black Panthers, juxtaposed in the diverging paths of the quiet, pious and tolerant Tom with that of the more directly oppositional George. She criticizes neither, though she seems to favor Tom's path, knowing full well that Uncle Tom is unique, and his abundance of Christian tolerance isn't likely to be found in the general population -- nor is it a path she desires for most slaves. She would rather that slaves simply escaped. She also seems to advocate their creation of a country of their own, taking Liberia as a model.

Still, further, Stowe is an early feminist, and as a result, the characters that are most interesting here are the women. Ophelia comes nearest of all the characters in the book to walking off the page. And Cassie, a finely complex creation, though introduced only in the last 120 pages or so, nearly steals the climax.

And what of the villains? They, too, are caricatures to be sure. To me at least, Simon Legree left something to be desired. He occasionally comes off as more of a buffoon rather than the Satan you know him to be deep down. But Marie St. Claire -- again, the woman -- is as clear a picture of selfcenteredness as Scrooge is of miserliness.

Hemingway said that all modern American literature dates back to Huckleberry Finn, but I think he needed to look about 30 years earlier than Twain to Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin is a masterpiece of American fiction; if it is not the Great American Novel, it is, at least in terms of sales, impact and literary merit, the Great American Novel of Ideas.

This is definitely a book worth reading. I have refrained from reading it previously for no real reasons, but when it was on sale at the bookstore, I decided that it was time to read it.

The story is amazing. When I first heard of the book in history class, I thought that it would be a book about harsh slave masters, and how they are unfeeling and torture all their slaves. However, Stowe was able to use her book's length to her benefit.

Even though during the time of it's publication, most Southerners were angry that the book misrepresented them, I feel that the book used a great amount of time showing that not all slave masters were hard drivers. It wasn't until the very end when the readers met with the harsh slave driver. The previous slave owners we'd met would have been considered the lesser of the evils.

The book is a great read, sad, tragic, and feeling, while given in a very different way than I've ever read (the author will disrupt the narrative, and plead to the readers to understand the agony, then resume with the narration).

All in all, I was quite please, and very moved.