Uncle Tom's Cabin // Book Review

 Uncle Tom's Cabin:

Harriett Beecher Stowe

This is the story of the slaves and their masters, good and bad; Slaves, beaten and tortured, or pampered and cared for, all depending on the whim of of the Master. Tom, respected and loved by his master, trusted with the care of his whole farm, is a gentle, God-fearing man, who finds himself sold to a slave dealer, due to financial troubles, and headed for the plantations down south. Eliza is a young chambermaid, married to a man who loves her dearly, and mother of a sweet little boy. She discovers the plan to sell her little boy down the river, and she determines to protect him and keep her by her side, and she runs. St. Clare is laid-back slave owner in New Orleans, who adores his darling daughter, Eva, and lets his slaves run wild, pampering and indulging them. Cassy is a woman who doesn't believe in the existence of God or love anymore, and just wants to die. Emmeline is a girl who has been separated from her mother and was bought into the worst kind of life imaginable. Legree is a man past all feeling, who lives to drink and make more than his neighbors. He beats, tortures and taunts those under his control

          Each has a story to tell. Every one tragic, and different, yet all controlled by one thing. Slavery.

I finally finished this book! But please don't think that because of that sentence Uncle Tom's Cabin is horrible, terribly written and boring, because it's not. It's wonderful, and well thought out, potent, and full of raw emotion. But for some reason I really couldn't get into the story. It wasn't that it bored me, because I was very interested, once I had actually picked it up and read a chapter or two in a sitting, and then it was hard to set down for a while, but it was really hard to pick back up. When this lovely girl took me to class with her several weeks ago, I finally read a good chunk of it, and I was rather happy, but I was still dragging my feet about picking it up, opting for "less dense" reading material instead.

          But I finally finished this work of literature, and let me tell you, its pretty amazing. I was hoping for a happy, "everybody is happy and safe, peaceful, and nothing goes wrong" ending all the way through, but I think it was even better the way it ended. 

          Some of the characters I felt I had known forever. Miss Stowe did an excellent job painting their portraits and personality's  and then there were some that I wanted to get to now better but never had the opportunity, because Miss Stowe breezed passed their introduction, and  never really sketched their characters. There were several stories unraveling all at once within the volume  and occasionally Miss Stowe changed from one to another rather abruptly, and it was a little startling and unexpected. It was a little alarming a couple times. :) 

          On the whole, though, I think Uncle Tom's Cabin was excellent and well worth the read, even if it did take me forever. I would recommend it to basically everyone. :). 

my rating: * * * * * * * * * {nine of ten}