The classic tale that awakened a nation a nation about life under the slave system.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Literature And History:
There are some books which one gets to know by reputation before one actually reads them. "Uncle Tom's Cabin (or, Life Among the Lowly)" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of them. Whether from studying American History and slavery, and hearing the pejorative term "Uncle Tom", one gets a strong sense for certain aspects of the book. For whatever reason, I had not read the book until recently, when studying in more detail the history of slavery in the U.S. made this a necessity in my view. The history of... more info
Penguin Edition, edited by Douglas, is Not Reliable:
My one-star rating applies only to the Penguin edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Penguin edition, edited by Ann Douglas, has a high rate of transcription error. So it is not suitable for serious study. I listed a selection (over 100) of the transcription errors in the Penguin edition for a presentation at the 2007 American Literature Association conference. For example, the Penguin edition on page 619 (in the 4 copies that I've examined) has the following line: "If the laws of New England were so... more info
A must book for Everybody:
I found this book very well written. It is interesting that the author chose not only to show the terrible suffering that came from slavery, but also she revealed how slavery extracts a toll on the master. Personally it exemplifies how religion can (as in many cases throughout history) support and justify cruelty and violence. This book should stir everyone at the gut level. I don't want to forget to add that I like the Modern Library Classics format. At the end of the book is discussion questions and... more info
patronizin and preachifyin:
I wasn't ready to enjoy this novel and the first 60 pp reinforced this prejudice. The beginning is filled with Stowe's rendition of slave's speech--"ah's gwyne ter make corn pone fer Mas'r"--which most modern readers will find demeaning. Fortunately this tones down. As a non-religious person I have a low tolerance for preachifyin, but it bothered me less as the novel progressed, as it became obvious that the most effective argument against slavery at the time was righteous Christianity. The issue was... more info
