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Aphra Behn, spy and playwright in restoration England writes a book exposing the 'dark heart of colonialism' (with thanks to the brilliant ' in our time' BBC radio 4 programme on the author).
The story itself is of the eponymous noble African Prince who because of his love for beautiful imoinda is exiled from his country and deceived into slavery. In Surinam he is sold ,renamed Caesar but his nobility remains. Again dishonourably deceived by the British governor he leads a slave revolt . The end ...more
The story itself is of the eponymous noble African Prince who because of his love for beautiful imoinda is exiled from his country and deceived into slavery. In Surinam he is sold ,renamed Caesar but his nobility remains. Again dishonourably deceived by the British governor he leads a slave revolt . The end ...more
Aug 30, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
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review of another edition
Shelves:
read-adult-fiction,
read-classics
It was a pretty good story, given the awkward style of fiction of the day, when fiction as we know it was in its infancy.
This is definitely interesting, and not on everyone's radar. While the writing is a little stilted or overwrought at times (did she really just dash it off in a few hours like she said?), this is fascinating even when it's dull because how often do you get to read an account from the 1600s... about a slave...by a woman... that explores the atrocities of colonialism... ? I hated the tiger kidnapping and murder. I don't even get me started hated Oroonoko's idea of saving his wife (lover, baby mama
...more
The prose is brutal and confusing, and it's a lot of tragedy. We are supposed to feel bad for the characters because they are noble and beautiful and treated unfairly and cruelly, but we don't really get to KNOW the characters. Not a pleasant or gripping read.
...more
A remarkable early English novel, and unusually open-minded and egalitarian for the time.
Mar 07, 2010
Heather
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Shelves:
1001-books,
africa,
britain,
17th-century,
female-authors,
own,
novella,
art-of-the-novella,
500-women
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