Review | 12 Years of Slavery- Solomon Northup

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12 years of slavery tells the real story of the self Solomon Northup, who was a free citizen but after being kidnapped in 1841, lived 12 years as a slave.

As you'd expect, it's a pretty suffocating read. The portraits are done entirely by Solomon, giving us a good sense of what he felt and everything he went through, both in the pain and suffering as well as in the (rare) moments of affection. At first we get a good look at what life was like for Solomon, an ordinary citizen who lived an ordinary life with his wife and three children and, like us, Solomon worked hard to provide for his family. His greatest talent was being an excellent violin player, but he was also a very cultured and experienced man, knowing a lot about a lot.

when your wife, Anne, goes to work in a hotel kitchen for a few days, Solomon, who was left alone in his house, meets two gentlemen who invite him to play on his trip with the circus. Solomon accepts the job and, figuring he'll be back before his wife, joins them on the trip. However, on this trip he is sold into slavery, thus going through desperate and unimaginable situations for us, who were born in a century where everyone enjoys their right to freedom and expression.

It is a very descriptive book in the facts, and because it is an account, at times it becomes a bit slow reading. On the other hand, it is extremely informative, due to the exaggerated descriptions that inform us perfectly how everything was done at that time, from cotton plantations to traps.

Regarding the Oscar winning film, I didn't see much difference in the important facts. In the film, each fact was very well reported, just cutting out some things that did not influence the events and softening the general chronology, which in the film gives the impression of having taken place in days, in fact it took place in months in the book.

It is recommended reading. It can be a little heavy for the most impressionable, but it is an extremely informative and interesting reading, with emphasis on the formal language that is so lost in our language. I found it very interesting to know exactly what Solomon was thinking and to see that in reality, he didn't lose his temper with what happened and turned into a bitter person, on the contrary, he managed to cultivate affection for the people who were kinder to him.

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