Uncle Tom's cabin, or, Life among the lowly ; The minister's wooing ; Oldtown folks
Ratings54
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings54
Average rating3.5
This unforgettable novel tells the story of Tom, a devoutly Christian slave who chooses not to escape bondage for fear of embarrassing his master. However, he is soon sold to a slave trader and sent down the Mississippi, where he must endure brutal treatment. This is a powerful tale of the extreme cruelties of slavery, as well as the price of loyalty and morality. When first published, it helped to solidify the anti-slavery sentiments of the North, and it remains today as the book that helped move a nation to civil war.
"So this is the little lady who made this big war." Abraham Lincoln's legendary comment upon meeting Mrs. Stowe has been seriously questioned, but few will deny that this work fed the passions and prejudices of countless numbers. If it did not "make" the Civil Warm, it flamed the embers. That Uncle Tom's Cabin is far more than an outdated work of propaganda confounds literary criticism. The novel's overwhelming power and persuasion have outlived even the most severe of critics. As Professor John William Ward of Amherst College points out in his incisive Afterword, the dilemma posed by Mrs. Stowe is no less relevant today than it was in 1852: What is it to be "a moral human being"? Can such a person live in society -- any society? Commenting on the timeless significance of the book, Professor Ward writes: "Uncle Tom's Cabin is about slavery, but it is about slavery because the fatal weakness of the slave's condition is the extreme manifestation of the sickness of the general society, a society breaking up into discrete, atomistic individuals where human beings, white or black, can find no secure relation one with another. Mrs. Stowe was more radical than even those in the South who hated her could see. Uncle Tom's Cabin suggests no less than the simple and terrible possibility that society has no place in it for love." - Back cover.
Reviews with the most likes.
I understand why some people do not like this book. I also understand that they do not approve with the way it presents the black slaves and that reinforces stereotypes about southern blacks slaves. But I think when taken in context for they time and political situation in which it was written it is brilliant.
This book has clearly had a strong impact on American history and literature. I found it very moving and was nearly in tears during some parts the story. Mrs. Stowe does a great job with characters descriptions she paints them very vividly and we hate the villains and love the heroes.
The last 1/4 of the book took me out of the story as it becomes more religious and “preachy”.
Overall I think this is a must read.
The first book to make me cry. Incredibly woven tale of a beautiful friendship.
This novel follows the story of two enslaved people named Tom and Eliza. It presents characters to whom readers can connect, and it reveals the evils of slavery in an impactful way. An obviously moralistic work, it was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in an attempt to move people to action in order to bring an end to slavery in America. According to legend, Abraham Lincoln said when he met her, “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War.”
Featured Series
19 primary booksLOA is a 19-book series with 19 primary works first released in 1826 with contributions by James Fenimore Cooper, Abraham Lincoln, and 23 others.
