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Uncle Tom’s Children audiobook

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Uncle Tom’s Children Audiobook Summary

“A formidable and lasting contribution to American literature.” —Chicago Tribune

Originally published in 1938, Uncle Tom’s Children, a collection of novellas, was the first book from Richard Wright, who would go on to win international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the Black experience. The author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, most notably the acclaimed novel Native Son and his stunning autobiography, Black Boy, Wright stands today as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century.

Set in the American Deep South, each of the powerful and devastating stories in Uncle Tom’s Children concerns an aspect of the lives of Black people in the post-slavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. The collection also includes a personal essay by Wright titled “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow.”

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Uncle Tom’s Children Audiobook Narrator

Adam Lazarre-White is the narrator of Uncle Tom’s Children audiobook that was written by Richard Wright

Richard Wright won international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the black experience. He stands today alongside such African-American luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, and two of his novels, Native Son and Black Boy, are required reading in high schools and colleges across the nation. He died in 1960.

About the Author(s) of Uncle Tom’s Children

Richard Wright is the author of Uncle Tom’s Children

Uncle Tom’s Children Full Details

Narrator Adam Lazarre-White
Length 9 hours 58 minutes
Author Richard Wright
Category
Publisher Caedmon
Release date August 11, 2020
ISBN 9780063004238

Subjects

The publisher of the Uncle Tom’s Children is Caedmon. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is African American, Fiction, General

Additional info

The publisher of the Uncle Tom’s Children is Caedmon. The imprint is Caedmon. It is supplied by Caedmon. The ISBN-13 is 9780063004238.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Sarah

September 22, 2018

For what it's worth I recommend this book to those Quillette and Areo readers who claim to like reason and science and yet would dismiss both if it doesn't fit their worldview. I recommend it to those who argue that black slaves were better off then poor white and never stop to wonder why black people would risk it all for a glimmer of freedom. I recommend it to those who castigate Afro-American for not loving their country and segregating themselves from the rest of society. I recommend it to those who consider that the holocaust was worse than the enslavement of Afro-American and their subsequent exclusion from all sphere of society because according to them Jews had higher IQ. I recommend it to those who decry identity politics, lament over what is according to them the mistreatment of white folk despite their goodwill and yet never stop to think why identity politics can be so attractive to some and grew to the extent it did. I recommend to those who never wonder if their experience and understanding could be so removed from someone else that there could be many things about that someone's life and viewpoints they don't know that don't know. About a month ago, I read Clarence Thomas' biography. Thomas wasn't exactly pro-desegregation of schools due to his harrowing experience in a white school who accepted black children. At some point in the book, Thomas discuss school desegregation with a white lawyer. During this conversation, Thomas come to the shocking realisation that most white people believe that black people want desegregation because they want to mingle with white even though for most black people desegregation was a mean to get a better schooling system for their children. For me this little episode exemplify most white-black relationship. A saddening lack of understanding.I have no real hope that any of the people I mentioned would be moved by this book, but yet I recommend it nonetheless. What is likely to happen is that they will rate the book 1 star, and then proceed to explain how black people truly hadn't had it that bad and argue about our laziness, ego-centrism and lack of work ethic.By the way, I'm far from being pro-identity politics, pro-liberal or anything like that, but I'm tired of the double standard and hypocrisy I keep seeing. I'm tired of being asked to judge people as individuals and yet see that the same treatment is not given in return. I am tired of seeing people being accused of trying to guilt or of being a spoiled snowflakes whenever they want to discuss racism or discrimination. And I'm exhausted of being told that race doesn't matter or that we're pretty much all equal by people who in their daily life most likely have never been treated differently because of their race in the real world.

Clayton

March 03, 2022

Beautifully written. I could never imagine the pain and strife felt by the characters, but the way in which Wright writes makes my heart hurt for the terrible way the African Americans were treated. This is one of the first books I’ve read where the main characters are continually bombarded with struggles; it almost made me claustrophobic to read because terrible instances would not cease to stop. Wright allows helps us to peek into the hopeless reality of what many black people faced, and in different ways, still face today. It was never fair for them, and that’s what was upsetting to see. As I completed this great read earlier today, I came to the realization that to torment, oppress, segregate, and reject is a result of cowardice. The cruel people in the book (that very much so existed, and sadly still exist) clearly had no indication of what it is like to truly love. Their arrogance and pride blinded them to the hate they were displaying. If we believe in the perfect and whole love that the Holy Trinity radiates, then we ought to know what is right. For the antagonists in the story, they ignored the love God displayed and instead made themselves believe they were the gods. That’s no way to live, and we still see that pan out today.How do we, as people that are called to love as He did, combat the ones that seem to engulf our surroundings with darkness? Do we submit? Do we obey their commands? No! We look to the Father for guidance and ask him to lead us on paths of righteousness. I loved reading this book because, in the face of death, the face of torture, the ones wrongly treated cried out to God and asked to save them. Crying out to God and seeking his answer is something we do not do enough, and because of that, Uncle Tom’s Children has inspired me.

Shauna

June 03, 2016

I really enjoyed reading this. As it dealt with racism it was certainly depressing, but it was also very captivating and powerful. It takes a lot for me to enjoy short stories, so me getting invested in this so quickly is a big deal. But I prefer novels above all else and in the end I wasn't quite as affected by this one as I was by Native Son and Black Boy.

Sean

August 01, 2020

Brutal. A short story collection for Black Lives Matter from 1938. I do not understand why this book is not better known or more discussed. Wright's project here is to awaken whites to the reality of Black lives in the Jim Crow south. It's the literary equivalent of videos of police beatings and murders. By opening with his autobiographical essay, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow," Wright anticipates and preempts the argument that he's exaggerating the racialized horror of southern Black life: How can it be an exaggeration if it's in line with his direct experience?An excellent read after Black Boy. His memoir provides an extensive background and context for these stories. The last two in the collection, "Fire and Cloud" and "Bright and Morning Star" are more intelligible once one has read about his involvement with the Communist Party. All five stories are incredible. Each is unforgettable - a rarity for any collection of stories. Of the five, "Fire and Cloud" struck me as especially relevant. Reverend Taylor must struggle with his role as a leader and the consequences of leadership in a time of need and protest.This goes on the shelf of books that has the power to begin to redeem America, if read widely enough and considered deeply enough. Again, why this book isn't better known or more highly regarded is a mystery.

Tommy

September 13, 2016

It starts with an essay describing Richard Wright's personal education in the South's Jim Crow laws and then we see them play out in five gut-wrenching stories. There's a slight repetitiveness to it since you have individual stories and each one inevitably arrives to racist, violent acts. In particular, "Long Black Song" (probably the only unsuccessful story) seems to demand a quieter, more subtle way of examining these problems but sure enough the angry white mob shows up. That being said the stories "Big Boy Leaves Home" and "Fire and Cloud" are great views of black communities finding strength and resourcefulness under seemingly impossible circumstances. I think the best is "Down By the Riverside", which not only has the other stories effecting, sad violence, but also offers the pleasures of a suspense tale. It's amazing, and by itself is one of the best things I've read this year.

Elana

November 12, 2017

Reading this book is watching a car crash. Long, stark, and horrifying. Wright writes the pain of the black body in Jim Crow south in a manner simultaneously numbing and jarring, like needles stuck into the flesh that you can only feel when you move and dear God you have to move. The contemporary reader can only sit still and watch the furtive movements of each character struggling for bare life in a place and time where being born black means morality and beauty are choked out of your air. And just as each story ends another begins. This is a different kind of horror story.

Rachael

February 13, 2013

Richard Wright's first published novel, Uncle Tom's Children (1936), opens with a quote from the author: "The post Civil War household word among Negroes--'He's an Uncle Tom!'--which denoted reluctant toleration for the cringing type who knew his place before white folk, has been supplanted by a new word from another generation which says:--'Uncle Tom is dead!" It is an appropriate opening for a book hailed as marking the beginning of black protest literature. Wright is not only protesting race oppression, but economic oppression. The book was, after all, first published by the Communist Party, the political views of which are apparent in most of the short stories. In its first printing, "Bright and Morning Star," was omitted, so be sure to read the restored text, which includes the story.Zora Neale Hurston, with whom Wright had somewhat of a feud, said of the book, "a book about hatreds. Mr. Wright serves notice by his title that he speaks of people in revolt, and his stories are so grim that the Dismal Swamp of race hatred must be where they live. Not one act of understanding and sympathy comes to pass in the entire work." True, there is little to be found in the ways of happy endings in any of the stories. However, Wright portrays black life in the South as he saw it, the laws of Jim Crow so ingrained in the minds and hearts of his characters that they are often unable to act or think for themselves, and when they do, the threat of lynching is brought upon them. A bright spot in the message of the author is that despite white supremacy, a united front of the poor--black and white--can disable even the strongest oppressors.

LeeTravelGoddess

December 31, 2021

Richard Wright, I think, really didn’t care what his stories made people feel, he just had to get it out. This is precisely why he is my favorite. I never knew such horrid tales about how whites treated blacks (I’ve heard and read stories but nothing this detailed and specific & yes you may say that this is fiction but NO GIRL, it’s not!) and I’m glad that there is a place of reference here. Hatred at its worst, down to the very core of you simply because of the hue of our skin. A quote from E. Cleaver’s Soul On Ice comes back to me now as I type this review; it stopped me dead in my tracks when I read it….“the price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.” -Eldridge Cleaver there is always a price. let that marinate. My hat is off to you Mr. Wright, it’s a tops 💚💚💚

Giulia

December 16, 2018

Scene di caccia nel profondo sud degli Usa: cinque racconti preceduti da una breve introduzione dell’autore in cui ricorda che lui, ragazzino nero nato nel 1908 , ha potuto avvicinarsi alla cultura solo presentando una tessera della biblioteca intestata a un bianco per cui lavorava, l’accesso ai libri era interdetto ai neri. Riflessione d’obbligo sulla forza potenzialmente liberatrice ed eversiva della cultura e dell’uso in funzione oppressiva e manipolatoria della sua negazione ( e del suo disprezzo). Detto questo, devo confessare che durante tutta la lettura mi sono sentita nei panni del pubblico che assiste, in Palombella Rossa, al finale del Dottor Zivago, la famosa scena del tram, incitando a gran voce la Christie prima e Sharif poi a a ritrovarsi: Voltati voltati! e .. Corri corri ! ( se non la conoscete, fatemi dire con Moretti che continuiamo a farci del male. E comunque potete rimediare ). Ecco, così ho pensato dalla prima all’ultima pagina: Scappa, ragazzo, scappa, vai al nord, non rimanere nell’inferno. E’ un libro doloroso, denso di linciaggi, orrori, ingiustizie insopportabili, ma anche dignità e bellezza; scrittura lucida e nitida.E comunque la storia raccontata dalle vittime sa rendere l’atrocità con un realismo tale che nessun bianco, in questo caso, anche volenterosamente empatico, può rendere: occorre stare nella pelle delle vittime per sentire e trasmettere la paura come compagna di vita. L’unico debole spiraglio si intravede nel quarto racconto, quando i neri si uniscono ai bianchi comunisti e portano la loro infelicità in una dimensione di rivendicazione collettiva. Altrimenti è solo la fuga la possibilità di salvezza: scappa, ragazzo, scappa.

Kirk

February 01, 2008

This one should go over well next Thursday. Lotsa classics, including "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." The only question, of course, will be the old bugbear of naturalism: is RW's stuff too deterministic? We shall let the readers decide. One helpful hint I've discovered for teachers: make 'em read "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" AFTER they read the stories. (JC comes first, as a kind of intro to the fiction). Going with stories over essays for initiates gives folks a little more elbow room for their own interpretations.UPDATE: All right---so I muffed this one. "The Man Who..." is from EIGHT MEN, not UTC. I wasn't thinking. But the discussion was good; the class was able to see beyond the simple criticisms of RW's leftism and sexism and come up with alternative interpretations that give the stories a bit more oomph that their leaden reputation would allow. All in all, a good night.

Leif

June 27, 2016

Haunting visions of the Jim Crow South whence Richard Wright came. His stories are deep in meaning and portrayed through unspeakable acts of violence and hatred, by the wrongdoers, and selfless and audacious loving deeds, from the courageous protagonists. In his introduction, titled The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, Wright prepares the reader for what follows in Uncle Tom's Children. These notes are a piece of history that should be juxtaposed with present-day realities; the reader might find patterns that raise questions about our society's inability to make significant progress in relations between People of Color and White folk.

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