Summary:
Published in 1976, Roots: The Saga of an American Family introduces us to a story loosely based on Haley's family history. Starting with the legendary Kunta Kinte, a boy kidnapped from Gambia in 1767, transported to Maryland and turned into a slave under the name Toby, Roots tell us a story of his heirs desperately trying to keep Kunta Kinte alive in their memory. Thanks to them, 200 years later Haley was able to track down his ancestors' village - Juffure and introduce Kunta Kinte and his descendants to the world.
My review:
I'm in love with this book. It took me 3 days to read it, I just wasn't able to put it down. I loved how Haley described Kinte's childhood in Gambia, with all the details from the African culture, then perfectly conveyed his thoughts and confusion when he was transported to Maryland, to a completely different world - another culture, language, religion and climate. The process of learning new things and getting used to the fact that he is no more a free man between his fellow Africans was really touching, I remember crying so hard at this part..
Of course, Kinte had to get used to it - obviously, because if he hadn't.. There would be no story to tell - fathered a daughter, then his daughter gave birth to her children and so the story followed until it reached Haley, who spent 12 years on looking for every information that could bring him closer to his motherland. I found it amazing that it started from a few words from Kinte's original language that his descendants remembered from his stories about Gambia.
Sadly, it is very possible that it all has been a hoax - Haley was accused of plagiarism from The African by H. Courlander. Also some of the genealogists claim that it might've been a mistake that Toby was brought to the North America in 1767.
Whether it's true or not, I suppose we won't find out anyway. The thing is, I loved the book - doesn't matter to me if it's all fiction or not - (although if it was true.. it'd be even more amazing) it's a very good read for a long evening with a cup of tea
PS. I also recommend a TV miniseries from 1977 based on the novel - I tracked a 25th Anniversary DVD color version on ebay
