I purchased this book by Lawrence Hill in Canada while on vacation. It was prominently displayed in a chain bookstore, and I was quite surprised I had never heard of it. While this excellent book was published in Canada as The Book of Negroes, the politically correct U.S. publisher felt that an innocuous title, Someone Knows My Name, was better suited to the American audience.This is a pity. The title refers to an historical document, The Book of Negroes. This book was an enumeration of the Black-British slave colonists who escaped to the British during the Revolutionary War. Many of these people became settlers in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.
This novel is written in the style of a memoir. It tells the story of Aminata Diallo. She was captured by slave traders in her native Africa at the age of eleven and forced to march three months through Africa to reach the Guinea Coast, a notorious port of exit for African slaves. She boarded a slave ship, and came to the American colonies in 1756. In Charleston, South Carolina, Aminata was sold to the owner of an indigo plantation.
Of course this book tells the familiar tale of personal indignities and privations suffered by the slaves at the hands of their American owners. But because it tells it from the perspective of a woman who, against all odds, learned to read and write and make her own escape to freedom, it is extremely powerful. Aminata had a gift for languages, and she was able to take advantage of all opportunities to learn. She was learned in midwifery and medical care, and was respected in every community in which she lived.
The Book of Negroes is a winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Overall Book. By whatever name, I’d suggest reading this important book.
In Canada:
Published in softcover Harper Collins 2007
In USA:
Published as Someone Knows My Name
Hard cover-W.W. Norton 2007
Softcover edition-W.W. Norton 2008
The Book of Negroes (Canadian Edition)
This movie is a souped-up, enhanced version of the1974 movie of the same name, which starred Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Walter Matthau, Hector Elizondo, and many other fine actors. There are a number differences between the two movies, particularly regarding the characters and some plot details, but no matter.
Like its predecessor, The Taking of Pelham 123 is clever, fast paced, and exciting. The plot revolves around four gunmen who have hijacked a New York City subway car, and are holding its passengers for ransom. As the police struggle to figure out who the hijackers are, the clock is ticking away on the one hour time limit for the ransom.
John Travolta is convincing as the ring leader for the hijackers. Denzel Washington plays a seemingly ordinary subway dispatcher, who is anything but. James Gandolfini does a good job playing the Mayor of New York.
If you live in New York, you may notice that there are a number of goofs in the movie, but no more so than most movies. This is fun movie with a satisfying ending. I really enjoyed, hope you do too!
The Taking of Pelham 123 [Theatrical Release]
The Year of Living Biblically is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. A.J. Jacobs tells the amusing but thought provoking story of the year he spent trying to live, literally, by the rules of the Bible.
Jacobs’ first task is to figure out what those biblical rules are. He struggles to understand how they apply to modern life in general, and to his own life in particular. There are so many rules in the Bible, and many of them are seemingly contradictory.
One of the easiest rules to understand, but one of the most difficult to follow, is the rule against lying. Jacobs struggles to keep even seemingly insignificant lies from escaping his mouth. His attempts are very funny. His battles against coveting and lusting are particularly difficult, since he also works at Esquire magazine.
Jacobs researches numerous Judeo-Christian religious traditions. In the name of his research, he visits an Old Order Amish community, Hasidic Jews, the Creation Museum, and the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. It would be very easy for a gifted writer to ridicule these fundamental believers, but he remains interested and respectful.
While reading this book, I had to laugh out many times. This doesn’t happen so often with me. It’s so rare to find a funny, literate, interesting book. I highly recommend this one!
In USA:
Published in hardcover-Simon & Schuster-2007
Softcover edition-Simon & Schuster-2008
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
