The form may be hybrid, but it is remarkably effective: the lineage of Kunta Kinte in America takes on the double reality that comes from effective realistic fiction and from concrete historic facts. As his story approaches the present, the portion of invention dwindles until, by the end of the nineteenth century, we have purely factual family chronicles. Stowe based most of her characters on real people she had met or heard of, Haley has composed his fictional episodes and dialogues about his own ancestors, reaching seven generations back to the eighteenth century, and the Gambia River region of West Africa. There are other, more striking similarities, but now it is appropriate to mention the differences. Both drew widely on the historical and sociological knowledge of their times, and on a broad tradition of narrative fiction. Both appeared after the public had read, argued, and agonized over the race question for many years. $12.50.) This runaway bestseller bears a remarkable resemblance to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. (Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1976. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:īOOK REVIEWS Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
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