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jerihurd's review against another edition
3.0
I wish GR had half stars. This was better than a 3, if not so good as a 4. So, 3.5. An interesting look at Uncle Tom's influence in causing the Civil War, and its impact after. It drags interminably in parts, but nevertheless does a good job in showing the spread and intensity of Uncle Tom fervor, not just in the ante-bellum US, but also internationally.
It was also an interesting comparison in book mania then and today: who knew that, just as today, marketing madness accompanies a literary phenomenon: Uncle Tom jigsaw puzzles, Topsy/Little Eva dolls, Simon Legree commemorative plates. Bizarre.
It was also an interesting comparison in book mania then and today: who knew that, just as today, marketing madness accompanies a literary phenomenon: Uncle Tom jigsaw puzzles, Topsy/Little Eva dolls, Simon Legree commemorative plates. Bizarre.
princessleia4life's review against another edition
5.0
In reading Mightier Than the Sword, by David S. Reynolds, I was really moved by how he presented Uncle Tom’s Cabin in such a positive light. So many people today view it as a negative novel, the way it is “sentimental” to pull at heart strings, how all the slaves “had” to be helped by white men and women, and the fact that Tom never ran away but chose to honor the “contract” of his masters. What I personally feel has caused this shift from honoring Uncle Tom and all the other characters to having their names now be used as derogatory terms was the over-popularity of the novel. As this book became so sought after and was selling millions of copies; everyone wanted a piece of the pie. But when there such a wide amount of people madly grabbing to make their fortunes, they tend to forget about what the book actually stood for and was truing to change. Plays and films are being made but instead of honoring and revealing the social issues that Harriet Beecher Stowe was writing about, these pieces switch to being all about entertainment and cheap laughs. No longer are we shown the characters going through different trials to reveal the hypocrisies and social injustices of the time, but instead are given pure mockery or in extreme cases sexual innuendo. Too few people actually read the novel and understand how the characters and situations can be easily relatable. Uncle Tom is more than a slave toiling in the United States waiting for his freedom, but is a figurehead for any oppressed people. As Reynolds has written, Tom easily connected to the Russian serfs, the Chinese peasants, the Chinese immigrants in America, Jews all over the world, black slaves in Brazil, black slaves in Cuba, etc. Tom’s passive resistance to Simon Legree, as he does not listen to Legree’s warning but continues to stand up for what he believes and aids the mulatto woman Luce, Cassy, and Emmeline; can even connect to passive resistance done by Gandhi in India, Martin Luther King Jr. in the South, and Cesar Chavez here in California. While the unjust situations may never be the same as the things that Tom or the other slaves had to go through, wherever trouble arises and people are suffering Uncle Tom is there struggling alongside and encouraging the oppressed that everything will be alright in the end.
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