Reviews

The Longest Memory by Fred D'Aguiar

laurasauras's review against another edition

5.0

Great book. I enjoyed its creative approaches to multiple perspectives and was touched by the awful subject matter of black people trapped in slavery. Each perspective drew me into its character's point of view, but because of the shortness of the book and the minute focus of the one event, I wasn't able to get properly caught up in their emotions. That's not really a criticism, because I think it did what it was intending to do, but it's something to note for if I want to come back for a reread.

tbwilliam's review against another edition

4.0

I'm most likely going to need to re read this one to understand the full concept but despite the heavy content in this book, it was actually quite good! I loved the poetic writing style, I feel like it made the story more realistic and emotional as you got to feel the character's real feelings. I also loved the disjointed storyline, personally it made me care for the plot more as I got to analyse which parts took place when and how it all fitted together as one story. Such an emotional and painful read but it was raw and true. Slavery is so horrible and I can't believe it was ever a thing.

judi_ly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mair_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

sarahcliff88's review

sad medium-paced

5.0

cassie_smith's review against another edition

5.0

This book was one of the reasons I became an English major. We read it in Intro to Literature and I loved the story and the discussions about it so much I added a second major. I will have to re-read it again to remember why it struck me so much.

rageofcaliban's review

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

lxvem1lf's review against another edition

3.0

I mean for a compulsory English read its pretty damn good

redheadreading's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

macfarla's review against another edition

4.0

Gives an insight into the effect of slavery on real people. Set in the late 1790s/early 1800s, you can feel the winds of change which takes the edge off the awfulness.