One more book read...

I was going to write a blog yesterday, but I wanted to finish the book I was reading, and ended up draining my battery... Oops.  So, the blog, and book review is today! 

This one was "Sojurner Truth, a Life, a Symbol" by Nell Irvin Painter. 

I had wanted to learn more about Truth, I had seen a picture of her holding her knitting, and really didn't know a lot, other than a few quick scraps I picked up reading my history books in highschool. I had harried teachers trying to get from the founding of America to the 50's or 60's, before the school year ended.  We never ended up getting to the "recent history" part. And a LOT of history was glossed over. Yep, stuff happens in the 1800's, moving on... So, I have taken to reading history books when I find a topic that interests me. 

This book, as it turns out, is used as a textbook.  And rightly so!  350+ pages, and I would guess a third were footnotes, ranging from what the source material was, to notes on the persons mentioned, the time period, and notes the author included. 

I learned a lot, even from the start. She wasn't born with the name Sojurner Truth, she was born Isabella Baumfree, and changed her name later when she was out on her own as a free woman.  The book then goes into who owned her, what she did work wise to earn her release, and how she started speaking, preaching, and giving talks. 

She was part of the very beginning of the equal rights movement, civil rights, abolition, and during this, she didn't read or write, so she had people to write for her, as well as reported items in news and magazines of the period. That was where the photo I saw came in. Photos were a new thing, and she had pictures taken, and sold, a long with her biography, to make funds. 

I had heard about several speeches she gave, and the book covers the difference between various sources. Sadly, several downgrade her speech to make her more "ex-slave" sounding. And the strange thing, they try and make her sound like a southerner. She was born in New York, to a Dutch speaking family... It goes on to tell of her later life, and that she was said to be dead several times, but was just not travelling at that point. 

The end of the book speaks to the legend of Sojurner Truth, versus he actual life, comparing her to Jesus, or Joan of Arc.  Basically saying that the legend of these allowed anyone to make anything they want of the icon, rather than dealing with the actual person and what is written or shown. 

This was NOT a lightweight book. I give it a Very Good, but I definitely need a fluffy book for a break. 

To that end, I am getting into a silly, horror comedy book. It comes across as if Stephen King and the Three Stooges got together. Not going to change the planet, but it's good for a laugh.