tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post341925259542457088..comments2023-11-09T03:33:41.728-05:00Comments on Jenny and Kelly Read Books: Completed: Belovedkellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-28935119891125950222016-08-18T21:50:07.448-04:002016-08-18T21:50:07.448-04:00Especially relevant to our discussion--it's li...Especially relevant to our discussion--it's like we read this New Yorker writer's mind: <br /><br />1) "It is a clever choice, reminding us that a metaphor never got anyone to freedom"...We talked about that above! All the escapes are metaphors. Later on in the article, the author goes on to say, "No one knows for sure how many enslaved Americans escaped with the help of the Underground Railroad. Foner estimates that, between 1830 and 1860, some thirty thousand fugitives passed through its networks to freedom. Other calculations suggest that the total number is closer to fifty thousand—or, at the highest end, twice that many.<br /><br />What we do know for sure is this: in 1860, the number of people in bondage in the United States was nearly four million. By then, slavery in this country was more than two hundred years old, and although estimates are hard to come by, perhaps twice that many million African-Americans had lived their lives in chains. Most accounts of fugitive slaves do not invoke those numbers, and most Americans do not know them. The Underground Railroad is a numerator without a denominator."<br /><br />This was a great article. I'd highly recommend it if you have the time!Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-82930588285210934902016-08-15T11:52:20.299-04:002016-08-15T11:52:20.299-04:00Relevant to our discussion of the Underground Rail...Relevant to our discussion of the Underground Railroad: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/the-perilous-lure-of-the-underground-railroadJennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-42284460374353419712016-08-15T11:29:51.915-04:002016-08-15T11:29:51.915-04:00Book club in Berkeley just brought me all the way ...Book club in Berkeley just brought me all the way back. Whoah. You should DEFINITELY reread this, Kelly. It was so great to go back to it. Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-77306350947023606822016-08-15T01:15:05.689-04:002016-08-15T01:15:05.689-04:00Hi, Jenny and Kelly. I check out this blog about o...Hi, Jenny and Kelly. I check out this blog about once a year and am always glad that I did, and wish that I remembered to do it more often.<br /><br />I started reading this post and then quickly stopped. My eyes caught the bolded "Yep, still great," and I immediately decided that I:<br />a) want to reread it as well, and <br />b) should do so and reflect upon it myself before reading y'alls thoughts about it. <br /><br />Just TODAY I was talking to Dipankar and some friends of ours and we were listing our top 5-10 favorite books. I said that Beloved used to be a Top-10 for me, but it's been so long since I've read it (Jen, didn't we read it with Flossie when we were in that book club in Berkeley?). Anyway, it seems like a sign that I then saw your post here, so I'm going to re-read it as soon as I finish my current book (the third Elena Ferrante book, which I'm sort of slogging through, though I really like the series). <br /><br />Maybe once a year I should guest-post here about one of the books that one or both of you have read ;)<br /><br />Hope you're both having a great summer,<br />Kelly KKellYakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11070355657412827027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-37438163585761446162016-08-07T16:10:34.919-04:002016-08-07T16:10:34.919-04:00PS. On the books about slavery front, Underground ...PS. On the books about slavery front, Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is making big news this week--selected for Oprah's book club, great reviews, and feeling like a shoe-in for Tournament of Books 2017. He'll be speaking at the University of Chicago next month and I got tickets! Will keep you updated...Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.com