This book has taken my breath away. it actually is the book I am currently studying for my English class and I honestly thought it was another boring book (who has never thought that?) But I was oh so wrong! The story may not shine by its originality (or lack of thereof) but the way it is written transorms it into a pure beauty! The writing style of Fred D'Aguiar is absolutely stunning! And the way the more you read the more pick up pieces of information about what lead to the main event (the whipping) does not allow you to leave your book. Though, I have to admit that, at the beginning of the book, I was very confused, because the narrator just takes us right in the middle of the story and talks about his feelings on what happened without telling us what actually happened! (You can understand why I was puzzled.) The fact that the author changes the narrator every chapter adds to the confusion but helps us understand more and more about the events and makes us discovers new characters that personally made me cry, smile or just feel so angry that I had to stop reading for a few hours before being able to resume reading without feeling sullen.
From a historical point of view, this story is also very interesting because it happens right when the abolitionist movement begins to take action and the book shows really well the difference of opinions between white people of course, but also between slaves.
But I will say no more and let you discover this work of art!