The Marrow of Tradition
Charles Waddell Chesnutt
Read by James K. White
In The Marrow of Tradition, Charles W. Chesnutt--using the 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina massacre as a backdrop--probes and exposes the raw nerves and internal machinery of racism in the post-Reconstruction-era South; explores how miscegenation, caste, gender and the idea of white supremacy informed Jim Crow laws; and unflinchingly revisits the most brutal of terror tactics, mob lynchings. (Introduction by James K. White) (9 hr 52 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Great Book for a Long Trip
Alonzo Church
Books of the 19th and early 20th century were often meant to be read aloud, and sometimes are better heard than read. This one, a black man's fictional take on race riots and an actual coup d'etat in Wilmingotn NC, might be a little repetative when read the traditional way, but comes to life when read aloud. This is an old fashioned book -- with a complicated plot, multiple characters, and interesting reversals of the usual literary stereotypes. Not everything resolves neatly (how could it, when the lead characters are black, and they are living in the South of 1900?) But the way this novel is constructed lends itself to a long car trip, or a couple of weeks of rush hour commutes.
Marrow of Tradition
TheBookworm
Chesnutt was an important writer of the post-Civil war era who deserves to be read. His characters of all colours are whole people. Human motivations are complex and he recognized that the amount of melanin in one's skin makes no difference to that. Many thanks to James White for his excellent reading. It might be hard to read this to oneself -- the dialect would be hard for me to understand -- but fortunately James has done it for us! TheBookworm Manchester, UK
Awesome! 5 Stars for story and reader
Suzie
Best reader I’ve ever heard. The story is gripping, well written and the characters are brought to life by the reader. He has a great ear for dialog, voices and emotions. A professional actor couldn’t do better. The author writes compellingly about race relations after the Civil War, and he gives us an insight into the racism against African Americans that still cripples the US to this day.
another excellent reading
Emerson Wright
James K White has read several nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Afro-American texts for LibriVox. Every one I've listened to thus far has been excellent and this reading of Charles Chesnutt's seminal novel is no exception.
highly recommend this under appreciated book
Tyler Cooper
Excellent book. Highlights a part of American history that has been swept under the rug by our educational system. I wish they would included this book in high school curricula.
Kim Petot
This is one of the best read and best stories I've ever experienced in my 8 years of listening to this app. A must listen. This book should be required reading in public schools.
Vicki
It was hard to listen to the language but this is a good book . The reader is excellent . Thank you.
A LibriVox Listener
This book should be in every classics list. And the reader is brilliant also