Roots
27 hrs. 59 min.
Description
Alex Haley tells the story of his family, whose roots go deep into the past and begin in West Africa. Haley’s heroes are his ancestors—among them slaves and freed people, farmers and blacksmiths, musicians and businessmen, lawyers and architects—and one author. “Roots” is a saga of enslavement and freedom, love and separation, violence and care for loved ones, despair and the incomprehensible life force.
At the heart of the book is Alex Haley’s monumental research work that took twelve years. As a child, his grandmother told him family stories about her great-great-grandfather, “the African” who was kidnapped from his home village and forced aboard a ship bound for colonial America. The writer’s ancestors lost their homeland, but over two centuries they carefully preserved family traditions. When Haley grew up, he carried out genealogical research by consulting archives, libraries, and even the United Nations. He found the exact name of “the African”—Kunta Kinte—learned where he was born—a village called Juffure in Gambia—and set off across the ocean. In an old African village, Haley found a storyteller and heard from him the story of his roots, passed down from generation to generation by his people for centuries, long before writing was known in Africa.
Haley’s book was first published in the United States in 1976 and immediately became a cultural sensation. The autobiographical novel made the author famous across the country at once. In the first year alone, the book sold more than 1.5 million copies, and the miniseries of the same name was watched by 100 million people. In 1977, Haley received the Pulitzer Prize for “Roots,” and his novel rightfully entered the golden fund of world classics.
At the heart of the book is Alex Haley’s monumental research work that took twelve years. As a child, his grandmother told him family stories about her great-great-grandfather, “the African” who was kidnapped from his home village and forced aboard a ship bound for colonial America. The writer’s ancestors lost their homeland, but over two centuries they carefully preserved family traditions. When Haley grew up, he carried out genealogical research by consulting archives, libraries, and even the United Nations. He found the exact name of “the African”—Kunta Kinte—learned where he was born—a village called Juffure in Gambia—and set off across the ocean. In an old African village, Haley found a storyteller and heard from him the story of his roots, passed down from generation to generation by his people for centuries, long before writing was known in Africa.
Haley’s book was first published in the United States in 1976 and immediately became a cultural sensation. The autobiographical novel made the author famous across the country at once. In the first year alone, the book sold more than 1.5 million copies, and the miniseries of the same name was watched by 100 million people. In 1977, Haley received the Pulitzer Prize for “Roots,” and his novel rightfully entered the golden fund of world classics.
