Freedom Road

by Howard Fast

In this riveting tale, Howard Fast brings the Reconstruction era alive for contemporary readers. Gideon Jackson, once a black slave, returns home after the Civil War a free man. The Union has won the war, but, in reality, the country still remains bitterly divided. How will the illiterate and propertyless Gideon utilize his newfound freedom? Can he ever hope to achieve real equality with his former white masters?
—from the back cover

Introduction by Eric Foner
Foreword by W.E.B. Du Bois

American History Through Literature

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Civil War, United States, American, Race

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Howard Fast was one of the most prolific American writers of the twentieth century. He was a bestselling author of more than eighty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays. The son of immigrants, Fast grew up in New York City and published his first novel upon finishing high school in 1933. In 1950, his refusal to provide the United States Congress with a list of possible Communist associates earned him a three-month prison sentence. During his incarceration, Fast wrote one of his best-known novels, Spartacus (1951). Throughout his long career, Fast matched his commitment to championing social justice in his writing with a deft, lively storytelling style.

Pseudonyms: Walter Ericson, E.V. Cunningham

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast read, and I really don't know why I did not read this book years ago. It's one of the paperbacks that I got as long ago as the 70s and was sitting in a box for the longest time. First published in 1944, it's a powerful book featuring a strong and most remarkable hero--Gideon Jackson. Gideon is a slave who escapes to fight with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the so-called "Colored" regiments in the Civil War. He returns home to an abandoned plantation, where he forms a community of formerly enslaved people and poor whites. This community comes under attack by the night riders of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK believe that a community of blacks and whites living and working together as equals is an abomination and must be destroyed. I suppose the main reason I have not read Fast's book before now is that I felt that the story would end in tragedy. If you know the history of the Reconstruction period (1865-1877), you know what's going to happen. Sorry, if that's a spoiler but it's history.

[Jesse Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's so much i want to say, about not only this book but Howard Fast in general, but time is not permitting at the moment. I'll just say for now that I feel that he was and is simultaneously one of the most prolific and successful as well as one of the most slandered and mistreated of American writers. Most of his work was effectively buried under the landfill of political hypocrisy that covered the nation during the McCarthy era. As evidence to this statement, The American, which is the wonderful book that led me to Howard Fast's work is not even available here on Goodreads, nor on Amazon, nor on Barnes and Noble searches. If I've mis-searched in that regard, perhaps someone will set me right.
I do plan to come back and do an actual review of this little gem, Freedom Road.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provoked the strongest emotional reaction I've ever had to a book. Made me furious; I've read it 3 times.

[LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really outside of my comfort zone here because slavery/Af-Am history is not my strength. I know enough about it to teach it successfully, but as far as literature about the period, I am not particularly well versed on it.

I just completed this book and really love it. I thought I would breeze through it and move on, but this book has now become part of my permanent library.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Howard Fast for telling the Reconstruction era as it really happened. It's so rare to get an honest look at this important time in US history. And it explains so much about what has happened since that time. This is one of my top recommendations to friends.

[Eren Buğlalılar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amerikan İç Savaşı bitip de, Güney'de köleliğin kaldırıldığı ilk yıllarda geçiyor kitap. Kısa bir süreliğine de olsa köle emeğini sömüren büyük toprak sahipleri yenilgiye uğratılmış, siyahlar eyaletin kurucu meclisinde beyazlarla birlikte kendilerine yer bulabilmişlerdir. Eski bir köle olan Gideon Jackson'ın hikayesi böyle başlıyor.

Ancak eski toprak ağaları kısa bir bocalamanın ardından, yeni düzene uyum sağlayıp geri dönmeye hazırlanırlar. Ku Klux Klan isimli çeteyi örgütleyerek Güney'de çiftçilik yapan siyahların hayatını terörize etmeye, ırkçılığı yeniden yaygınlaştırmaya çalışırlar.

Yazar Howard Fast aynı zamanda bir senarist. Kitabın kurgusundan, sahne geçişlerinden de anlaşılıyor bu. Çağdaş Amerikan romanından Hollywood'a taşınacak olan unsurlara da rastlanıyor kitapta: Karakterler çoğunlukla statik, romanın başından sonuna büyük dönüşümler geçirmiyorlar, işlevleri kurgunun bir yerden bir yere taşınmasını sağlamak. Başlıca bir iki tanesi hariç iç dünyalarını bilmek mümkün olmuyor.

Fast konusunu çok iyi biliyor. Okuma yazması olmayan bir siyah köylünün, topraklarını kaybetmiş ırkçı bir malikane sahibinin, kentte nisbeten iyi koşullarda büyümüş eğitimli bir küçük-burjuva siyahın tavrını, dünyaya bakışını seziyoruz yazdıklarında. "Kurucu Meclis"e katılmak ve "anayasa" yapmak için eyalet ordusundan bir davet mektubu alan okuma yazma bilmeyen siyahların, "kurucu meclis ne demek?" diye birbirlerine sordukları o an, burjuva demokrasisinin ne büyük bir yalan olduğunu görüyoruz.

Özetle güzel bir kitap. Filmi de çevrilmiş, hatta ilginçtir baş kahraman Gideon Jackson'ı boksör Muhammed Ali canlandırmış. Bizim de böyle kitaplarımız, romanlarımız olmalı.

[Ranj · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستان هنگی از داوطلبان نیویورکی که در جنگ امریکا با بریتانیاییها به مرور از تعداد هنگشان کم می شود و...
داستان جنگ و دشواریهای جنگ، خونریزیهای جنگ، جنگی که از دید سرباز برای آزادیست و از دید سلطنت طلبان کسب تاج و تخت. داستان از زبانی شخصی به نام"آلن" بیان می شود که در هنگ نیویورک است. او که با دوستانش سخت ترین زمستان را در قحطی و برهنگی در کومه های عریان گذرانده است با دو دوستش و رفیقه اش دست به فرار می زند اما در راه رفیقه اش کشته می شود و خود و دوستانش به اعدام محکوم می شوند. در نهایت با پا درمیانی افسر هملتون به آنها میگویند که یکی از شما باید تصمیم بگیرد خود را فدای دوستانش کند و دو نفر دیگری بعد از خوردن بیست تازیانه آزاد می شوند. یک دوست مرگ را به جان می خرد و دو نفر دیگر آزاد می شوند. سرانجام جنگ با بریتانیاییها شروع می شود و آلن که به طور داوطلبانه سه سال دیگر در جنگ می ماند ستوان افتخاری میشود و شجاعانه در خط مقدم جنگ می جنگد و زاده ی آزادی می شود...

[Camille]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a story that, while not exactly true, did happen to many good people after the Civil War in the South. The characters really came alive through Howard Fast's writing. I found myself sharing in their triumphs and downfalls. Smiling when something good happened and frowning at the bad. My favorite character was probably Jeff. He was a poor African American who was determined to become a doctor. He traveled to Scotland to study medicine for seven years and didn't see any of his family in that amount of time. His perseverance is an inspiration to me. Although this book had a sad ending, it was very interesting and informational and I would recommend that anyone read it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the constant struggle between man, power and thought. It is a black mark on our society what was done to the freemen after the civil war and, even worse, that we don't know about it.

Then, as now the elitist are conquering and holding down the common people. When will we (the common people) wake and learn from the past so we can control our futures?

I consider Freedom Road one of my top-10 favorite books.

Howard Fast researched the records of this time period and created a masterpiece worth reading.

[Monica Riva · Rating 3 out of 5]

E' un libro che mi è capitato tra le mani per caso, pensavo fosse un "romanzetto" anni cinquanta un po' patetico e stucchevole; e invece no, tuttaltro.
La trama si svolge nel periodo che va dall'abolizione della schiavitù al ritorno della segregazione della popolazione di colore attraverso le leggi raziali e atti di terrore e ingiustizia che si sono perpretati fino a quarant'anni fa circa.
In passato mi è capitato spesso di leggere romanzi che trattavano di schiavi e padroni e altri invece sulle lotte per l'uguglianza razziale degli anni '50 - '60, ma nessuno di questi libri descriveva così in particolare questi pochi anni in cui si è visto nascere, crescere e morire un movimento di uomini (bianchi e neri che fossero), che insieme hanno tentato di dare vita ad una società nuova, fondata su uno stato di diritto e democratico nel vero senso della parola; un preciso periodo storico composto da una manciata di anni che, come dice l'autore stesso, è stato insabbiato e nascosto ancor più della schiavitù e della segregazione razziale, perché ancor più scomodo.
Un racconto scomodo che oltretutto è stato scritto negli anni quaranta, quando ancora la società del Sud degli Stati Uniti era ancora suddivisa in classi e la popolazione di colore subiva le ingiustizie e la violenza che una tale situazione sociale inevitabilmente produceva, senza l'aiuto e il sostegno di nessuno: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King e il movimento per i diritti civili sarebbero infatti arrivati dopo oltre quindici - ventanni.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing, well told fictional story about the period of post-Civil War reconstruction and its demise. This is about the joy of life amidst the positive changes effected by the emancipation of Blacks after the war, the removal of federal soldiers after the election of Hayes, and the terrible consequences of the resubjugation of former slaves. It is, according to the author, based on real people and events. It is, as well, damning behavior of those who perpetrated violence and other evil acts against freed Blacks as well as those who tolerated, ignored, encouraged, or benefited from it. It was, toward the end, painful to read of the horrors inflicted upon innocent victims of racial prejudice.

[Lina Okar · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة تصور نضال السود و حياتهم العصيبة في الولايات الجنوبية من أمريكا
تصور نضالهم و كفاحهم تضحياتهم دموعهم و آلامهم التي رافقتهم في طريق الحرية !
ربما لم تكن نهايةً كما أرادوا لكنهم دافعو حتى الرمق الأخير
هذه الراوية عدا عن أنّها تصور العنصرية و ما إلى ذلك هي رواية تعلمك حبّ الأرض
ما تجنيه بتعبك لن تتركه إلا إذا أجبرك الموت و لا أحد سواه على ذلك ...
رواية تعلمك أهمية العلم كيف يتعطش الناس له و كيف عندما منح أحدهم العلم أخذ يرتوي منه حدّ الثمالة !!!
الرجل المتعلم كالرجل الحامل لبندقية !
لا بل أكثر من ذلك ...
رواية مليئة بالعبر و تعلمك الصمود و التضحية لأبعد الحدود ,,,

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please see my detailed review at Amazon Graceann's "Freedom Road" Review"

This is an astounding book; one that will be with me for a long time to come. Howard Fast, a superb storyteller, takes preconceived notions about Reconstruction and removes the rich man's spin for a sharp dose of reality. I was constantly amazed, enraged and moved.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book for the 2nd time. Perhaps not a great book in its writing, but well-written in a simple easy style. It deals with a shameful, terrible and dark episode in US history of which I was completely unaware. How different the USA, and thus the world, may have been; how different the US foreign policy, and attitude to the rest of the world, might have been, had Reconstruction not been systematically smashed.
This book affected me deeply, both times I read it.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically speaking, this book is about the Reconstruction, not the Civil War. I'm not sure how I made it to adulthood without knowing more about this moment in history. For a short time after the war, there were communities in the South where former slaves and poor white farmers lived in communities together. Unfortunately, they did not last, as the end of this book attests. The writing was wonderful and the characters compelling. I gave four stars for the sad (but true) ending.

[Bahare Ghanoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Fast is the master of constructing a complete story from the very beginning, and this time he has constructed the meaning of a very basic, a very untouchable concept; "Freedom". And once again he has completed a project brilliantly.
Once again he managed to provoke the sense of humanity in the reader, and gladly, Fast not being committed to a happy ending, not giving us a happy ending and thus leaving us unsatisfied, serves the purpose of the book, fighting for humanity, excellently.

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book revealed so many things to me - really gives you insight about what actually happened after the civil war and why things are the way they are among the Black community, particularly in the South. Talk about things you never learned in High School History class! And it is so well-written and each character's story is so poignant, I finished it in like a day and a half.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong and powerful book that is difficult to get through because the story is so depressing, especially since these things occurred so often in the south after the Civil War. How people could join the Klan and be so cruel and ignorant is hard to fathom. Disturbing book, but a story people should be reading.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! im not much of a fan of the civil war but this book is on the aftermath and the start of the Reconstruction. It introduces the KKK and how life was for a Black person of the era and the first Black mens of Congress. I didnt expect to like it but I did and i cried.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best and yet most tragic books I have ever read. For those interested in antebellum history and the early civil rights movements, I highly recommend this books. Fair warning however, it will make you cry.

[Gregory Fugal · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very compelling book about a much forgotten window of time. it was filled with both hope and despair, and depicts the suffering of a people that it would bode well for us to remember to avoid similar follies. It's defiantly a heart bleed so be prepared.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books that changed my life.

[Dave Woodside · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that makes the injustice of the end of reconstruction real. While the actual story is fiction, the story happened all over the south (with references).

[Jill Frazier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good historical fiction of The Reconstruction. Recommended by joe madonia who read it in 1945 while in the navy.

[Elizabeth A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, along with Brother to a Dragonfly should be required reading for high school American History.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have two books by Howard Fast on my shelves, this one and "Citizen Tom Paine." Looks like historical fiction is his bag. Once upon a time(mid 20th c.) he was a very well known writer. Also a VERY propific one. As is often the case, not so well known now. My book is a 1964 paperback from Crown Publishing.

This book is about the period of Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. A very worth topic. Already one sees the daunting challenge of freed slave in trying to deal with citizenship(voting for one thing) when they had no land, no money and were mostly illiterate.

So far so good as Gideon is embarked on his (walking)voyage of discovery. I wonder what he'll find.

And now Gideon is set in Charleston and the convention has begun. He's doing well enough adapting to the totally new world, but already there are forces gathering(think KKK and its secret aristocratic backers) to wage war on the new society that Gideon and his fellow delegates are trying create. Sigh... I guess we all know the ultimate positive outcome of reconstruction was severely compromised by Southern resistance and Northern waffling and betrayal.

I'm reading four different books right now, an interesting challenge, but not a unique one for me. When I sit down in the evening to read I just pick one and go until it feels like time to stop and go to to another one. I can't say that I recommend this approach. Must be my never-ending ADD.

The year is 1868 and things are beginning to settle a bit. Unfortunately, history tells us that Northern politicians, in the face of steadfast and violent resistance in the form of the Ku Klux Klan, will eventually give up trying to settle things helpfully and fairly for poor whites and emancipated
slaves. Meanwhile, Gideon and his people, along with a few poor white farmers, have bought a lot of land. I read a story in the New Yorker(?) a while back about how southern black people over the years have had land swindled away from them. My encyclopedia gives a discouraging account of post-bellum racial history in South Carolina. Black people had virtually NO political power and presence there until well into the 20th century.

- Jeff goes north to school - in Worcester, my birthplace.

Getting near the end now and will try to finish tonight. The immediate future is looking grim for the freed slave of the South in general and of South Carolina in particular. It's all in the history book - SOME of them at least. If some misguided people have their way(and they are TRYING) the nasty behavior of venal, violent and vicious white people will be either removed or minimized in American History texts. Kind of like in "1984"...

- It's nice to know that 'Young Jenny" has "high... full breasts. Crap like that knocks this book down into the "dated" category.

- The author tosses Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee into the rhetorical pot. NOT an anachronism,
as the time of the that scene is 1877 and the Lewis Carroll stuff came out in 1871. Wiki says that the names may have originated with someone named John Byrom(17th-18th c.).

- Francis Cardozo and Thad Stevens were real people, but I couldn't learn anything about Doc Emery and Isaac Went.

[Ray Gehring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this novel about the Reconstruction era. Tremendous, read it!

[r · Rating 5 out of 5]

هوارد فاست (Howard Fast)هوارد ملویل فاست در 11 نوامبر 1914 در شهر نیویورک زاده شد. در کودکی مادرش را از دست داد. پدرش کارگر کارخانه بود و از همان کودکی ناچار بود در کنار تحصیل به طور پاره‌وقت کار کند. پیش از آن که تحصیلاتش به پایان برسد، به سودای دریانوردی و سیر و سفر مدرسه را رها کرد. نیروی دریایی به دلیل کمی سن او را نپذیرفت. پس به سیاحت در اکناف آمریکا پرداخت و مشاغل گوناگونی چون چوب‌بری، کارمندی اداره، پادویی کتابخانه را پیش گرفت. مدتی در آکادمی ملی طراحی به مقدمات نقاشی مشغول شد.

فاست در سال 1943 به عضویت حزب کمونیست آمریکا درآمد و تنها نویسنده آمریکایی است که در سال 1953 به دریافت جایزه صلح بین‌المللی استالین نائل آمد و رمان‌های خود را با نام مستعار ای.وی.کونینگهام به چاپ می‌رساند. در سال 1945 خبرنگار مجله‌های "اسکوایر" و "کورونت" در اروپا و خاور دور بود. در 1947 در دانشگاه ایندیانا تدریس می‌کرد. او مدت‌ها با چپ‌گرایان آمریکا پیوند نزدیک داشت. زمانی از نویسندگان "دیلی ورکر" روزنامه ارگان حزب کمونیست آمریکا بود و مشهورترین نویسنده آمریکایی در اتحاد شوروی به شمار می‌رفت. در دهه 1950 کمیسیون مک کارتیسم در کنگره آمریکا که کار تفتیش عقاید را به عهده داشت، او را به جهت دادن کمک‌های مالی به کمونیست‌های فرانسه مورد بازوجویی قرار داد. در دوران محاکمات مک کارتی به اتهام توهین به کنگره مدتی به زندان افتاد. در سال 1952 نامزد انتخابی حزب کارگر برای کنگره در نیویورک شد. فاست از پایه‌گذاران نهضت جهانی صلح بود و طی سال‌های 55-1950 عضو شورای عالی این نهضت بود. در سال 1956 در مخالفت با سرکوب قیام مجارستان توسط شوروی از حزب کمونیست استعفا داد.

هوارد فاست در 12 مارس 2003 در 89 سالگی درگذشت. در حالی که بیش از 80 ��استان تاریخی، درام و بیوگرافی نوشته و همه داستان‌هایش زمینه انقلابی و چپ داشته و بیشتر آن‌ها به صورت فیلم سینمایی درآمده‌اند. بیشتر آثار فاست از تاریخ و زندگی مردم آمریکا به ویژه در زمان انقلاب و جنگ‌های استقلال مایه می‌گیرد و به خاطر شیوه جذاب روایی و پویایی داستان‌هایش از محبوبیت بسیاری برخوردارند.

وی اولین رمانش را در سن 19 سالگی منتشر کرد و از همان زمان تصمیم گرفت که در لابه‌لای کتاب‌های تاریخ، قهرمانان انقلابی و کسانی را که به خاطر آزادی و سعادت بشر و میهنشان فداکاری کرده‌اند بیابد و هر کدام را قهرمان یک داستان خود کند. فاست عقیده داشت که داستانی کردن یک بیوگرافی نه تنها صاحب آن را بهتر می‌شناساند، بلکه کارها، قهرمانی‌ها، جان‌فشانی‌ها و هدف‌های او که با خیال نویسنده تلطیف شده و تکامل یافته‌اند سرمشق دیگران به ویژه جوانان خواهد شد و نویسنده در عین حال در متن داستان عقاید و فرضیه‌های خود را هم توجیه و تلقین می‌کند.

این عضو جناح کمونیست‌های آمریکایی از سال 1943 تا 1956 و موضوع پرونده هزار و صد صفحه‌ای FBI که نامش در فهرست سیاه "مک کارتی" ثبت شده بود، به دلیل شهرت چپ‌گرایی بیم داشت که ناشران از انتشار کتاب‌هایش اکراه کنند. بنابراین خود شرکت نشر "بلو هرون پرس" را دایر کرد.

"تماشاخانه" داستانی است از مجموعه داستان‌های علمی تخیلی او. فاست نویسنده‌ای واقع‌گراست و بیشتر آثارش رمان‌های بزرگ تاریخی هستند. اما این کتاب کوچک را جدی‌ترین اثر خود نامیده است. تماشاخانه ماجرای شخصی است در جامعه‌ای آرمانی که به کلید دست یافته و در ممنوع واقعیت را گشوده است، پس باید به سرنوشت محتوم روشن‌فکر در جامعه بسته دچار و مجازات شود. از دیگر آثار نویسنده می‌توان به موارد ذیل اشاره کرد:

"دو دره" (1933)، "دیروز بیگانه" (1934)، "زاده آزادی" (1939)، "آخرین مرز" (1941)، "نامغلوب"(1942)، "شهروند تام پین" (1943)، "راه آزادی" (1944)، "پاتریک هری" (1945)، "آمریکایی" (1946)، "کلارکتون" (1947)، "تیتو و مردمش" (1948)، "اسپارتاکوس" (1951)، "سودای ساکو و وازتی" (1953(، "سیلاس تیمبرمن" (1954)، "سرگذشت لولا گرگ" (1956)، "خدای پریان" (1957)، موسی [فرزند نیل] (1958)، "قصه وینستون" (1959)، "بامداد آوریل" (1961)، "دختر آگریپا" (1964، "عبور از دود" (1971)، "مهاجران" (1977)، "نسل دوم" (1978)، "توانمندان" (1979)،

این نوشته در مورد فاست واثار او نتیجه قلم دوست عزیزم خانوم فاطمی است ..از ایشون در جمع اوری این اطلاعات نهایت سپاس را دارم ..

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

خواندن اثار هوارد فاست کمک می کند تا تاریخ آمریکا را به گونه ای دیگر، از درون آینه ی ادبیات بشناسیم. اگرچه نه به آن دقت و جزئیات که تاریخ یک قرن فرانسه را می شود از طریق خواندن آثار بالزاک شناخت، با این همه هوارد فاست یک آمریکایی ست که با همه ی دید انتقادی نسبت به فرهنگ و تاریخ ملتش، هم چنان دلسوز مردم و میهن خود باقی مانده است. مهاجران را باجلان فرخی ترجمه کرده و انتشارات اساطیر در 1371 منتشر کرده است. نسل دوم را به فارسی ندیده ام. با وجودی که در برابر دیگر آثار هوارد فاست آنچنان درخشش ندارد، اما کم اثری نیست و مهر روایت های هوارد فاست را بر خود دارد، با وصف شیرینی از شخصیت ها و شرایط اجتماعی و چگونگی زندگی آمریکاییان ساده دل ... "آخرین مرز" هوارد فاست، وصف شایان ها در جامعه ی آمریکاست؛ “غائله تمام شد" اما به راستی تمام نشده. وقتی 140 سرخپوست گرفتار به اردوگاه برده می شوند، تازه پایان یک آغاز است. آغازی برای از میان بردن یک فرهنگ، قتل هزاران نفر از یک ملیت که در سراسر زمینی پر از خون و اشک، در سرزمین خود هم از حق انتخاب گور محروم اند. (ص( 246 وقتی افسر فرمانده به سه رهبر “شایان" می گوید باید به جنوب بروند، پاسخ می دهند “یک شایان دستگیر شده، یک شایان مرده است. آنها مایل نیستند به جنوب بروند و…” دلم نمی خواست به سطر بعدی بروم، نمی خواستم بدانم چه می شود. می خواستم با این “شایان"های دستگیر شده بمانم. افسر به مترجم می گوید “غلط می کنند بر نمی گردند" مترجم که خود از شایان هاست، مکث می کند، به راستی باید این جمله را ترجمه کند؟ فاست وصف می کند شایان ها چگونه ایستاده بودند. آنها دیگر “گرگ کوچک"، “چاقوی کند "و "ابر راه رونده" نیستند، تنها سه “شایان" دستگیر شده اند، سه موجود شکسته شده با پاره جل هایی بر دوششان در زمستانی که استخوان می ترکاند، در دفتر سروان که از آتش بخاری گرم است، ایستاده اند. سه سایه ی بی نام که گوشه ای از اتاق را پر کرده اند. آنها که قبیله ای داشتند، با مردمانی و سرزمینی از خود که زیر پای “پونی"هاشان تخت سلیمان بود، اینک سه جنبنده ی بی نام اند، سه از دست رفته، سه شکست خورده که همه ی حیثیت و شرافتشان بر باد رفته، و هم چنان از جانب افسران و سربازان متجاوز “وحشی ها" خوانده می شوند. شاید این وحشی ها از خود می پرسند؛ خداوندا، مرز بین تمدن و وحش کجاست؟ مرز میان گرسنه ای آواره در سرزمین خود که زیر سایه ی چتری از آخرین مدل هواپیماهای بمب افکن مبهوت ایستاده است! فاست در ابتدای کتاب از پدرش تشکر می کند که سفارش کرده؛ “آمریکای گذشته و آمریکای فعلی را دوست بدارد". شایان های معاصر، خوب می دانند چرا مراکز گرسنگی، بیماری، درد، فقر، وحشت و تروردر سرزمین آنها مستقر شده. اسلحه ها را متمدین دموکرات می سازند تا “تروریست ها" را روی منابع زیر زمینی شان خفه کنند.
Reading Howard Fast helps to read American history with a reflection from the literature. No matter how critically Fast faces American society, he loves his father land, his culture and his nation, deeply and respectfully.

[Ardahan OG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fascinating book by Howard Fast, one of the most important writers shedding light on various periods of American history. In a nutshell, the book is based on the Reconstruction era (when blacks have been politically recognized for the first time) and tells the story of how a black and formerly slave community attempts to stand on its own feet.

I think the book is important mainly for two reasons. The first one is that it perfectly portrays the class relations of the era, mainly between white landlords and black slaves. The novel describes how white landlords become aware of their material losses caused by the political recognition and emancipation of black slaves. Eventually, they organize politically/militarily in order to reverse the situation and re-exploit black communities. Black slaves are not left with any other choice but fighting for their freedom.

Secondly, the book demonstrates how deeply racism is institutionalized in American politics and interiorized by white masses. Even during the 8 years when blacks start to officially take part in local politics, they are treated as second class citizens and fallen into contempt. This is still valid in today’s America when we witness how black communities are perceived dangerous and discriminated by state institutions resulting in tragic happenings such as the murder of (R.I.P.) George Floyd. In this sense, the book also sheds light on today’s America and demonstrates how rooted racism is in the American continent. It is a great book to understand historically why the #BlackLivesMatter movement matters.