2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Pages: 438.

Length: 1 Month (January).

Participants: Lorraine, Caterina, Lynn.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Started this book. I find some of the writing difficult to follow as it seems written the way it must sound? (view spoiler)[The usage of the `N` word make me think about the numerous discussion we now have in Canada about using it or not. For now, people working for the radio or television cannot use it and some Universities are talking about banishing this word. (hide spoiler)]

Starting this week! I have several buddy reads this month, so I will be listening to the audiobook.

Caterina wrote: "Starting this week! I have several buddy reads this month, so I will be listening to the audiobook."

Let me know what you feel about this book in audio. In writing it is not easy for the francophone in me 😁 maybe I should think about audiobook in the future.

Lorraine wrote: "Caterina wrote: "Starting this week! I have several buddy reads this month, so I will be listening to the audiobook."

Let me know what you feel about this book in audio. In writing it is not easy ..."

I think I know what you mean about writing style. However, I regret to inform you that the audiobook is not the best quality; my copy is from the library and it sounds like it was recorded many years ago.

I've listened up to chapter 5. The book is a pretty hard read, both because of the subject and the language.

(view spoiler)[
It's wild to hear Mr. Shelby described as a "man of humanity" when he destroys two families by splitting them apart and he sells Uncle Tom despite having promised him his freedom. The distinction of the "good slaveholder" vs the cruel slaveholder is a myth, because they're both equally bad. They both dismiss the humanity of the Uncle Tom, Harry, and Eliza to suit their own purposes.

Mrs. Shelby seems to be the character of reason or good morals, as she declares that slavery is a sin. But I think it's one think to believe in something and it's another to advocate for something. If she is willing to partake in the money and/or free labor that comes from slave labor, then her words and opinions don't carry that much weight. However, I do think there's a separate argument to be made about women and their lack of power and agency during that time period.
(hide spoiler)]

I have a brand-new copy of this and am anxious to reread it after 53 years to see how it holds up for me now. I loved it at 13!

I have a brand-new copy of this and am anxious to reread it after 53 years to see how it holds up for me now. I loved it at 13! I do recall it was written in the dialect which probably requires a bit of adjustment for most readers, I would think.

Caterina wrote: "I've listened up to chapter 5. The book is a pretty hard read, both because of the subject and the language.

I so agree with your comments. (view spoiler)[ It is incredible how much hypocrisy there was in those days. Saying that slavery is a sin but, at the same time, that the black people needed to look up at the white people as ‘superior’ sound so contradictory to me.
I don’t know if you have read Beloved by Toni Morrison? In that book, one of the characters explain why it is better for the mothers not to get attached to their children’s as in fact, the children’s are the property of the Maester and he can do whatever he wants with them. Uncle Tom’s is another good example of that. (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "Caterina wrote: "I've listened up to chapter 5. The book is a pretty hard read, both because of the subject and the language.

I so agree with your comments. It is incredible how much hypocrisy t..."

There are so many mothers who lose their children and/or husbands in this book. It's heart-breaking.

In chapter 14, (view spoiler)[ Haley sells Lucy's baby on the ship and she jumps overboard that night. The despair is palpable. A few days ago, Lucy had a husband and a baby. Now, their entire family has been destroyed.
(hide spoiler)]

Up to chapter 21.

Marie - (view spoiler)[I can't get over Marie talking about the lazy nature of slaves when she actually does not do anything all day. (hide spoiler)]

St Clare - (view spoiler)[St Clare seems like one of the more interesting characters in the book. He sees the problems with slavery, but he's not willing to become an abolitionist. He points out that he alone cannot end slavery and so he treats his slaves as humanely as possible. Which sounds like the type of argument you make when you don't want to try.

He also calls out Ophelia's beliefs; she thinks she's morally superior because she wants to abolish slavery, but at the same time, she does not want racial integration and equality. I think Ophelia's beliefs were meant to mirrors the beliefs of many Northerners.

I didn't know about this until I read Abraham Lincoln: Band of Rivals a few years ago, but one of Lincoln's plans was to resettle free African Americans in the Caribbean and Africa. Lincoln met with a delegation of Black leaders in 1862 to tell them: “Your race suffer from living among us, while ours suffer from your presence… It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated.” The delegation was not amused with this plan and Frederick Douglass criticized it in his articles and speeches.
(hide spoiler)]

Is anyone else still reading? I am slowly making my way through the book.

Ch 24-27 - So sad 😭

I am still with you. I think Lynn will join soon.

Your comment about (view spoiler)[ Abraham Lincoln was new to me. Very interesting as a reaction from a President. I understand others did not find this a solution. Especially that many black man at the time of the war have never seen Africa as they were born in the USA <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "I am still with you. I think Lynn will join soon.

Your comment about [spoilers removed]"

Good to know!

I am all done with his book.

It was a hard one to get through. I can see this book being incredibly influential at the time it was published and I appreciate it as an accurate narrative of the time period and the fight for abolition, but I don't think it's a particularly great book or one that stands the test of time.

(view spoiler)[
Ch. 37 - I was surprised about George and Eliza heading to England. I assumed a trans-Atlantic boat ride would be really expensive. But it was 1952 and England was Canada 🤣

Ch. 43 - In this chapter, George makes to the decision to take his family to Liberia. This seems to be the argument that Lincoln and many Northern abolitionists made; abolition without integration. I can understand the argument since many slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad to Canada and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book more than a decade before the Civil War. But knowing the negative feedback Lincoln received for this proposal, I wonder whether she ran this idea by any of the slaves she helped shelter.

Ch 45 - In the last chapter, she speaks to Northerners directly about slavery.

Do you say that the people of the free states have nothing to do with it, and can do nothing? Would to God this were true! But it is not true. The people of the free states have defended, encouraged, and participated; and are more guilty for it, before God, than the South, in that they have not the apology of education or custom.

There's no doubt that slavery helped build all of America's wealth. In that regard, I agree that the free states defended, encouraged, and participated in slavery, but I'm not sure about the second part of the argument. People are ultimately responsible for their actions and slaveholders very directly exploited and profited from slave labor.

What do you make of Harriet Beecher Stowe's argument?
(hide spoiler)]

I've also finished this book and agree with you that it is not particularly good. I do not think I would be interested in reading anything else from that author.
I do not know a lot about that period in the USA. I wish to read more about it.
I was surprised by (view spoiler)[ George decision to bring his family Liberia after getting his education. As I was wondering about this country politics, I looked into Wikipedia and learned some interesting thing. One being that
‘ Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States.[7] Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born black people who faced social and legal oppression in the U.S., along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia’
That could explain George decision.
As for Harriet Beecher Stowe argument, I have many problems with it. Like you, I’ve noticed the presence of many prejudices against black people in her book. And have you noticed the prejudices against the Jewish people? I am not sure she was aware of that.
Saying that the Free States are more guilty because they were more educated than in the South is, for me, not a good explanation or argument. For sure education should help raise awareness against prejudice but we all know that unfortunately it doesn’t help in all situation. You probably have heard about the way the ‘strangers’ working in Saudi Arabia to built everything for the Mundial of Soccer were treated…and we cannot say that people in this country are not educated… (hide spoiler)]
I am happy to have read this book even though it was difficult to read for the Francophone in me and also for it’s subject. (I hope my English makes sense. If not do not hesitate to ask me questions. Unfortunately, I do not practice as often as I was when I was working).

L Y N N wrote: "I have a brand-new copy of this and am anxious to reread it after 53 years to see how it holds up for me now. I loved it at 13! I do recall it was written in the dialect which probably requires a b..."

Very curious to see what you think about this book 53 years later! :-)

Lorraine wrote: "I've also finished this book and agree with you that it is not particularly good. I do not think I would be interested in reading anything else from that author.
I do not know a lot about that peri..."

I agree with what you shared. I did some research about the author and the book. As it turns out, Uncle Tom's Cabin wasn't published as a book, but rather as installments in a newspaper. And Harriet Beecher Stowe didn't write a whole lot, so this might be why the writing felt like a struggle to get through.

There was one small issue I wanted to bring up; I couldn't understand why we had to have two Georges and two Toms. Surely there are more names out there.

(view spoiler)[
I did know about Liberia, but I do wonder why exactly the "more than 15,000 freed and free-born black people who faced social and legal oppression in the U.S." moved there. Is it because it was a last resort because they really wanted to move there or because they couldn't envision a better life in the U.S.?

You're right that education alone cannot combat prejudice. I also find it difficult to believe. Wouldn't slaveholders be some of the richest Southerners? And isn't wealth generally a good indication of education? I
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