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| The Confessions of Nat Turner | 
 enlarge | Author: William Styron
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $1.56
You Save: $13.39 (90%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $1.57
Avg. Customer Rating:  (53 reviews)
Sales Rank: 39062
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0679736638
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679736639
ASIN: 0679736638
Publication Date: November 10, 1992
Release Date: November 10, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...
The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.
The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.
The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...
Make Sure You Read the Vintage Edition with the Afterword September 26, 2008
I initially purchased this book to read for two reasons: First, it was written by William Styron, who wrote the great "Sophie's Choice;" and second, it won a Pulitzer Prize. It was only after I was into the book that I learned that this vintage sixties' book was the subject of a major controversy over the depiction of the title character, Nat Turner.
I learned that Styron openly acknowledged fictionalizing large portions of Turner's life, including his motivations for leading the slave revolt. I also learned that Styron's largely fictionalized portrait of Turner outraged many black leaders of the time. Rather than painting Turner (entirely) as a hero, called to action by the injustices of slavery, Styron created a darker picture of a man fixated on religion, a vision of himself as a prophet, and frustrated by lust and desire (particularly, for a young, blond haired white girl).
As I read the book, I search my own feelings, and felt that if I were black, I would certainly have objected similarly. We all need our heroes, who become much larger as symbols than they could ever be as people. For the sake of those that come after, such icons are perhaps entitled to be treated with a greater level of sensitivity and care--even at the cost of literary restraint.
It is here that the story gets fascinating. After I finished the novel, I read Styron's Afterword. Styron was truly stung by the criticism and in the Afterword, provided an elegant and persuasive defense of his writings. While I will not say that Styron entirely changed my position, he definitely made me see the other side of the argument. The dialogue between Styron and his critics not only allows the reader to consider one of the great social and political issues of our time, but permits the reader a unique insight into the thinking of a great writer--and suffices, in and of itself, as a reason for reading this novel. MAKE SURE YOUR VERSION OF THE NOVEL HAS THIS AFTERWORD.
Putting the issue aside as to the real "Nat Turner," the novel itself is beautifully written. The characters are fully developed and believable. The description of the system of slavery and the relationship between whites and blacks feel very real, and very accurate. Styron shows us good and bad of each race, and how all of them are bound by the system of slavery and their actions directly the product of it.
 A Haunting Masterpiece Of Historical Fiction September 8, 2008
Upon it's publication, William Styron's "The Confessions of Nat Turner" was hailed by The New York Times as "a triumph", and described as "the most profound fictional treatment of slavery in our literature" by The New Republic. Despite these and other glowing reviews, the book was also denounced as racist garbage which perpetuates dangerous stereotypes about African-Americans - particularly the stereotype of the sexual aggressive black male.
I will talk more about this in a moment, but first I would like to say that I did not find anything racist about this novel. I found it instead to be a raw, brutal, yet strangely beautiful, work about the horror and injustice of slavery. While there are several scenes of physical brutality and deprivation between masters and slaves in this novel, Styron, through the voice of Nat, focuses more on the grinding psychological and emotional toll of slavery. Even in Virginia, the setting of the novel, where the condition of the average slave was considered "not that bad" by the standards of the time, the soul-crushing, mind-annihilating condition of being human chattel was an overwhelming burden. Nat's description of this sort of "life", and his fiery rage at the white characters of this novel are truly terrifying and unforgettable.
Nat himself is portrayed as a complex and (usually) sympathetic character. He is neither a zealot or a mad-man or a one-dimensional symbol. Styron notably leaves out some of the known biographic details of Turner in his narrative - Turner's wife and child, for example - perhaps in order to develop (the fictional) Nat's inner-conflicts regarding love, hate, sexuality and sanctity, all of which are central to the novel. To return to the above-mentioned allegations of racism, it will not give too much away to reveal that Nat at one point fantasizes about raping a white woman after she reveals her own vulnerability to him and several other slaves. I saw this, and similar scenes, not as a stereotypical portrayal of uncontrollable, animal lust (a la "Gone with the Wind") but rather as a symptom of mental and emotional confusion/frustration stemming from a cruel lifetime of hatred, betrayal and deprivation. Other, perhaps less "self aware", black characters I believe are similarly meant to be viewed as products of their environments. This was my interpretation of the more controversial aspects of the novel, and I hope that other readers will not have their views towards an entire race of people diminished or altered by scenes which, I believe, are meant to shock the reader into a deeper understanding of the iniquities of human bondage.
This is a deeply haunting work of fiction (and I emphasize the word fiction, as other reviewers before me have) and one that will be hard to forget. Read this with an open mind (and a copy of the historical accounts of Turner's revolt near at hand) and hopefully you were be brought to a deeper understanding not only of slavery and early American history, but also the strength and frailty of the human soul.
Superb. Left me breathless December 24, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I too, am going to have to say that many recent reviewers have said what I would say if I could express myself so eloquently. This is a powerful and beautifully written book. I had heard about it and was curious, but had no idea the impact it would have on me. As a white person I've often wondered why this degree of rage hasn't been touched on before; I've always thought I would have been consumed with it had I been treated as the blacks have been. Styron's novel will haunt you long after you finsh the book.
Excellent December 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With avid and unsettling detail, William Styron gives us a story that is a rich and heartbreaking look at American slavery. His Nat Turner gropes blindly for mercy and for God until finally he must try to break free from bonds that are utterly, inexcusably cruel.
 Could have used a little editing April 4, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I didn't give this three stars because of the controversy around racism. It's historical fiction, fiction being the key word. And I didn't really pick up that tone from it at all. I thought it was an innovative retelling using what information we do know and filling in the blanks from there. The reason I gave it three stars is because it contained all sorts of things that I felt could have been cut from the book and it wouldn't have mattered. I almost gave up on it in the second section. I'm glad I finished it, but it was a little tough to keep interest in it.
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