• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

  • By: Frederick Douglass
  • Narrated by: Walter Covell
  • Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (485 ratings)

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass  By  cover art

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

By: Frederick Douglass
Narrated by: Walter Covell
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Publisher's summary

Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. He was called both "The Sage of Anacostia" and "The Lion of Anacostia" and is one of the most prominent figures in African-American history and United States history.

He was born into slavery but secretly taught himself to read and write - a crime punishable by death. Because of this, we now possess what may be the most eloquent indictment of slavery ever written.

This book takes us into the fields, cabins, and manors of the pre-Civil War South and shows in vivid detail the heartlessness of slaveholders. Douglass finally managed to excape and became a famous orator, minister, and leader of his people.

Public Domain (P)1987 Jimcin Recordings

What listeners say about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    331
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book!

This is the heart-breaking first-hand account by an American slave. Douglass was a wonderful orator and his writing sounds like a well-written speech. I look forward to reading his other autobiographies.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Must Buy!

Where does Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I bought this because it was assigned reading for my history class, however it has led me to the rest of the works of Frederick Douglass. Probably falls under the heading of the best book I've gotten from Audible yet.

What did you like best about this story?

It was an historical account of slavery.

What about Walter Covell’s performance did you like?

Very emotive and compelling.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were parts that made me cry because I know that they really did happen.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking But Brilliantly Written

Any additional comments?

Douglass is a brillant writer, and I'm glad he was able to persist long enough to be able to write his memoir. Several things make this one of the best autobiographies I'd read:

He is truthful and when he don't know something, he says so directly. Although he obviously survived and overcome many adversities, he doesn't make it appear as a boast and it is this that makes his purpose, to call the audience to feel the need to take action no matter how slight. His honesty of his own actions is one of his greatest asset.

I really enjoyed this, and although what he had witnessed and gone through is heartbreaking, I also admire his courage of writing about the truth about slavery.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Narrative!

Would you listen to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass again? Why?

I enjoyed listening to Walter Covell narrate Frederick Douglass' life story. I was interesting and fact laden.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I could not make it past the introductory material

I think the narrator was wholly unsuited to this book, and I was absolutely unable to continue. I have since purchased the book with a different narrator. I realize this is a subjective thing, but this reminded me of a "b" grade version of the narrator from the old Fractured Fairy Tales on the Bullwinkle and Rocky show...

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Technical Issues



Good narration in spite of the poor sound quality.. The voice consistently going loud then soft in waves becomes quite annoying. Nevertheless, for the low price,, I'll put up with it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Reader performs well, but the recording is bad

Would you listen to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass again? Why?

I would, but I would listen to a different recording.

How could the performance have been better?

I don't know if the guy recording was looking down and up from the mic but the audio goes from really weak to strong through the whole record. It almost sounds like an old cassette tape that had been in the heat of the garage for a long time.
The reader does a good job reading though. But the audio is really distracting.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Its about Slavery so um YEAH. But it is a really good book to read and hear history and slavery from someone that went through it.

Any additional comments?

It feels weird to give a negative review about something you would normally give a positive one(which is weird in itself because the book is about someone who went through slavery....how can that experience be a positive thing to listen to?) But it was a book I think they should have made required reading in high school. I am glad to finally be able to listen to it, just wish it was a better recording.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

The narrative was well written and read. The unbelievable and haunting, but the the narrator read with ease.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Weird Audio

The story is, of course, outstanding. There's a reason Frederick Douglass is still revered after all this time.

But the audio fades in and out rapidly. Its extremely distracting and makes it very difficult to concentrate on the content. This is the only recording of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass that I've listened to, but I would recommend trying one of the others based entirely on the terrible audio on this one.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love!

Such a great book, and such a great storyline. The narrator did a wonderful job. I would definitely recommend this. And, if you like this, I would also recommend Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington.

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1 person found this helpful