Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops

De: Susie King Taylor

Narrado por: Lia Damon

Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) was the first black army nurse. She tended to an all black army troop the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment, where her husband served during the Civil War. This account covers her early life and her memoirs of the war.

Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks

Am thankful to have discovered

Thankful for all the efforts and sacrifices made by this woman and all peoples who gave their all…for freedom and justice, which are still so elusive for so many. Absolutely worth every minute to hear…should be on lists for all…young and old.

Okay story, worst narration ever

The text of this audiobook is what it is—Susie King Taylor writes in the matter-of-fact style of much first-person historical writing of the Civil War era. But as the only Civil War memoir penned by a black woman, it occupies a special place in the first-person history of the time. That being the case, it would have been great if they had assigned a decent narrator to read it, but they did not. Listening to the audiobook, I started to suspect that "Lia Damon" might be a synthetic text-to-voice app. Pauses and emphases are in the wrong places in sentences. Mispronunciations abound, such as pronouncing "corps" the same as "corpse." One hole in that theory was that (mis)pronunciations were inconsistent from one chapter to the next. Another was the point where she read "1962" for a date that clearly was "1862." A text-to-speech package wouldn't make that mistake unless the number was wrong in the original text. Then I thought, "Doesn't an author of this historical significance deserve better?" and "Doesn't Audible use editors or producers to oversee the quality of its product?" Yes she does, and apparently, no they don't.

A broad overview

If you are looking for a first person narrative of life following the army during the civil war....this really isn't it. Written decades after the war, when I assume small details not written down immediately faded from the mind, there is more about her life posr-war; in particular her note of the difference in race relations even in the first years of the 20th century.
It is still a fascinating listen, though the narrator commits a few faux pas in pronunciations ("corpse" for "corps" and "calvary" for "cavalry")