Review: Book of Negroes CBC Miniseries

Hello! Today I come to talk about a book and a book to screen adaptation, specifically Book of Negroes, which is originally a book by Lawrence Hill. I read it initially in grade 11, so I didn't remember the plot, but I did remember enjoying it and eventually being drawn into the story and the characters. 

Over 6 weeks in January, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) aired a mini series that was based on the book. It was 6 parts, each part an hour. Since sometimes when book-to-film adaptations come out, bookish people write blog posts on them, I thought I'd do a review of this mini series! 

So, the Book of Negroes storyline covers the life a girl, Aminata, from her life in her African village in Guinea, and her experience being taken from her home and being sold as a slave across the ocean. The story is then her story of struggle as she travels and tries to find her way back to her loved ones and her home, all the while fighting for her life. If you've never read the Book of Negroes, you really should. It's a very interesting history of the slave trade, and I think that is something important to know about. I know that it you could learn about it from a textbook, but when it is from the perspective of a character, in this case Aminata, you get to see how her personal life was affected and you can empathize with her. Aminata herself is an amazing, strong character and she never gives up a fight and always stands up for herself and those she loves. 

I suppose it's a bit easier to adapt a book (quite a long one too) into a 6 hour series rather than a movie, but CBC did so well with this one. I didn't remember the book much, which may have helped me not to be too judgmental of discrepancies. But what I did remember - the intense story of struggle that Aminata went through and how she fought with everything she had to get through hard times - that was all included in the mini series. Each hour long episode, despite being an hour, never felt like it was long enough. The plot moved along at a quick pace and there was enough interesting twists that it was easy to get caught up in the story and be moved along. Everything made sense and fit together well, although of course some of the plot points were devastating for Aminata, and that was hard to watch. 

The various characters were also very well rounded and interesting, especially Aminata. Sometimes when I read a book or watch a film where the characters are fascinated by this one character and say that she's special all the time and that she's destined for great things, I can't help but roll my eyes and think, oh whatever, she's not that special (*cough*Divergent*cough*). But not with Aminata. She is so strong-willed and tough, you can't help but cheer for her all the way through and think yes, yes, of course she's going to do great things. Not only that but you want more people to see her brilliance for what it is - although of course, the sad thing is with racism, her strength and intelligence are often discounted because of her skin colour. 

Aminata was not the only interesting character, however. I don't know how characters were introduced in each episode, but it was still heartbreaking to leave each one when the time came. Of course, this was also probably because of the relationships that Aminata cultivated with people, always so open and compassionate. 

The Book of Negroes mini series kept me (and my best friend who I watched it with) clutching our blankets the whole way through, and crying with Aminata through her ups and downs. Especially the last episode, there were so many heartbreaking things that happened. 

The Book of Negroes is more than just a simple story of a black slave during the time of the slave trade. It is an important and interesting story of a strong-willed young woman's life. I hope you will check out the mini series, and dive into a fuller understanding of the slave trade while you are wrapped up in Aminata and her story.

You can find the Book of Negroes mini series on CBC here, and it is also on BET here. I believe it is also on iTunes. 

If you want to check out the book, you can find it on Goodreads here.

Why Do We Even Like Book to Movie Adaptations?

To get to school, I have to take an hour bus ride each way. I get motion sick, so I can't read on the bus, so I spend my time listening to a podcast called Literary Disco. It's a podcast with three friends talking about books, and sometimes pop culture stuff, and sometimes other stuff that has absolutely no relevance whatsoever but is still funny and entertaining.

Anyway, on one of their podcasts I was listening to a few days ago, they were talking about the excitement around books being adapted into movies. Rider, one of the members of the podcast, was asking why people are so excited to have something that can only exist in their head translate onto the screen. Shouldn't movies and books be kept entirely separate? Is it because we feel pleasure in judging the accuracy of it? Do people want to be pretend filmmakers, and that's why after watching movie adaptations they say "Oh yeah, they got it right"?

They only spent about five minutes on it on the podcast, but it got me thinking. I mean, I was just as excited as everyone else for the Catching Fire movie. But it's an entirely different experience watching an adaptation than just a normal movie. With a normal movie, you just enjoy the story and where it takes you, without knowing what happens. Part of the enjoyment of a regular movie is the plot and the discovery of plot points. In Catching Fire, for example, I knew everything that was going to happen and was even waiting for those events. Okay, up next is the poisonous fog. Then the monkeys. Oh, yeah, there they are! I definitely think part of the reason that I loved Catching Fire so much was because of it's accuracy in regards to the book.

So I think that judging an adaptation on its accuracy is part of why we love adaptations, but only a small part. The ultimate dream for fiction readers is that their fictions would become reality. Yes, what happens in a book happens in someone's head, but I think when a book is turned into a movie it becomes that much closer to being real. There are now real people, real voices, and real-looking events to associate with the fictional events of the book. I think those visual images are a big part of what readers are so excited about in regards to movie adaptations.

That's just my own personal hypothesis as to why there is always so much excitement around book to movie adaptations. What do you think is the reason for the excitement? Do you think book to movie adaptations should exist? Why? Why are they so important to the book community? Would it be better if we all just left books alone? And what did you think of Catching Fire? Or if you haven't seen it, how excited are you to see it?