Black Thunder: Gabriel's Revolt: Virginia, 1800

First published in 1936, Black Thnder was widely and favorably reviewed, but - as the author writes in his introduction to this edition - "the theme of self-assertion by black men whose endurance is strained to the breaking point wat not one that readers of fiction were prepared to contemplate at the time." The young Richard Wright, in reviewing the book for Partisan Review, commented as follows: "Black Thunder is the true story of a slave insurrection that failed. But in his telling of the story of that failure Bontemps manages to reveal and dramatize through the character of his protagonist, Gabriel, a quality of folk courage unparalleled in the proletarian literature of this country.... Black Thunder sounds a new note in Negro fiction, thereby definitely extending the boundaries and ideology of the Negro novel." -- from book's back cover

I thought the book was insightful and related well the oppression of American slaves in 17th century Virginia. Slavery is a subject not often discussed without the emotion of guilt affixed to it. This book presented the racism of slavery in a de facto way that allowed the reader to understand the feelings of inferiority and the rage. The book used several perspectives to provide a thorough analysis. By removing the issue of racism, it helped me better understand and therefore identify with the disdain of injustice and desire for freedom that drove the protagonists to revolt.Bontemps also dealt with the mix of Christian faith and superstition held by the book's central figures. This is one aspect with which I identified and it may be overlooked without predisposition. The author specifically addressed this through several one-sided discussions between Gabriel and God and the questions of faith raised by his misfortune. The clash of beliefs over the calamity that ensued raised my awareness of how we mix our faith with popular culture and how this mixture often fails to answer our troubled questions in difficult times.

This is the best book by Bontemps, a significant author from the Harlem Renaissance period. This book received the most admiration from his peers such as W.E. B. DuBois and Langston Hughes and continues to receive praise from contemporary literary scholars. This story is based on facts of the actual slave rebellion of Gabriel Prosser in Virginia.

This is such a beautiful novel. I am still stunned by the power of it. It is not to be missed. Highly recommend this one.