Beloved (Plume Contemporary Fiction) by Toni Morrison
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Book Reviews of Beloved (Plume Contemporary Fiction)
Book Review: A thought provoking text,it makes you question todays values
Summary: 5 Stars
Given "Beloved" to read as a compulsary text for English A-Level, as a seventeen year old, I was at first daunted by the unrecognisable language used and the strange recollections that you first meet. Once over this initial hurdle, "Beloved" quickly became one of my most loved and most hated books. Toni Morrison has created a novel which questions human and social values, evoking sympathy and compassion in all of us. The way the characters are treated by other human beings and by society in general is so horrific, that we can only give them sympathy. The characters become closer to the reader by their narration in "the stream of consciousness", but at the same time distanced by todays society's lack of understanding with their situation. We are not intended to empathise with them as the story is not one to be kept alive. It is not a story to pass on.Book Review: Genius Has a Name and it's Toni Morrison
Summary: 5 Stars
What will a mother do for her child? Will she die for it? Will she kill it herself to keep it from dying at the hands of others? At some point or time we all say we'll do whatever it takes for the health and happiness of our children and then the day arrives when either we eat these words or live up to them. Sethe lives and and in a sense dies by them. This story is so full of metaphor and symbolism that a reader must bring something to the book in order to get something out of it. Toni Morrison has asked us a question and after reading this book some who thought they had the answer may want to re-think it. This tale, though gruesome and horrific is one of Ms Morrison's most fascinating and intriguing stories to date. We often ask what will love do for us, what does love have to give to us, when we should ask, what will we do for love? It doesn't get much better than thisBook Review: The Layers of Beloved
Summary: 5 Stars
I wrote essay after essay about how wonderful this book is for my college English class this past semester. It's is incredibly hard to understand, but that is what makes it such a good read. The layers that Morrison provides makes you really think about history, about the past, and how lucky you are. If after reading this book you don't understand it, I suggest heading to your local library or the internet, finding some books and articles where Toni was interviewed about this book, and really discovering how many symbols overlay other symbols. It will leave you gasping in amazement, in horror, and reach into the depths of your soul. I have gone back time and time again to read a passage newly illuminated to me. One of the most fabulous books of our time that will be a classic, standing strong beside the likes of Plato, Erasmus, and Dickens.Book Review: Morrison's gigantic characters
Summary: 5 Stars
Beloved is not an easy read. But no work of literature with its scope could be anything but complex. Morrison's prose is beautiful in all its disjointedness, but it is the characters in beloved that I am obsessed with. She has a Doestoevsky like mastery when it comes to populating her novels and this is most evident in Beloved. Paul D, Seth, Stamp Paid, Garner, Schoolteacher, Baby Suggs (holy) have been seared into my conciousness for all time. One could do a good deal of critical thiking about these individual characters for weeks and still be awed by them. For some reason I was intrigued by Baby Suggs (holy) and the scene after the large banquet in which the invited guests turn really resentful. It is probably the most intriguing and memorable scene in the book and culminates in the event around which the work is centered. INCREDIBLE!Book Review: Beloved ROCKS!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED Beloved. The characters were portrayed beautifully, with Morrison's uncanny talent to describe. The flaws built into each character made the book unbelievably realistic, while the magical appearance of Beloved was amazingly surrealistic. The protagonist, Sethe, while an all-loving mother, is nevertheless too excessive in her love. Paul D, while sincerely loving Sethe, is still a sexist. Baby Suggs, although a caring community leader, spends all day lying on her bed after the "misery."
Other than the successful depiction of the various characters, Beloved is filled with many flashbacks, impeccably told. I gained a new understanding and also a different perspective on the postbellum era. Morrison has really done it this time, creating the masterpiece which haunts and delights at the same time.