Love

Rating:
Summary: A small word for a big emotion
Review: Love is challenging. The possibilities that exist in switchblades tucked into pockets, into short skirts worn in cold weather, in hotels long abandoned with household items hidden away in case of a revolution that never reaches its shores are massive. Love proves to be familiar territory for Morrison, who also explored the ideas surrounding female violence, of self made communities, of generational voices clashing with an ill sense of progress in her other novels. What makes Love so extraordinary is mainly its shorter length. This is a tighter ride with many more opportunities for Morrison's lyrical and sensual settings to relay hidden dangers. What is also unique is the light is sheds on the novels before it through it's modern setting. Combined with the familiar themes, you get the sense that we cannot escape the past and that time will ultimately prove ignorant of us. Nonetheless, there are qualities, ideas, and emotions that will still be here, even if there purpose, place, or manifestation of them are different. Love in this novel is prickly, dangerous, predictable, and hungry. And yet, there is a greater force in a young protagonist that moves him to love himself and his newly discovered truths that wind up preserving pieces of the past while he so clearly is the future. Love, when it is as real as this, is more than deserving of your time.

Rating:
Summary: In Love
Review: It's been a long time since I've read a book that truly held my attention and intrigued me from beginning to end. Toni Morrison's creative use of words and imagery is mesmerizing. What captivated me most about this story were the richness of all the characters (I fell in love with the voice of 'L') and all their complexities, which is why this story was so moving to me. Ms. Morrison has a knack for leaving plenty to the imagination of the reader, which is what makes her writing so interesting. I love having to fill in the blanks and enjoyed the way she put together the puzzle pieces of this story without making it overwhelming. It's a simple story, but told intricately and poetically. I wish that I could make love to words the way she does, but therein lies her gift and I'm grateful to be witness to such a treasure.

JD Mason
Author
One Day I Saw a Black King

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I read this in almost a single sitting, casting aside school and house work. It was just amazing. I'm already a big fan of Morrison, and this book is my new favorite. Morrison is incredibly focused and precise in her presentation of this story, and she wastes not a single word. The topic, like her others, can be raw at times, but it presents the human and human relations in such a way as to capture their complexity even within a limited set of events.

Rating:
Summary: Lyrical
Review: Wow!!! Having been a fan of Toni Morrison since the Bluest Eye I was a little hesitant when picking up her latest book Love. Will this book be another intellectual literary pursuit or will it be lyrical? To tell the truth I didn't care because I always learn more of myself from Toni's books.

I'm glad to say that this book is both: intellectual and lyrical at the same time. It's a chance for women and men to learn that love is more than a snatched kiss in the night, a hand reaching out -- love is complex. Filled with nuances that many of us recognize but have no name for. By far this was Toni's best book and I highly recommend it to everyone. Because I recognize my frailities as a human being I knew without a doubt by page 108 that the title Love was a contradiction, an irony of sorts. All of us old enough to know, think of Love as something to share, to hold, to cherish, which is what Toni wanted us to think when she titled the book Love. It took me 108 pages to discover that the definition of love began with the opening of the book. But like many people I was looking for my definition of love not Love.

My hats off to you Toni for providing me the opportunity to realize that love is intuitive.

Great work.

Rating:
Summary: Again, Morrison Leaves the Reader Spellbound!
Review: Toni Morrison's latest novel "Love" is her most accessible novel since "Beloved" - much easier to follow than some of her other work, and it's only 200 pages long.

The magic realism is well done and not as intrusive to the plot as it is in the some of Morrison's oeuvre. All the characters are interesting, whether they be alive, dead, or dead-but-don't-know it. One character is so far removed from the narrative that she is almost a "hear-say" character, and yet she is a catalyst and integral to the story. I'll call her the "character who wasn't there".

The setting is both the 1940s and the present, in and around a beach hotel and resort owned and operated by a rich and influential black man named Bill Cosey who turns out to be his own worse enemy...this is perhaps the theme of the book.

If you already love Morrison, as I do, you'll enjoy "Love" immensely. If you are new to her work, this is a good one with which to begin!

Rating:
Summary: Won Me Over
Review: I'll be the first to admit that I never really cared for Toni Morrison's work because she made me work too hard. I re-read BELOVED at the suggestion of Oprah after being a guest for one of her book club dinners. I got through it but didn't really "enjoy" it. I tried PARADISE and while I finished it I wasn't really sure I got it. Well along comes LOVE and I feel like the first time I was graduated from the children's table to the adult table at Thanksgiving dinner. I read this book in about 8 hours and must say not only did I get it but I savored every word. I may be late to the works of Ms. Morrison but Love definitely won me over.

Rating:
Summary: She hasn't let us down yet!
Review: When I heard that Toni Morrison was coming out with a new book I was very excited because she is one greatest living American writers, the fact that she is still producing works just as magical as ever is amazing. This book is very short, but it has some of Toni Morrison's most unforgettable characters.

The book opens and closes with the first person narrative of, 'L', no one knows her name, only that it starts with the letter L. She introduces us to the magical town of 'Silk', by the sea. She also introduces us to Cosey's Hotel, where she is the chef.

After L's introduction the story begins with an outsider, Junior, coming in to apply for a job at the Cosey house. Heed, Bill Cosey's widow is in need of someone to write her families history. Junior gets the job and the story unravels as we are introduced to many new characters, both from the present and the past. The book has many themes ranging from, greed, death, deception and of course, love. Just like in any Toni Morrison book, this book also deals a lot with the past, it's importance and it's effect on the present and future.

The story moves slowly but magically through a plot full of surprises and revelations. This is an amazing addition to Toni Morrison's already fine collection of novels.

While perhaps not as epic as her earlier works, Beloved and Song Of Solomon, this is an amazing book that you should not overlook. All of her novels are masterpieces, this is no exception. One Toni Morrison novel is worth five of any other American writer!

Now I will rate this book from A-F in a few categories like I do in all my reviews:

Character Devolopment: A
Plot: B+
Thought Provoking: A-
Readability: A

With an overall grade of an A, this is certainly a book that I will return too.

Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: Toni Morrison is an incredible writer and with "Love" she has once again showed the depth of her unique and creative writing style. She creates relationships and circumstances that seem hard to imagine in real life but then also seem so real and close. I enjoyed this novel. It is not a fast moving book but it glides along beautifully like a bird, visiting new situations and scnarios peacefully, resting for while to absorb everything possible, and then eventually moving on to glide again. Really enjoyable novel. Highly recommended. I also suggest the novel Lucky Monkeys In The Sky by Michele Geraldi. It is similar to Love in that it deals with many different relationships, but I think it might be better, more unique and emotional. Both books are worth having to keep.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderous
Review: I love Toni Morrison's writing, and I especially love this subject matter. A compelling work for our times. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book
Review: I have enjoyed Toni Morrison's books ever since a favourite uncle and aunt of mine first sent me "Song of Soloman" for my birthday. Some have been disappointing, but this one, her newest, renewed my faith in the strength of Ms. Morrison's writing abilities.

The book is, simply put, beautiful. It has a lyrical quality that makes it a joy to read. The characters are fascinating, each one with his or her own personal sorrows and reasons for behaving as they do. Though the book is short, it is deeply satisfying. It's quickly become one of my favourite books of 2004, and I even went so far as to buy it in hardcover, something I rarely do. The gorgeous, dreamlike prose and the fascinating plot are both top notch. I highly recommend this to anyone, whether or not they are previous fans of Morrison's work!