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Summary: What a book!
Review: I've read this book three times and am seriously considering reading it again after I Know This Much Is True. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Ms Morrison just writes so well and the words she makes up, wow!. Anyway this is one of the better books I have read.
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Summary: A Challenge and a Pleasure
Review: I found Morrison's novel to be one of the more challenging novels I have read, and it demanded a kind of attention from me that I have not received from many other authors. She adds a new spin onto the 20th Century American novel that catapults literature into a new genre. I found the characters to be complex, multi-dimensional, and far from perfect. The "humanness" of the characters, the sides of them which I could not always relate but could sympathize, kept me reading to find out where Morrison's journey would end. The greatest part about the novel was that the journey did not end, but rather, opened itself to a range of possibilties. This novel frustrates and tries the patience of the reader, but the end result is inspiring.
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Summary: very nearly perfect...
Review: Morrison's novel is divided into two parts. The impact either part has on the reader is obvious when reading them. The question is - Why did she choose to split the novel as she did, altering the manner of storytelling from first to second part in such a drastic and noticeable way?The first part of the novel teems with detail and the atmosphere of a burgeoning century as seen through the eyes of tempestuous histories and a small, largely poor community. Her attention and love in this first part very clearly forecast the ground she'll go on to break in 'Beloved' years later. It is vintage Morrison, the whole reason why she has been rightly given the Nobel Prize. She weaves haunting webs when she's at her best - taking her time, waiting, laborious and aesthetically generous with her brush strokes. Guitar and Pilate are mythic characters. And the first part of the novel teems, at every bend, with moments and relationships that still haunt me now as I think of them. It is in the second part of the novel that Morrison falters. It is as if she hurried her way through its final pages. Things don't come about quite so much in these latter pages as they do in the bulk of the book - patient and evocative. She whisks us through places and people. In the end, when Guitar returns home and fetches Pilate back to the small backwoods town he had discovered, it only takes Morrison relative flashes of time to make the two journeys. Perhaps she was trying to convey the sense of having lost one's bearings in the search for one's past. She would have been more successful had she done this moreso through the details and attentions to her characters. There are a few moments in the second part where she is close to the beauties of the first part - the old woman (Circe, I believe) with the dogs, the hallucinatory hunting scene. All in all, though, she falls a little flat in the end. But the lavish and smoky bulk of the book is more than enough buoyancy for this flawed novel.
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Summary: Great. Took me a little while to get into the meaning.
Review: Overall, I liked the book and I would recommend it. Through the first chapter or so, if someone asked what the book was about, I couldnt put my finger on it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: Morrison is a decent writer, and at times gives nice insights to human nature and the human condition, but by no means is she or will she be considered "great" as a writer. The whole humanities scene these days is an ode to P.C. and dead white male bashing - that's probably part of why she's so highly accaimed.
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Summary: Typical Toni Morrison Book, Can't figure what is going on!
Review: I read this book 2 years ago and couldn't tell you what I read. Tried it again and got halfway through, but decided I didn't have time to RE-READ sections over again just to figure what the hoot is going on??? Very typical of Morrison's work. She is a great writer, but there are too many other good books that one can get by without digging, deciphering, dissecting and re-reading. Too bad!!
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Summary: One heck of a book!!!!
Review: I know that I am not really a good critic, especially when I only read when forced by my English teacher in my AP English class. Well, look on the bright side, at least I am honest. Hehehe. Anyway, Song of Solomon is one book that I would recommend for everybody to read. This book contains everything, from the heart-pounding adventure to the cold and bitter life of Milkman. I think that this book goes way beyond the issue of black and white as suggested by some readers. Deep down in the heart, it is more a matter of love and hate in a family. From start to end, Milkman face the same problem over and over again. His father treating his family like a bunch of dolls left untouched on the shelf. His mother living miserably for a reason that he could never understand. His aunt being so lovable and helpful to everybody. His cousin who is so madly in love with him that she is willing to do almost anything, even if that means killing him with her own hand. His best friend who j! ! oins the Seven Days to participate in the war between Black and White. Well, everything is so twisted and sick and beautiful that you can't really tell any difference. I love the book anyway. I think that it is very well-written. Morrison really knows how to capture the audience. Well, just a note though, I would also like to thank my English teacher (Mr. Riener) for choosing this book to be read and discussed in class. If it's not for him, I wouldn't know that this book exists at all.
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Summary: A spellbinding story of the profound desire for freedom.
Review: Toni Morrison's great achievement with this novel reaches the very depth of the African-American soul. Using the Emmitt Luis Till lynching as an historical backdrop, Morrison describes the struggle between the trodden-upon black man who lives in a world of injustice. Even more revealing, though, is Milkman's struggle with himself. His is a struggle for freedom, and Morrison tells Milkman's story with the magic that can only be found in a deeply-embedded history of an entire race's search for absolute freedom. The "Song of Solomon" is full of energy and desire.
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Summary: This book had characters with the courage to survive.
Review: Pilate was one of my favorite characters she developed her own moral code in a world that left her a homeless orphan. Society didn't even afford her the dignity of justice. Yet, she survived with her values in tact. She knew how to forgive others and love herself. But, I couldn't find an explanation in the book as to how she found this great courage. I will reread this book sometime because I feel like I may have missed some of the depth.
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Summary: The greatest novel I've ever read.
Review: This book is a challenging read but is worth it. Never has a book touched me like this one. After I read this book, I understand these characters and the lives they lead. I feel I know them better than I know myself. While some books end and I wish for more, this book is a satisfying full meal; it leaves you feeling complete.
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