Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, Heart Wrenching.
Review: I don't usually like Toni Morrison novels. Not because I don't think they're good-- I think that Toni Morrison is one of the most talented writers of today. That's the problem. She finds her voice in these characters and channels more pain than I can bear in a novel. She creates these people too well; you're sucked in, and feel trapped, as they do. The novel itself is all of these things. The characters are so vivid that one feels as though they are talking to you. Their pain is so real, that one empathizes easily with them. from Macon Dead to Pilate, to Milkman, this novel chronicles a family over many generations- and their gut-wrenching pain as well. Did I like the novel? No. But do I think that it's worth reading? Absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Morrison's best...
Review: SOS is certainly a wonderful book, as is nearly everything Toni Morrison has written--I have read four of her novels, and haven't yet been disappointed. However, I don't see it as her "masterpiece." I felt that Part Two seemed to drag on and on for too long until it became boring. Other than that, however, the rest of the book is captivating and, as usual, is phenomenally written. The ending is also wonderfully open-ended. Still, I don't think it's as good as BELOVED, THE BLUEST EYE, or even JAZZ, which I think is as good as anything else she has ever written, despite being so maddening. Despite its flaws, though, SOLOMON is still a fascinating, interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: Black Life Depicted More Real Than Fiction It Seems
Review: I throughly enjoyed this book and think it rates next to Ellison's Invisible Man which is must read for everyone who considers themselves literate. I read Invisible Man twice but anyway Song of Solomon is another must read and being in the military and enlisted (d'oh!) there aren't any people I can really discuss this book with other than a few officers who have nothing to do throughout the day so must read something to maintain their sanity and sense. This particular officer was non-black I should say but everybody is black really and you don't have to be black to relate to a story of pain, ambition, and family strife. Yes I would recommend this book to a 10th grader and make it required reading. Morrison is telling a story she's not trying to save the world here folks. Though many thought that she ought to have kept Paradise to herself, I've rarely found reading anything Morrison wrote to be disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Lyrical Legend
Review: The story in Song of Solomon basically unravels the legend of the Dead family. Not to compare, but Toni Morrison is Stephen King without the horror. The similiarities between the two authors is that is they are good story tellers. The difference between Morrison is that her stories are rarely linear whereas King's are. Morrison slowly lets you know how a character got to be the way the are. I was disappointed by the reviewer in Philadelphia who said that there was not a redeeming character in the book, not a flattering depiction of urban life, and not appropriate for someone under 18. Censorship is the very thing that keeps good books with dark themes out of public eye. Let people self censor. For instance, The Portrait of Dorian Gray was a book with a horrible protangonist, yet it probably makes high school lists along with Native Son, Great Expectations and Madame Bovary. There were some unsavory characters in those books too, but they told a great story. Was the Song of Solomon meant to teach some great lesson and be uplifting? I'm not sure. Possibly the most positive person with something to learn from is Milkman's great aunt Pilate. As far the incest, it is a common occurence in this country and in African-American families. Remember in Maya Angelou's book how she talked about her mother's boyfriend molesting her? Or in Alice Walker's The Color Purple of the incest between father and daughter that produced two children? The basis of Lolita was a grown man marrying a woman in order to get closer to her prepubescent daughter. Many great books have disturbing elements in them but that is to illuminate the dark side in all of us. In this way, Morrison is also like King in that they deal with the dark side of human existence. Let mature teenagers read this and make up their own minds. I read this book as a late teen at the recommendation of my teenaged friend and I don't think it made me warped. Quite the opposite, it makes you glad you don't suffer the personal demons each one of these characters experiences.
Rating:
Summary: Toni Morrison's greatest book!
Review: She has written no greater book than this one. I love it. I still try to make some sense of the ending but it doesn't even matter. The magical experience is amazing and stays with you forever.
Rating:
Summary: Toni Morrison Sings!
Review: A beautiful and enthralling story that makes you believe that life does hold some important revelation for each of us. The book paints characters who live a hard, gritty, and seemingly hopeless life, creating a fascinating and realistic portrait that catches the readers interest right away. Ms. Morrison then weaves in a thread of fantasy so subtly that, as the plot progresses, the reader will find it hard to decide--is it real? And, by the end of the book, you will certainly believe that, if it isn't, it certainly could be. Finding that certain something noble and beatiful that makes you believe that your life, your parents life, your ancestor's lives, and all the events therein, were special and worthwhile, despite the hard times it took to get there, is an uplifting ideal. Ms. Morrison makes the ideal a possibility for each of us by giving us the characters she has created in this wonderful story. A great place to start reading Toni Morrison, I highly reccomend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Song of Solomon
Review: Knowing nothing of Song of Solomon and having only heard good things about Toni Morrison, I find myself immediately intrigued by the opening pages--namely, an invitation, by a note tacked on the door of his little yellow house, to watch an insurance agent fly from Mercy (hospital) on his own wings. The reader is briefly introduced to the rest of those who respond to the invitation and catch only a hint that their stories may be interwoven. The reader is led to trust the narrative voice Morrison uses and slowly accepts the mystical landscape and glorious elements that are so important and sometimes unbelievable if it weren't for the narrator's reliability. From the first lines, with a circular
storytelling mastery, Morrison weaves symbols and images to create the backdrop for the story of the Dead family and compels one to turn the page.
Rating:
Summary: A Moving Read
Review: Oh how I love this book. It is the story of Milkman Dead's journey -- part cultural and part self-discovery. It is a magical and engrossing tale about the Black experience and it uses folklore, symbols, imagery, foreshadowing, allusions, and ultimately irony to tell it. I felt as if I were at Milkman's side when he decoded the children's song (and ultimately the oral history of Solomon's family). How does Toni Morrison do it? The ending may leave some frustrated but I thought it perfect. I also recommend Toni Morrison's "Beloved." It is a darker tale but shares the same phenomenal story telling of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Self discovery at it's finest
Review: Anybody who has ever woke up one day and realized that their parents weren't as worthless as they had always thought, will be able to empathize with the protagonist of this book and feel the direction of Morrison. This book points a gentle finger at anyone who as ever looked with eyes full of fault at everything around them. Song of Solomon slowly brings the reader to the point that there is good in everything and that no matter how you see something, there is always a different, and valid, opinion.
This book is the profound awakening of a man who has spent his whole life deeply immersed in blame, regret, and the eternal continuation of child and parent. Like all people, the protagonist has to struggle against his own demons to finally wake up to the reality that everybody is pushing against a world that is pushing back, Hard. Flaw is human and therefore perfection. Even the most poignant thing will have it's darkness. True freedom and love comes when you are able to realize that.
That's the lesson Morrison offers in this intensly moving and unsetteling book. You are pulled into the story. This is a wonderful book written with the natural ease of a sagacious storyteller.
Rating: 
Summary: Song of Solomon--very disappointing
Review: As an Oprah Winfrey book of the month, and as a book assigned to my 10th grade daughter for summer reading, I decided to see what this book had to offer. I am a member of the International Honor Society for Educators, and as such keep abreast of what my children are doing in school, even though, at the moment, I am not teaching. I am very surprised that, as a person who suffered from incest, Oprah chose this book, considering it's main character has an incestuous relationship with his own cousin. This relationship is never dealt with in a negative way. I was saddened by the amount of profanity in this book. I undertand, living in the inner-city myself, that this language is frequently heard, but I honestly do not feel that it is necessary to convey the message the author wanted to convey. The book may portray the life of an inner-city black man about as well as The Invisible Man by Elliot portrayed the life of a poor southern black man, but knowing the inner-city as I do, I do not feel that it portrayed any important lessons which someone who lives within the inner-city needs to learn. For those who do not live in an inner-city, it has no moral character traits which they need to learn and no character they need to emulate. If people really want to know what is going on, instead of reading vulgar, profane, and immoral material, it would be best if they'd give some of their time to working in an inner-city mission to help change things. I'm sorry, but I found nothing positive in this book. It is not a book I'd recommend to anyone, and certainly not a book I'd allow anyone under 18 to read.
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