Rating: 
Summary: The bluest Eye...the Bluest Voice.
Review: I was amazed at how quickly I was drawn into Tony Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I found the characters interesting and educational... as I have never read a book from a poor black childs point of view. This story's core lies with the western worlds ideoligical view of beauty and acceptance. More so, how the two must be interwoven for one to have a successful life. It was when the protagonist (a little black girl talking about blonde-haired blue eyed children) stated "What made people look at them and say, "awwwww," but not for me?" that I realized this goes for most of us. I, however, did not like reading about a father having sex with his daughter. Further, I did not like how the author described the rape; the rape was almost justafiable through the fathers eyes. ..or shall I say explainable.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing book
Review: Let me begin by saying that I am an educated caucasian woman with a masters degree. I live in a town that has many African Americans, many of whom are close friends of mine. I was forced to read this book in an undergraduate literature class, and since then I have never been able to get this disturbing book out of my head. Bravo to Toni Morrison for being such an excellent writer, for a bad writer couldn't have stirred up such horror in me. I do not criticize her writing talent as much as I do her subject matter. It was horribly graphic and left me with a very disturbing feeling every time I read it. In fact, we were instructed to write a paper on this book and I refused. I spoke with the professor and was given permission to write about another book. Again, Toni Morrison is a brilliant writer. However this book left me with nothing but hurt.
Rating: 
Summary: Seeing what's not, and perceiving what we can't have
Review: There is a problem with this book: the cover shows the portrait of a young African-American girl. Assuming this is a representation of the protagonist, the reader is immediately at a loss. The reader forms, whether he or she wants to or not, a mental picture (or, at least an outline) of the main character simply by looking at the front. One of the most important elements to this marvellous work is that we are never allowed a full glimpse of the young girl. She is described, and given a voice, from the narrator, and those that are around her -- but never afforded her own. And it is here that we begin to understand the meaning of the title, "The Bluest Eye." I believe that I was fortunate to buy this book in the European market; the cover only contains the image of blue marbles -- there is no face, nor should there be. For this is the story of the loss of identity, the futile attempt to perceive from others' perspectives, the dying of a culture and heritage, and the hope that something good can be found when it's very hard to see.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I have read most of Toni Morrison's books and as an Eng teacher, I wanted my students exposed to her as well. Last spring, I decided to try The Bluest Eye for class reading in a novel course. It was one I hadn't read. The students enjoyed reading it. The book is the type that promotes extensive discussion. It's thought provoking. The high school seniors were glad to finally read a piece of literature by Toni Morrison and to "become aquainted with" Pecola. We read the book as a class this past Jan., and we were thrilled to hear that it's a news Oprah choice. Thank you Ms. Morrison. I hope these students enjoyed the book enough to keep reading.
Rating:
Summary: Touching Story
Review: I was surprised to see this book on Oprah's list since I had read it a few years ago. After reading Toni Morrison's marvelous "Beloved", I looked for more of her gifted writing. "The Bluest Eye" is a touching story and deserves high acclaim for the insightful telling of a young girl's outlook on life in her limited world. It is a finely written book and brings the reader insight into another way of life. Oprah made a fine choice in selecting this book; it deserves to be widely read. Toni Morrison is an excellent writer and American treasure. I am waiting for another one of her books to be published.
Rating: 
Summary: Bluest Eye review
Review: I read "The Bluest Eye" for a college class in American Literature. While the basic emotion of the story is important, I did not care for the writing style; it's too disjointed. Pecola is never the speaker. Too much of the book is devoted to descriptions of other characters. The basic theme is a black child looking to be loved in a world that equates love with beauty, and beauty with blond hair and blue eyes. It's very sad. But Pecola is a victim of everyone, including her family, and the storyline jumps around too much. I was also extremely put off by the nauseatingly graphic ways Toni Morrison describes physical living -- from food to illness to sex. This is not a book you can read with a snack in your hand. If you like reading descriptions about snot, phlegm, vomit, swallowing globs of Vicks salve, child rape, animal abuse by angry children, sexual satisfaction produced by loose sanitary napkins, dogs choking on poisoned meat, and preachers who can't resist female children's blossoming bosoms, and an unhappy ending, then this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Revealing a World Hidden in Plain Sight
Review: In the first pages of her first novel, Morrison sets out the themes and characters she will pursue in each of her novels: mother, father, child, home ,village, love, beauty, friendship, nature, property, earth, scapegoat, pariah, history, nature, belief, magic, the act of naming. Her themes are her themes: flight, the journey, family, friendship, violence, paradoxes of good and evil, world of black society: its code, its superstitions. The ancestor. The tar-quality of women. Her main characters always have childhoods. She uses everything available to her: awesome intellect, rich imagination, liberal education, the way she was reared. She uses fable, song, myth. Masks and names. Clichés. She gives voice to everything that might have voice. Responsibilities and choices confront the characters and us. Presences and absences. Her sentences, her stories are comprised of what is said and what is not said. Not victim literature, although there are victims; she does not come to the page to grind axes. Rather, she aims at things not being, "Quiet as it's kept... ." Forced to the extremes of life, her characters survive or don't survive and their stories show how they do or don't survive and do or don't find the resources to live "intensely and well." She creates a world that includes rather than excludes, one where much is tolerated and "The End" is just a stopping point and does not close off possibility. In a sense, The Bluest Eye introduces a musical line, the melody, of a jazz composition, expressive, flexible, various, full of call and response like gospel or worksong, bluesy, vocal, replete with spaces to be filled by the instrument that is the reader. The sense of always beginning. Reading Morrison's fiction is a participatory event. From the first word of this first novel -- "Here is the house" -- she asks us to put our sure senses of self, our belief in what we surely know, at risk in order the enter the worlds she creates and be present in the action.
Rating:
Summary: Heart piercing
Review: This is Toni Morrison most brilliant novel. It tells an incredible story with delicate radiance. Morrison's command of the English language is overwhelmimg as she tells the tragic story of a poor colored girl in America. The story is so sad it will pierce your heart and sharpen your soul.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: After I read this book I started reading all of Toni Morrison's books. I was captivated by the author's use of language. Simply "a work of literature". I felt Pecola's pain and awe. Especially being a minority and also being west indian, I totally understood her thinking and her cause of action. Extraordinary!
Rating:
Summary: The Bluest Eye: Soul Mover
Review: Like many of you, I to read Toni Morrison's Song of Solomn first. After reading this one I wanted to find out more about her. So my boss gave me The Bluest Eye. I'm not an avid reader, but I read it in a couple of days. It's a very sad and hauting story of the destruction of a little black girls spirit and soul. She longed to have blue eyes or anything that would bring about love and attention that she so desperately wanted. Yet society and even her mother could not love her unless she had these "Blue Eyes". The theme of this book touches on so many social issues. From self loathing and hatred of being born black in a white world to the effects of child abuse from both parents. Many people may not aggree with me that the mother also abused her child, but she did. She allowed herself to become so wrapped up with taking care of a little blue eyed child that she has nothing left for her own family when she comes home. Her words are always harsh and scolding to Pecola. Never soothing and loving. She has left her poor Pecola to fend against the world for herself. And when Pecola needs her mother's help the most it's not there. I think every mother should read this book. Step away from the characters and see the destruction of a child from lack of love and acceptance. You will remember Pecola's journey forever!
|
