Beloved

Rating:
Summary: Difficult and confusing, sometimes frustrating
Review: I prefer a straight story that gets to the point and makes it. This book leaves questions unanswered and confuses the reader with too much detail. Little by little, the author reveals secrets, but the whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, "What's going on? What's happening? Is it a dream or is it real life? Who is this guy? What does this even have to do with the main story? What does this mean? Was the ghost really her daughter, Beloved? What really happened at the end?" I had to keep going back to reread chapters because it stopped making sense several times. I suggest a study guide, literary criticism, and/or a book club discussion for the reader rather trying to tackle this alone. That way, you won't miss what the author is trying to transmit. The worst part to read is the scene in the barn when Sethe is assaulted. It is only one example given in Beloved of the truly horrifying things that occurred during slavery, America's most degrading legacy to the world. Don't even try to watch the movie without having read the book because the background is necessary to understand the nightmare. I prefer Paradise and Jazz which also do that time shifting and symbolism thing, but the content is not so horrifying.

Rating:
Summary: A subtle and complex masterpiece, 'Beloved' haunts and hurts
Review: 'Beloved' is a masterful example of literary expressionism. Though the narrative chronology of Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winnner is captivating, the book's towering strength comes from its incredible subtext, carefully forwarded through the poetic arrangement of Sethe's memories. We are not told a story; rather, we are presented a delicate vision which encompasses a story, nestled in its many layers. Those layers, dear readers, are among the most haunting and moving passages in modern American fiction.

'Beloved' relates the story of Sethe, an ex-slave whose attempts to live peacefully are ambushed by an inescapable and spiteful past. Morrison is not concerned with offering us a history lesson; we've all read about the facts and figures of slavery in school. Morrison's story artfully delves into Sethe's indelible emotional scars. Her pain is real and immeasurable - this undercurrent turns 'Beloved' into a work of enormous power.

'Beloved' is a challenging read. Despite the relatively smooth transition to film recently made under Oprah Winfrey's supervision, 'Beloved's text does not rely on cinematic continuity. Time and space aren't given normal treatments; Morrision explains only what she wants to. The reader is often forced to think, suppose, and question... and I suspect Morrision expects no less from us.

Rating:
Summary: I don't like being patronised by fiction
Review: I gave "Beloved" 3 stars because it has a theme, which is always a good feature in a book as far as I'm concerned. "Beloved" looks at slavery not only in terms of physical restriction, but emotional restriction as well. It makes the point that slaves were not expected to have human emotions - especially love. Many times the characters tell of families split up, children lost, until they become afraid to love anything at all, except inanimate things that won't disappear (a tree, in the case of Paul D, a former slave). The book also talks about self-love, self-esteem and worth, which was denied them as well. Paul D oftens muses what it means to be a "real man".

The theme is illustrated in the actions of Sethe, a slave who has run away with her four children. She has been able to keep each one since birth, nurture it and love it. She loves them with all the more intensity because she herself has never really known the love of another person or love of herself. So when the slave catchers eventually track her down, she makes a drastic decision. Sethe knows that her children face emotional death at the hands of the white man, and she decides physical death would be kinder. She kills one of her toddlers "out of love".

This theme certainly got me thinking, as I believe it was true and valuable. But when I stepped back from the book, what bothered me about it was the way it was delivered. The undertone seemed to be dogmatic, intended to arouse shame rather than sympathy or understanding. Reading between the lines, I felt like an ignorant child that was being reproved and educated. The author assumed I was apathetic and ill-informed about what happened during the time of slavery in America, and therefore needed pointing in the right direction. So I found the presentation of the theme a little patronising.

Also, the writing was on occasion confusing. Sometimes you had no idea who or what was being referred to, as Ms Morrison tried too hard to sound literary and symbolic. The characters, I felt, were little more than manequins on which to drape the book's message (can't spell, I know). They aroused no emotion in me at all - you would think sympathy for Beloved, killed at the hands of her mother, or for Sethe, forced to make the decision she did. Nope. Not at all. So read this book for the thought-provoking theme, but be prepared to be left feeling a little flat.

Rating:
Summary: Discover Toni Morrison with Beloved
Review: One of America's greatest modern writers hits a homerun with this novel. Those who have heard of Toni Morrison but perhaps been a bit intimidated by her literary reputation can be advised that this book is as good a read as any and just as accessible on various levels. On the most basic level, this book is a ghost story.

It begins with Sethe, an ex-slave who has found her way to Ohio. Behind her she left Sweet Home, as close a utopia as one can get for a slave-master relationship. Sweet Home contains a past that begins positively, (Sethe is able to choose her husband and is left alone by the other men on the plantation). Yet as the novel continues the reader learns the darker side of Sweet Home which developed after the master passed away and the mistress became too ill to take care of the plantation. Ahead of her in Ohio Sethe has several children who eventually leave and a one Baby Suggs, her husband's mother, who evolves from a type of minister to a dying woman who has denounced the white world completely. Left in the house is Denver, her young daughter and Sethe. It is implied that her boys have left home because they couldn't stand it anymore. "It" is the spirit that has inhabited their home for several years. It takes many shapes and forms, and has become a sort of companion for the lonely Denver. Its presence is short lived once Paul D, a survivor from the Sweet Home days, arrives. He cannot stay in the home as long as she is there and physically removes her spiritual presence. But the ghosts presence revisits the home, this time in the form of a young woman. She has the mental and physical capacity of a toddler, and becomes a permanent fixture in the home of Sethe, Beloved and Paul D. Who this mystery woman is and what she represents is the great mystery of the book, one that is solved by the readers early, and by the other characters later. Unlocking her mystery will take a community effort, one that hasn't been seen around Sethe's house for over a decade.

This novel is a great exploration of the past, present and future and how those three interact with each other within the hearts and minds of the characters. Sethe must understand her past in order to have a future and this struggle is played out in dramatic turns which credit Morrison's creative genius. At times this book seems almost epic in size. Morrison flies back in time with every turn of the page. As a result, the reader understands characters' entire histories, and one feels as if they have known them for quite some time.

Morrison's non-linear writing can at times be intimidating for the reader. Yet for those who stick with the book they will be heavily rewarded. Her language use and non-traditional sentence structure left this reader in awe. Descriptions are unique, honest, and accurate. She describes the trials of an ex-slave with seemingly effortless grace.

I highly recommend this book to both veterans of Morrison's work as well as new comers. She has mastered the art of story-telling and has something to offer for every type of reader. She will long be remembered as a shaping force for contemporary fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Daring to Criticize a Sacred Cow...
Review: Well, that's what this book is, let's face it. I'm sure giving it a negative review will destroy my ranking, as all the petty people who can't stand to read a dissenting opinion will instantly push the "unhelpful" button, but no work of art deserves "sacred cow" treatment, so here goes.

Sometimes I miss the old days when the goal of a writer was simply to tell a story, and the meaning that could then be extrapolated therefrom was due to universal symbols that came from deep within the writer's unconscious mind. With the advent of Freud's theories and modern psychology, writers became more "aware", and as such, more consciously manipulative of literary elements such as symbolism and psychological depth in their creations. Beautiful works of immense psychological depth and universality have been the main result of this new awareness, but as Ursula LeGuin says, "To light a candle is to cast a shadow." This new awareness in the modern writer has led to a brand of writing which is so consciously manipulative and heavily loaded with symbolism and double entendre that depth and subtlety are the first things to be sacrificed. It's like being able to see the hands of the puppeteer while watching a puppet show, or the cameramen in the background while watching a movie: the reader becomes aware of being manipulated for the writer's purposes, and the art of writing becomes a game in which the writer attempts to score points by being as "deep" and symbolic as possible. Ironically, the more the writer tries to be deep, the more shallow the writing becomes.

Such is what I believe to be the case in Toni Morrison's "Beloved". There is too clearly an attempt to be "deep" through the use of symbolism, to the extent that even the characters are symbols. I could not summon up a grain of empathy for any of the characters, the title character least of all. They are inhuman, fulfilling their respective symbolic functions and nothing beyond that. For example, I found it unrealistic that at the slightest questioning Sethe would launch into long stories of past experiences--it was too obviously the writer's way of grabbing the opportunity to inject more pain, more suffering, more symbols, rather than the spontaneous desire of the character to tell her story. Similarly, I found Sethe's loss of control over her bladder at the sight of Beloved's face to be, in a word, ridiculous...not to mention unbelievable.

And let's be real here: Beloved is annoying. As a character she is flat and even vaguely revolting, as a symbol she is overdone. The "poetical" chapters with her and Sethe are some of the most blatant attempts to be deep that I have ever come across--and for that reason they fail utterly. That the pseudo-poetical writing should have won so much acclaim is an insult to those who can truly write poetically and are less appreciated. A combination of repetition, disjointed prose, and heavy symbolism does not make poetry; more often than not it makes bad writing.

One of the central problems I had with this book was that it was based so entirely on a symbol: the ghost of Beloved and her coming back from the dead, for the simple reason that this device never rang true. Certainly magical realism has been done before, but that doesn't mean it's easy. In a story which is set in a world which is otherwise the same as ours, it's difficult to suspend disbelief enough to take the "ghost" theme seriously. The fact that all the themes of the book ultimately tie in to the ghost theme lessen the overall impact of the story.

Certainly the suffering the characters go through is horrific, but if the reader is to actually feel their pain, the story must be believable and the characters must be real human beings. On both counts this book suffers. The writing does not handle reality on its own terms, and instead plunges into pseudo-mysticism and self-conscious symbols, both of which give the reader license to feel completely detached. The style of writing is itself almost painful to read, so much does it embrace the very worst of modern writing without its good points: almost every sentence is full of symbols, and the stream-of-consciousness style often does not sound as if any effort at all was put into it--as if having an editor would have detracted from its "depth".

This book addresses the noteworthy issue of black slavery, but the pseudo-mystical approach and heavy-handed symbols reduce it to a pretentious prize for pompous academics or a tear-fest for the overly emotional. If you do not fall into this category, you are advised to steer clear.

Rating:
Summary: AN AMERICAN TREASURE
Review: Nothing Short of Breathtaking

~~~~ 0 ~~~~

I was 'sipping' my usual cup of tea one late afternoon, in my work's coffee shop, when I was invited by a customer to sit with him. I grabbed the opportunity, of course, as I am a lover of conversations, great or not. The person, a Fijian "native" ("I am a native, not an Indian," as the person puts it.) then talked about the "white men". Oh my, what a topic- where should I start? should I talk at all? should I just listen? Our conversation was nothing more than a conversation between two 'bored' people, it was rather quick, in fact, and very pedestrian. But despite the quickness and the "pedestrian-ity" of the conversation, I can't help but notice the passion of the other person whilst talking about "white men"- as it was full of spite.

Beloved, by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, is full of spite as well. Lots of it. One beauty of this book is that as the reader, you'll feel it as well- the spite, the anger, the isolation, the deprivation, the lifeless, freedom-less and the loveless life of the Negroe population before, during and after the American Civil War.

As one reviewer pointed out, the examination of slavery in this book is almost "clinical", and one shouldn't find this a burden- there is no need to read a history book on the issue of slavery BEFORE dealing with the novel. Morrison is a wonderful story-teller, and I am certain that "Beloved" is not intended to be read only by learned people. And nor is it a book only to be read by Black Americans.

One is able to point out numerous themes embedded in this great book- moral ambiguity, the 'rememory' and 'disremembrance', slavery. But one theme captured me the most was the author's portrayal of the banality of evil. (And talk about the banality of evil and its doers.). Furthermore, you'll find it amazing how Morrison was able to place a great number of motifs and symbols in this novel, the house number "124" and Sethe's "chokecherry tree" are two good examples.

The character "Baby Suggs" should easily become an immortal, literary character of the future. She's both inspirational and tragic, a character as stimulant of the mind as Shakespeare's Hamlet. (I doubt, however, that Baby Suggs is an original creation- and if "she" simply is a character out of Ms Morrison's brilliant mind, then the author would have to be the greatest American writer of the last century)

The last parts of the novel may alienate some readers, and I definitely found it extravagant and unnecessary at first. But, fear not, this is a great novel overall!

Hence, if you love psychoanalysis, read this. If you love the idea of a multicultural society, read this. If you want to become more tolerant, read this. You love political or historical or romantic or feminist or experimental or traditional novel, read this. THIS is for everyone!

(Oh, and you don't need to be full of spite to appreciate "Beloved")

Rating:
Summary: I don't like being patronised by fiction
Review: I gave "Beloved" 3 stars because it has a theme, which is always a good feature in a book as far as I'm concerned. "Beloved" looks at slavery not only in terms of physical restriction, but emotional restriction as well. It makes the point that slaves were not expected to have human emotions - especially love. Many times the characters tell of families split up, children lost, until they become afraid to love anything at all, except inanimate things that won't disappear (a tree, in the case of Paul D, a former slave). The book also talks about self-love, self-esteem and worth, which was denied them as well. Paul D oftens muses what it means to be a "real man".

The theme is illustrated in the actions of Sethe, a slave who has run away with her four children. She has been able to keep each one since birth, nurture it and love it. She loves them with all the more intensity because she herself has never really known the love of another person or love of herself. So when the slave catchers eventually track her down, she makes a drastic decision. Sethe knows that her children face emotional death at the hands of the white man, and she decides physical death would be kinder. She kills one of her toddlers "out of love".

This theme certainly got me thinking, as I believe it was true and valuable. But when I stepped back from the book, what bothered me about it was the way it was delivered. The undertone seemed to be dogmatic, intended to arouse shame rather than sympathy or understanding. Reading between the lines, I felt like an ignorant child that was being reproved and educated. The author assumed I was apathetic and ill-informed about what happened during the time of slavery in America, and therefore needed pointing in the right direction. So I found the presentation of the theme a little patronising.

Also, the writing was on occasion confusing. Sometimes you had no idea who or what was being referred to, as Ms Morrison tried too hard to sound literary and symbolic. The characters, I felt, were little more than manequins on which to drape the book's message (can't spell, I know). They aroused no emotion in me at all - you would think sympathy for Beloved, killed at the hands of her mother, or for Sethe, forced to make the decision she did. Nope. Not at all. So read this book for the thought-provoking theme, but be prepared to be left feeling a little flat.

Rating:
Summary: A Mothers Love
Review: Setha was a runaway slave from a place called "Sweet Home". She was suppose to meet up with her husband Halle that she never found. She excaped to Ohio to stay with her mother-in-law Baby Suggs, and her other three children. Setha loved her children unconditionally and did everything possible to keep them out of harms way. But when "School Teacher", the slave owner came to claim Setha's children she did the unthinkable.
The novel was powerful and it showed how much love a mother can have for her children. I don't agree with the things she did but she wanted better for her children other than slavery.She wanted them to be in a better place. She did what she did out of love no anger.

Rating:
Summary: One of the great novels of the 20th century
Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison. Highly recommended.

In 275 gripping and unsettling pages, Toni Morrison encapsulates the late 19th century black experience through the story of Sweet Home, a small Kentucky farm, and one of its former slaves, Sethe, who has found an uneasy freedom north of an arbitrary line that does not exist on any natural map.

To empathize the universality of experience, Sethe's mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, notes wryly, "Not a house in the country ain't packed to its rafters with some dead Negro's grief." Later, Beloved, living in freedom in Ohio, will experience vivid ancestral memories aboard a slave ship-the memories of generations before her. These are contrasted to Sethe's "terrible memory," where she recalls the beauty of the sycamores better than the dead men hanging from them. This may explain the persistence of the dead baby's ghost haunting Sethe's house at 124 Bluestone Road-the need to remind Sethe of everything she cannot forget.

From the forced bestiality of the Sweet Home men to Sethe's anguish about how teacher's nephews stole her milk as though she were a cow, the theme of animals prevails throughout Beloved. Later, it is revealed that Sethe experienced an epiphany when she discovers teacher and nephews dividing her on paper into human and animal traits.

Her companion, Paul D, has witnessed the difference between an animal and himself. Once imprisoned underground, once forced to wear a bit like a horse, Paul D walks past a rooster whose egg he had helped break open during hatching. "Mister, he looked so . . . free . . . Mister was allowed to be and stay what he was. But wasn't allowed to be and stay what I was . . . wasn't no way I'd ever be Paul D again, living or dead . . . I was something else and that something was less than a chicken sitting in the sun on a tub."

Ultimately, Beloved is revisionist history that makes the connection between racism and slavery-a connection that often seems missing from the whitewashed history we are taught. The Sweet Home farm represents this version of history. The male slaves are encouraged to think of themselves as men and are even allowed to carry guns, while Sethe is permitted her choice of partners and to keep her children. In this version of history, no one is beaten or restrained. Sweet Home's slaves, while not free, represent what we like to think-that slaves were well treated, that families were allowed to stay intact, and that somehow, antithetical to our declared values, black slaves in the United States were better off than free blacks in "primitive" Africa.

While Alex Haley's genealogical epic Roots dramatically depicted the reality of slavery-the brutal amputation of runaway Kunta Kinte's foot, his beatings, the rape of slaves by white masters-Morrison takes a different approach. The reader learns the story of Sweet Home-both before and after teacher arrives-through the gradual unfurling of Sethe and Paul D's "rememories," both thought and spoken. In other words, in Beloved the former slaves aren't just shown and depicted; they speak for themselves and they tell their own version of slavery directly. The advent of teacher (a symbol of education and civilisation) marks the transition from the relative idyll of Sweet Home to slavery as practiced, where Sethe is brutalised, her husband is reduced to shock, Sixo is hunted down like an animal and killed for asserting his manhood through song (which may explain Paul D's singing by the time he and Sethe find each other again), and any sense of rights or autonomy is proved to be an illusion. It's not necessary to witness Sethe being beaten for telling her mistress how her milk was stolen; the branching tree on her back will tell the story for the rest of her life.

Sweet Home under teacher is slavery as it was, where slave owners who behave like animals convince themselves that it is the slaves who are part human, part animal, and where slavery is motivated by racism. Throughout, there is Beloved, rightly perceived by Denver as "more," who is sacrificed to be spared what everyone knows, "that anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Dirty you so bad you couldn't like yourself any more. Dirty you so bad you forgot who you were and couldn't think it up." Through her action, Sethe deprives Beloved of her own choices, thus enslaving her. And so Beloved returns to deny Sethe her own will.

Morrison may be accused of racism, but there is no feasible way to deny her characters their feelings after what they have heard, witnessed, and experienced. They cannot feel otherwise. Characters like Amy, the uneducated (unlike teacher) "whitegirl" who helps Sethe deliver Denver, and the sheriff who is kind toward Sethe despite her action, prove that there can be humanity among even a people who may seem otherwise inhumane.

Beloved is beautifully written and structured, poetic in tone, and compelling to read. It is also timeless and will most likely stand as one of the great novels of the 20th century.

Diane L. Schirf, 22 February 2004.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly confusing
Review: There was so much hype over this book, especially thanks to Oprah, that I figured it had to be a great read. On the contrary, it ranks as one of the most confusing, incomprehensible books I ever read. I tried to follow it as best as could but I gave up 1/4 of the way through and donated the book. The plot's confusing, the characters aren't introduced, it's almost impossible to tell which character is talking, etc.