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Women's Fiction

Beloved

Beloved

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $10.36
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Engrossing, Unputdownable, Probing, Shocking, at some points terrifying are all adjectives i would employ to describe this masterpiece of hope and shocking reality which combine to leave the reader lost in the realms of philosophy well after it is collecting dust on the bookshelf. Five stars and a pat on the back for brave Toni Morrison.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More Kudos
Review: What has not yet been said about this work? I keep recommending it to friends as one of the best books I've ever read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Painful but important
Review: I read this book when my son was the same age as Sethe's daughter when she died ("crawling already").To me, Sethe's action made terrible sense.I could understand how she would rather have her daughter die than face her growing up in slavery("where people were moved around like chequerboards"). Growing up in Europe I had never given much thought to slavery in America. I had not realised that it was a crime as horrific as the Holocaust, less bent on extinction for the sake of extinction but with more people involved over a much longer period and with individual consequences just as tragic.I am grateful to Toni Morrison for writing this book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Ghost story detracts from an otherwise important book
Review: Slavery and its devastating aftermath are such important subjects, and for some reason, there are virtually no great novels on this topic. In my opinion, this book received the Nobel Prize more for its subject matter than for the actual quality of the book.

The characters of Sethe and the ex-slave, Paul D., are wonderfully written, and when the book stayed with the story of how they endured, and escaped from, slavery, it was gripping.

However, every time the story shifted to the ghost of Sethe's dead daughter haunting her, and the mother-sister-daughter squabbling, it lost me.

The book left me hungry to read a long, well-written, historical novel about slavery and its aftermath, sort of the African-American equivalent of a Herman Wouk or James Michener novel. Until that is written, I recommend Beloved because of its historical importance, but I found the book disappointing after reading so many rave reviews.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but difficult and overrated
Review: This was a good book, I do recomend it. But I found it extreamily difficult, even for Morrison's tough style. And on the whole overrated. It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be.

But like I said, it is a good book. The story of trying to deal with your past, your communities past, your personal past, is always an important issue to explore.

The book is full of historial notes and is a history lesson in and of itself. You could spend a whole year just learning about what items and stories Morrison used to craft her version of a true story.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Confusing
Review: I looked forward to reading this book after I'd seen the movie. But it was so confusing. I couldn't get past the third page!

I think I'll just stick with what I've learned from the movie. The movie was great!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Breath Taking
Review: This symbolic story provides it readers with a keen sense of slavery and its' affects. With vivid images, Morrison reincarnates Beloved, a daughter of Sethe, an escaped slave, who was killed 18 years prior the main story line. Throughout the novel, the reader gets the sense that Sethe has been living with guilt. It is until Beloved's arrival, we actually find out why. Born into slavery, Sethe realizes that she does not want her children to face the hardships she faced. In effort to give them a better life, she decides they are better off dead than alive. Successful with taking the life of only one child, Beloved, Sethe tries to convince herself that she is right. Through out the rest of novel, readers are engaged in the thinking process of Sethe. We learn why and how copes with the presence of her daughter. Readers are also in engaged in the new relationships Beloved has created with Sethe, her younger sister, and Mr. Paul, a friend of the family Readers are have the opportunity to view slavery from the perspective of one who was enslaved. We are captured into Sethe mind and thoughts, which encourages the justifications for her taking the life of her daughter. Through powerful imagery, we feel the pain Sethe has felt. Readers are also persuaded to think about who does Beloved represent. Slavery, sexual abuse, discrimination, and sibling rivalry are appropriate discussions. This novel is suitable for readers who can critically engage in topics mentioned above.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Challenging, but great book
Review: Beloved is a masterpiece. It definately deserves the awards it has receieved. It is a perfect representation of just enough mystery, pain, nuances, and intrigue to make a work extraordinary. Morrisons words can be seemingly light and idyllic at first glance, but an deeper look shows plenty of mystery lies beneath for you to discover. Her theme gives important emphasis to the remembrance of slavery and her characters provide moving accounts as well. Ultimately, a magnificent work of genius.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Over-rated
Review: Is it just me or is this book completely over-rated? America is short on black female authors so we should over praise the ones we do have.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of time
Review: Terrible book, confusing, disgusting, disturbing. Very hard to follow. A waste of my time and eyesight. Cliffnotes are at least 1000 times better than the book itself. Waste of paper.


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