Beloved

Rating:
Summary: "Beloved"
Review: This book definetly contains alot of atmosphere. You truly feel the pain and fear that the characters are feeling in the novel. However, I never really got into the novel, but that was probably because the mixture of family and slavery did not interest me. The characters are well developed. The voices of the characters are highly impacting. The emotion in the voices and the story is also something most readers will enjoy in this book. The book is not exciting, and it is not an absorbing page turner. The storys leave little to the imagination and don't contain much action. This is a book for somebody who wants to study human emotion and the horrors of slavery.

Rating:
Summary: Love for "Beloved"
Review: I thought this novel was very good. IT shows a lot about the difficulties that slaves went through. It was confusing at first, i had to read a couple chapters over a couple of times to fully comprehend it. BUt as you read, you can see that the author does a great job. It's one of those books that touch you. For a better understanding see the movie. My advice is to see the movie first..in order to get some background data and then read the book. Try not to read the book before seeing the movie..you may be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly written!
Review: Toni Morrison is an incredible writter of our time. Toni Morrison takes us to the present, past, and the dream corrupted of a slave. Toni Morrison uses incredible devices in creating her characters, events, and words. Toni Morrison takes us through a dream and nightmare in BELOVED.

Rating:
Summary: #10 ----Journal
Review: I thought this book was fairly decent.Although it was confusing at times.It certainly is not my type of book. The story itself is very good but I would not recommend this to my friends or anyone else. Maybe when I get older I will appreciate this book a little more but for now I would say this book should be read by the older generation. It really isn't aimed towards younger folks. That is probably why the majority think of this book as confusing. I just would not go to a bookstore and buy this book. Other than that I would say this is a fairly decent book aimed at ages 25 and up. Try it out. You may like it.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful story of human nature, guilt, and love
Review: When I was first assigned this book for summer reading in my AP English class, I believe my thought was, "Darn." I did not expect to be uplifted by a story which I had heard described by upperclassmen as "depressing", "depraved", and "confusing." But I was. Morrison attacks taboo subjects with taste, compassion and humanity. Although her treatment of time can become confusing, the reader who endeavors to understand this book will! This is not a light read for an airplane trip (learn from my mistakes, readers! When it's Beloved by Morrison or Pauly Shore in Biodome on the inflight movie...!), but rather a deep and thought-provoking read that requires many hours of somber solitude. There were parts of the novel that went over my head until my English teacher explained them to me, but I don't know if that is because of my young age or the depth of the book. However, you might want to take into consideration before spending money on the book that this is essentially a stream-of-consciousness novel, with many different facets and motifs. The book contains some really graphic subject matter, which is another thing to consider. However, this is what I consider the bottom line: This is a fantastic, although sometimes shocking and confusing, book. I believe that anyone who is mature and really tries to understand this book will be enriched by it.

Rating:
Summary: Must read more than once!
Review: Well, where do I start? I thought the book BELOVED was rather confusing. It was very difficult for me to grasp certain parts of it. And it was not something that I wanted to read in the first place. Which made it less appealing while reading. The book did not keep my intrest, wanting to read more because there were times when I would be reading and I would fall asleep. If you are going to read this book you'll need patience to better understand what is happening, I would say that you have to want to read it in order to enjoy it. And it would probably help if you read it more than once.

Rating:
Summary: journal
Review: I THOUGHT BELOVED WAS A WELL WRITTEN BOOK. IT TAKES A LITTLE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON BUT ONCE YOU KNOW IT IS VERY INTERESTING. BELOVED INCLUDES THE STRUGGLES WITH SLAVERY AND THE WAY FAMILIES HAD TO SUFFER. I DIDN'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE BOOK UNTIL I TALKED IT OVER WITH MY CLASSMATES. I HAD TO REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE STORYLINE BECAUSE IF I DIDN'T I MISSED SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

Rating:
Summary: True to life experience
Review: Well having read this book twice I should have nothing to say. But on the contrary. I believe that this story is one of the best that I have read about slavery and the struggles. Morrison depicts true human nature and has vivid descriptions of her ideas. I do not believe that Oprah should have made a movie about this book because there are a lot of things that might not be understood from the viewing of it. But when you read it you are there in the shoes of every character feeling thier pain and sorrow. I feel that this book has given me a larger perception of the world and the cruelty and chaos that emits from this earth.

Rating:
Summary: A modern tale of ancient struggle
Review: The key to understanding "Beloved" lies in the ability to apply the self-awareness of nurtured spirit and mind of a XXcentury woman to the life of ex-slave in post Civil War Ohio. The colored community and the realia of slavery are portrayed with genuine realistic mastery, but the manner of rendering of spiritual struggle and inner lives of the main characters left me with a sense of underaccomplishment. I rated the novel 4 stars because I am convinced it is an involving and provoking reading. Just don't expect too much.

Rating:
Summary: read it... twice
Review: I must say I am saddened by the many reviews that think Beloved is too complicated or too afro-centric. should Jews forgive and forget the holocaust? Slavery represents the struggle of a people, and should be re-told and re-membered. Slavery is a difficult and desperatly confusing issue, so it is no wonder that Beloved is so difficult to read: thats what makes it good. You have to work for the story, and once you do you will find it worth it. I read this book first five years ago as a senior in a HS AP English class. It was a struggle for me, and I never quite understood much of what the text had to say. As a sophmore Lit major, I reread the novel in African American literature... and found it captivating. I have since read it again and again, getting more out of the book each time. This isn't pool side reading that can be gulped down and forgotten... it must be tasted a little at a time, analyzed and remembered.

Also, don't take the movie version of this novel as gospel... that is only one interpretation of many. Beloved may be a ghost, but she may not... the whole point is to decide for yourself. What does Beloved mean to you?