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Summary: Hope-from darkest dispair
Review: Beloved the book was my fifth read of Toni, at this point it was a little easier knowing her better, but still I think she had gone a level better than in her other past works. Beloved depresses you terribly but you want/have to read on, its an emotional journey that is more important to one especially when you are black, because then it affects you in a way more direct. Even though it set in the 1800s, it is a story that transcends time limits. The poetry mixed with the story is striking and so relevent. I think you must love Toni as a writer/link between minds that think/feel alike to understand and appreciate what she has tried and to great degree achieved to do with 'BELOVED'. Which is not just the name of the ghost-child.
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Summary: This Is The Prize
Review: It's taken me over a year to formulate my reaction to Beloved. I've browsed the reviews of this book and noticed that most readers either loved it or were left somewhat confused by it. Although it took me a while to be able to articulate my thoughts and feelings on this experience; it wasn't confusion that bound by tongue, its just that it took my brain a while to understand intellectually what my soul spewed forth emotionally. Intellectually, Beloved is challenging and thought-provoking. To be able to follow the characters cognitive processes through, flash backs, recollection and prophesizing is an intellectual accomplishment in itself. Emotionally, the book is invigorating, stimulating feelings that can't be verbalized, only integrated into the spirit of my being making me that much more compassionate, empathic, and free. I return to Beloved to read Baby Suggs, woodland service whenever I need to replenish my reservoir of hope, and strength. It is a complex book, but so is the subject matter. To be able to explore the experience of the enslaved, the mentality of the enslaver, is no simple matter. I saw the movie prior to reading the book. The movie left me speechless. The book returned my voice. Beloved is enriching, captivating. It's certainly a prize novel and I'm pleased that the Nobel Committee was able to recognize it. Kudos to Morrision for delivering this experience to the world.
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Summary: Beloved
Review: I kept hoping that it would get better
Rating: 
Summary: Infuriating but beautiful
Review: I would never have finished this book if it was not a prescribed text on my literature degree. This isn't to say its bad. When you actually know whats going on it is a moving account of American slavery. I think it depends of what kind of reader you are. If when you read books you value the challenge of an author who is providing a text which will infuriate and confound you at times, then you will appreciate this book. On the other hand if you believe (as I do) that the is nothing clever in writing a book that is non-linear to the point of spoiling your enjoyment, then you should stay away unless you have a deep intrest in the subject matter. Saying this on completion the is a perverse pleasure in finishing a book like this and no doubt repeat readings of this book will be more enjoyable as the reader knows whats going on. I'm glad I read it and some of the writing is excellent. I just know I wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't had to. Worth it if you've got the patience.
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Summary: Lingers within your mind
Review: Beloved is the sort of book that lingers within your mind long after you finish reading the last page. Beloved is a puzzle-read. The pieces slowly form a picture---sometimes even a blurry one. It is not an easy read, but is a challenging one at that, weaving together a host of complex details and a magnitude of emotions. I had to read several passages in their entirety several times to truly grasp their contents--basically because the story line is difficult to fathom. Sethe's sufferings and pains, her dillusionary visions, her emotional sacrifices, and her never ending ability to love are so forcefully explicit in Beloved. The mind is a labyrith of ideas. The heart is a labyrith of emotions. Beloved is a labyrith of both.
Rating:
Summary: Gold
Review: This book is precious. Toni Morrison did not win the Nobel for no good reason; you just have to be willing to discover that reason. If you are expecting Roots or The Color Purple, don't bother; this book will throw you. I read it unprepared for it's lightning-sharp observation and non-linear style, but it grew to be my second favorite book of all time (One Hundred Years of Solitude being the first). This woman is a genius. She is single-handedly redefining literature as we know it. She is not a Faulkner rip-off- she is her own category, and it's a great one. I think she's the best thing America has going right now. This book is a puzzle. It IS confusing, it IS hard, and it is like nothing you've ever read. Haunting is the best way I can think to describe it. PLEASE give this book a chance. It will give its rewards in strange and unexpected ways, and it is all worth it.
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Summary: An incredible, emotional ride.
Review: Beloved. Well what can I say. I'd have to begin by saying it is an incredibly difficult and confusing book. To enjoy this book you have to want to read it, and to be a good reader. It is about Sethe, an escaped slave, who is haunted by her dead baby daughter Beloved. It is a very disturbing book which really effected me as the reader. It is almost unbelievable simply because you don't want to believe the horror of what the black slaves went through, but also because of the haunting. It is filled with many spiritual ideas, symbolism and hidden meanings which make it a challenging but delightful read. It took me quite a long time to read but it kept me really intruiged and amazed. It is very sad, not depressing as some have said, but really plays with the emotions. It is full of dispair and a thread of hoplessness runs throughout the book, however it is eventually uplifting. It made me think, long and hard, which is what a good book does. It is important for such things, such as the horror of slavery to be remembered, and it is great that it can be remembered in such an incredibl book.
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Summary: A book of a wonderful plot
Review: Beloved is written on a higher level than most people can onderstand. If a person is looking for an easy book this is not it. It takes time a patence to understand and really find the plot. It does tell of a disturbing story of a mother killing her child so her children could be free. The real disturbing part is how her child comes back to haunt her and drive her crazy. Beyound all of this is a good over all story.
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Summary: Beloved over the heads of those of minute intelligence
Review: Beloved is a challenging book that tests the reader's knowledge and capabilities to comprehend and master the not-so-clear chronological order of events. If you couldn't follow that sentence, then don't read Beloved. It is a powerful book, written in a distinctive style that some might consider "choppy". However, that is where the beauty lies. This book makes you think. Some of my colleagues think that Morrison has too many hidden meanings and messages in her storyline. That also adds to the beauty of the book. Any idiot can write a story..once upon a time....etc. it takes more than that to write something that is the caliber of Beloved. Those who think that it is confusing, true, true. Those who dislike the book BECAUSE it is confusing might want to rethink their reasons. Beloved is a moving story about slavery, freedom, spirits, guilt, and love. It is the setting that makes the book so powerful, the era and end of slavery. Some criticize Morrison for writing about slavery itself, as if the subject should just curl up and die. No, it shouldn't. We sense that they are touchy about the issue (or else why sould they want to censor it) and that adds to the book's power. It plays with our sense of morality, it makes us feel uncomfortable. That is what a Nobel-prize winning book should do. It should leave a footpring on our life, not blow away like a wisp of smoke.
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Summary: A terrific, disturbing book
Review: Toni Morrison is not an easy read, and I suspect that people who found this book frustrating only read it once. You can't read Morrison once; every book she writes is a treasure, but she makes you work for it. 'Beloved' tells the story of Sethe, an escaped slave who finds sanctuary in Ohio, and posits the unanswerable question: is it possible to kill someone out of love? When the slavecatchers find Sethe in hiding, she kills her youngest child, Beloved, to spare her from being taken back into the hell Sethe escaped from. Her act can be viewed as horrific (as her lover, Paul D, reacts when he tells her 'you got two legs, not four'), or as desperation; Morrison lets you decide for yourself. Beloved's ghost returns and causes all kinds of chaos in the house, and her actions raise the question of just who is Beloved -- is she some kind of demon, or is she a lost soul searching for love so she can finally find peace? This is one of the most powerful, disturbing, and ultimately uplifting books I have ever read. As I said, Morrison makes you work for the treasure hidden her books, but the search, and the reward, make it all worthwhile.
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