Beloved

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Summary: The gossip of women
Review: That is the only way I can describe Morrison's style. It is like being down at the creek, listening to the gossip of the washerwomen. There is no linear progression. It was frankly just hard to wrap my brain around this plot and, more importantly, the method of its unveiling. Now, before you throw me into the Morrison-hater category, I also read Paradise, and, though some of the same difficulties were present, (many pages were read four or five times trying to figure out what the hell was going on), I enjoyed it and found its theme more liberating. Beloved was simply a downer, wallowing in a depressing past. Paradise better balanced the search for roots with the need for wings.

Rating:
Summary: lsc final
Review: What were some of my reactions to this book? Well at first I really didn't like it, because it confused me alittle. but once I got into it I kind of started to enjoy it. Really like how they had the ghost in the book. I thought that it was cool because it was Denver's baby. The book kept me interested in the middle. At the begging I thought about getting a new book, because it was a such a slow start. I guess that overall though that I would recommend this book to someone. But they would have to stick with it. Thanks for your time!

Rating:
Summary: Absorb this book, don't read it
Review: _Beloved_ is not an easy book to read, in any sense of the word. But it will pull you in and absorb you, if you let it. It is a book that you should just let flow over you the first time; let it make sense of itself as it unfolds, don't try to force it into place. It was one of the most moving and tragic books I have ever read. I devoured this book and was terrified when the movie came out; this is not a book that can easily be put on the big screen. Don't read this book because Oprah said to or because you saw the movie. Read it because you delight in Morrison's language and you want to hear the moving and torturous story she tells.

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Summary: A Most Beloved BELOVED
Review: Toni Morrison's BELOVED is a magnificent achievement in literature. Her prose is alternately hertbreaking, moving, funny and profound. I must admit that I am very biased about Morrison's work as she is my favorite author, but this novel is borderline peerless. Toni Morrison has fashioned a tale about the gift of love and the ultimate sacrifice a mother can make for her children. It is not a quick read, but a glorious journey into an abyss of poetic elegance and courage. If the reader lets it, the novel can be an extraordinary and breathtaking pleasure. Toni Morrison is a genius, a champion of words and major contributor to the art of literature. Thank God for this wonderful novel and the literary force known as (the great) Toni Morrison

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing? I don't think so.
Review: "A brutally powerful, mesmerizing story...read it and tremble," says People magazine about Toni Morrison's Beloved. Why, I ask? Powerful and mesmerizing? The only thing I trembled about was the thought of reading the story. Beloved is not the first book about colored people that I have read. Those I have read before, I enjoyed. However, because Toni Morrison's style is so unique, it's also hard to comprehend its uniqueness. Others have read Beloved and have been mesmerized by it. I'm not one of them.

The story is full of holes and parallels that take a critical reader to fill as one reads it. This makes Beloved hard to read because there is a lot of back flipping of pages when information may be hiding. As I read Beloved, I began to get lost. I formed questions in my mind about characters such as Halle. The story never mentions what happens to Halle other than him going on with an original plan to escape from Sweet Home. What became of Halle? Also, a part of the story mentions Baby Suggs as a cobbler. She is spoken of as "Baby Suggs holy." A cobbler is the mender of shoes and soles. Someone told me that in the first act of Julius Caesar, someone calls him the mender of souls and asked if I thought that Morrison had read Julius Caesar and was comparing Baby Suggs to Julius Caesar. Who would have known this fact unless you happened to be reading Beloved and Julius Caesar at the same time? Reading between the lines is something that not everyone does as one reads. I sometimes read between the lines, but this story just left me hanging.

Because the story is about colored people, it seems as if the author still holds contempt for what white people had done to African-Americans in slavery. One example of this is Sethe's wedding dress. It was mad of a scarf, a sash, pillowcases, and other stolen items could find. The wedding dress does not have a back at some point and this may symbolize how Morrison could not let go of the past because of the emotional pain she may feel about the slavery issue. Baby Suggs says in the story, "There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks." This statement makes the author' feelings of white people even more clear to readers. The slavery issue is not longer an issue because slaves were freed from the outcome of the Civil War. There are still hard feelings about the slavery issue, but it's over and one just has to make the choice of overcoming it and getting on with oneself.

Morrison also changes the point of view in Beloved. Most of it is done in third person. However, in part two of the story, Morrison begins a chapter with, "Beloved, she my daughter." The narrator of the story is changed all of a sudden. Although this narrator not hard to figure out, another chapter begins with, "I am my Beloved and she is mine." Who is the narrator of this chapter? It is not clearly mentioned and kept me wondering who was speaking. After re-reading the chapter, the narrator still was not clear.

As you can see, mysteries are not pleasing to me. Beloved just has too much little details that one must look for in order to understand the story. There are too many changes over the duration of the story and hidden points and parallels that are hard to find. The writing style of Morrison is also too complicated to comprehend. How can you find out what went on in the author's mind while she wrote the story? It's hard to answer that question for all stories that have been written. I do not understand the story of Beloved, and I do not plan on reading other stories written by Morrison. If all of her stories are like this...well, keep them away from me.

Rating:
Summary: Endure the frustration and thou shalt be rewarded
Review: Brilliant, hypnotic, beautiful, confusing, and frustrating. These are all things a reader may associate with Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. But how can so many extremely different views be given to one novel? A reader will encounter all of these different feelings as he reads this novel, which will most likely come in an order. This is not a novel for a reader who needs to have a threaded plot which can be easily connected. The style that she uses is new, and requires patience on the reader's part. Morrison uses very impactful imagery and metaphores in the story which requires very critical reading in order to comprehend the depth. The everlasting effects of slavery that scars the human soul are picked apart by Morrison during the story. Furthermore, she explores how one can never truly be free once a horrible experiece has scarred your life. The feeling the reader will have for the story will come as he comprehends the novel. At first, the novel is very frustrating and confusing due to the constant "jumping" Morrison does from past to present and the constant changing of views during the story. Her style is very hard to flow with, as it seems to be broken apart and pieced back together wrongly. When you finally feel that you are getting in touch with a character and starting to understand what is going on, the point of view is suddenly changed, or you may find yourself suddenly in the past. The large gaps within the story are finally filled in much later, when you may have already forgotten about it. Questions you may ask in the beginning like: "why did Sethe kill her child and try to kill the others?," or "who is Beloved?," are finally answered toward the end of the novel. Although very difficult to understand, Toni Morrison's style in the novel is very clever and hypnotic. You only fully understand how Morrison's style in the book is being used after you understand the plot and how she comes across telling it. Also, the plot and style are so closely connected you are able to see the plot more clearly if you understand the style. When the reader is done with the novel, he may finally understand why Morrison used the style of cutting back and forth, from past to present, in her novel. The reason for this is: the whole novel is about memories, and how those experiences which have scarred Sethe, plauge her soul. Everything that happens in the book, acts upon a character as a stimuli, triggering memories back to the horrible days of slavery at Sweet Home. This style also brings us the theme, which is "you are never really free of slavery," because, the memories and fear, stay with you forever. Toni Morrison fully explores the lasting effects slavery has upon the human soul. Those effects are the theme. Those memories of slavery which scarred Sethe's life, forge her future. Sethe was never able to move on with her life and forget the memories. Ultimately, the hardships that scarred her within caused her to kill her children. When she saw those white men coming to 124, all those memories buried deep within the chasm of her heart resurfaced and the fear she had once experienced at Sweet Home returned. She killed her children, because she never wanted them to experience the horror she had to endure. These events would stay in her memory and haunt her for the rest of the story. The experience of slavery led to chain of events which ruined her life, because she was not able to leave the past in the past and move on. The brilliance of her novel only comes to life when you have read her story very critically. Although you as the reader may be tempted to pass by parts of the story you do not understand, if analyzed critically, those sections may lead to the most critical and interesting imagery and metaphores in the story. One such event is the two turtles coming out of the river. "The gravity of their shields, clashing, countered and mocked the floating heads touching." The shells of the two turtles keep them away from each other even though they are trying to be with each one another. Their shells are the sheilds people put up in a relationship to keep themselves from being hurt. Because of past experiences, people are afraid to give all of themselves in the fear that, when they are fully exposed, at their most vulnerable, they will be hurt. Even though they love each other, their past still controls their future. This novel, to me, included all that has been stated in the preceeding paragraphs. It was frustrating and confusing at first, when the plot and theme could not be made out easily. Her style confused me, so I read on without thinking about anything else. Only toward the very end, did almost all of the pieces come together. Only then, could I look back and see all the imagery and metaphores I missed. After enduring the novel as a whole, when I looked back upon it and finally understood the style, did I think the book to be well done and planned beautifully.

Rating:
Summary: MORRISON'S JIGSAW PUZZLE
Review: Beloved. A book about slavery? Or a book about life? Morrison brings to life the struggles and pains of slaves through the lives of her characters. She creates a story filled with imagery, clearly depicting their struggles and giving her readers a deeper understanding. Morrison's style of writing forces a reader to read on and solve the mystery of Sethe's past. The book Beloved has a unique style where its details are revealed to the readers one after another. Morrison uses a "jigsaw puzzle" type of writing where details of the story are given to the readers piece by piece. As the story progresses, it is the reader's job to slowly piece the puzzle together, leaving a clear picture of the whole puzzle at the end. This style of "putting the pieces of a puzzle back together" is a great example of how Morrison illustrates the life of a slave. A person's life after entering slavery is filled with struggles and pains, resulting in a life that is literally shattered into pieces. After freedom, this person must then put back the pieces of his life together and find his true self once again. Not only is this true for slaves, but for anyone who has had to overcome an obstacle in his life. In addition to Morrison's style, Morrison's use of imagery clearly shows the struggle that not only Sethe has had to overcome, but slaves and people in general. For example, Sethe's wedding dress. In the novel, Sethe describes her dress by stating, "the top was from two pillow cases...the front of the shirt was a dresser scarf...old sashes...(59)." Here, Sethe's struggles are clearly depicted. The pieces of different materials are good illustrations of her life and how she tries to piece it back together; however, Sethe also states, "Now the back was a problem for the longest time (59)." The back of her wedding dress represents Sethe's past and how when everything is finally over, Sethe is having the hardest time overcoming it. Another struggle depicted in the story is the struggle that Paul D and Sethe must overcome. Morrison writes, "The embracing necks--hers stretching up towards his...No height was beyond her yearning neck, ...the gravity of their shields clashing, countered and mocked...(105)." The shields of the two turtles signify the barrier between Paul D and Sethe. This is how Morrison depicts the yearning and struggle they have to overcome. Equally important are the themes Morrison tries to convey in her novel. Morrison covers various themes, but one theme is the issue of power relationship. For centuries, power relationships are one thing a person will always come across. In Beloved, Morrison focuses on the power relationship between master and slave, white and black, and between husband and wife. One example where Morrison shows the power relationship between master and slave is between the Schoolteacher and Sethe. The Schoolteacher separates himself as superior and slaves as a sub race, as shown when the Schoolteacher tells his nephew to list Sethe's animal qualities (208). However, after the Civil war, the master and slave relationship changes to white and black relationship; still, with the whites having more power over the blacks. Furthermore, by showing Paul D is the only man to get Sethe to let down her guard a little and the only person who could drive out the spirit, Morrison is able to illustrate the power relationship between husband and wife. However, in life, no matter where anyone goes, there will always be someone you must answer to, meaning no one is really ever free, except within his self. All in all, Morrison uses a style of writing, which is able to keep her readers on their toes throughout the novel. She creates a novel so compact with detail that it seems almost overwhelming and unbelievable, but quite relevant. Although, Beloved may seem favorable to blacks, especially former slaves, Morrison covers the issues of struggle, pain, and love. Morrison creates a story everyone can relate to in one way or another; so, not only is Beloved a book about slavery, but it is also a book about life and what everyone must go through.

Rating:
Summary: Beloved is more frustrating then entertaining.
Review: Beloved is a beautifully written story about the horrors of slavery. This description barely scratches the surface of Toni Morrison's enchanting yet confusing tale of slavery at its worst. The novel mainly tells of Sethe, a freed slave that is struggling with her past. A past that she desperately is trying to forget in order to move on and protect her daughter Denver, the only of her four children that has remained with her. The others, Howard and Buglar, had run away from the ghost of Beloved, who was murdered by Sethe's hand. This little amount of information alone is not made known to the reader until after the first few chapters, where the story finally starts to take off, but in too many directions. Morrison's style is as complicated as the story line of Beloved and is as branched as the scar on Sethe's back. It is as if Morrison just wrote down what came to her in no particular order. There are many different "mini" plots going on at once, such as Sethe's and Paul D's stories, which makes the reader confused. It is especially confusing when one chapter talks about Sethe and the next chapter tells of Paul D's chain gang, mentioned chapters before. More so, Paul D's and Sethe's voices aren't the only ones in the book. The story changes points of view many times from Sethe to Paul D to Denver, Beloved, Baby Suggs, and even Stamp Paid. Baby Suggs is dead and Stamp Paid is not even a main character; yet we know more about him then we should, while we know less about Beloved and Halle, important characters in which Morrison leaves us guessing about. What happened to Halle? How did Beloved come back and why? These are just two of the unanswered questions Morrison fails to answer. It is not as if there were no opportunities to answer these questions. In fact the story is so full of flashbacks, that it is at times hard to tell the difference between past and present. Sure, Morrison's style keeps the reader waiting for answers and anticipating to find out what happens or happened, but at times in leaves the reader surrounded in confusion that makes the novel frustrating. Adding to the frustration and beauty of Beloved is the heavy symbolism Morrison uses. Every page seems to have something with a double meaning. Readers are forced to read between the lines and to try and figure out what they mean and how important it is to the story. Trees are used often in Beloved to symbolize barriers such as those between Sethe and Paul D, Sethe and her past, and Denver and the world. Similarly, the turtles trying to mate symbolizes the barrier between Paul D and Sethe, which is the past. Beloved herself could symbolize the past, due to her causing Sethe to speak of her memories which she rather forget. All this symbolism adds to the richness of the writing in Beloved, yet can annoy readers. Trying to find the meanings of all these symbols can be disturbing, leaving you wondering if you caught on to what Morrison intended to imply. I had a love/hate relationship with Beloved. Overall, I liked it more than I hated it. It was more than just an angry slave story. The characters were realistic, I sympathized with Sethe, but I don't think killing her child was the right thing to do. I felt sorry for Denver and her loneliness, and I could not believe that Paul D. could sleep with Beloved and not tell Sethe. The story, although most times confusing, paid off in the end for me. I got a satisfaction when I put all the pieces together and understood most of the story at the end. The slavery, the escape, the murder, the haunting, the return...it makes better sense when you have read everything and can put it in order. Of course , not everything is summed up perfectly. The last chapter is a loss to me, and the chapters with Beloved's point of view is too confusing; punctuation and complete sentences would have helped to make it clearer. Also, I would have liked to see what happened in the future with Sethe, Paul D, and Denver. I think ending the story with a bright hope for the future would have been good since it was filled with the horrors of the past. I would recommend this book to those who are tired of the regular style of writing and who enjoy stories about slavery and human struggles, but be prepared to be frustrated; this book is not for the impatient.

Rating:
Summary: What?
Review: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-you've got to be kidding me! This honor was ill-deserved. Indeed, Morrison faced a difficult task before she sat down and began Beloved, since she was not the first to write about the hardships of colored people. She had to incorporate something into her novel to set her apart from all the other authors. A unique style would surely make it an original work...but only if it was executed properly. Morrison fell short of a masterpiece because her novel was too confusing and frustrating. By trying to be different, she failed to accurately convey her ideas to her audience. I found I was always lost in the plot. In fact, by the time I got to the fourth page, I was already fed up with Morrison and her style. Due to Morrison's many narrators and time frames, I had a lot of unclear pictures forming in my mind as I read. Unfortunately, these events weren't clarified until pages, chapters, or sections later in the story. When I found out Denver was named after the white girl who helped Sethe, I was anxious to know the story. Although Morrison told the story, she referred to the white girl as Amy, and I wondered where Sethe had gotten Denver from. Finally, in the last paragraph of the chapter, she tells us Denver is Amy's last name. Not all of my questions were answered. Some remain unclear even though I've already finished the book. For example, what happened to Halle? Morrison doesn't say what became of him. Did he die? Why did Sixo laugh when he was being burned? Morrison mentioned that Paul D guessed what Sixo was laughing at, but she never disclosed that information. Why did Baby Suggs call herself a liar? What is the "hot thing"? All of these questions drift in my mind, unanswered. While I was reading, I often felt like I was playing Memory with Morrison...and I always lost. In Memory, when I stumble upon a matching card, I have already forgotten where the first card was. Likewise, in Beloved I couldn't remember what subtle hint Morrison had left 70 pages beforehand, so I often didn't make the significant connections. I had to wait too long to find out what was happening, and in some cases, I'm still waiting! I disliked the book and wouldn't recommend it to anyone as impatient as I am. Beloved is too befuddling and unsatisfying; Morrison left me guessing way too many times for my liking. Don't get me wrong, critical readers are supposed to piece together events and draw conclusions by reading between the lines. However, I'm not asking to be smacked in the head with everything. I just expect some explanation in order to keep up and enjoy the book. Morrison had an excellent story line, but she left too much work for her readers. Ireland

Rating:
Summary: how beloved is this book
Review: BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON: BOOK REVIEW

Toni Morrison sets the story in post-Civil War Ohio of Sethe, an escaped slave who has risked her life in order to save herself from a living death. This living death is described as her lost husband and a buried child. She now lives with her daughter, Denver, her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and a disturbing, apparition "Beloved". Morrison focuses the theme on relationships between a master and slave, and marriage. Different views are introduced between Mr. Garner and School teacher's belief of slavery. Mr. Garner treated slaves as human beings as School teacher sees slaves as inferior. Sethe says the teacher would wrap string all over her head, cross her nose around her behind, and number the teeth she had. The image that the author reflects is the different white masters of that time. Morrison wanted to explain how people behave when they are given absolute power over other people. Both Mr. Garner and School teacher begin believing in superiority and later justifying their decisions by it. Mr. Garner gives an example when he doesn't use violence to get his slaves to work but listens to them, allows them to use guns, and calls them men. On the other hand, School teacher demonstrates his power immediately and separate himself as superiority as he tells his nephew to list Sethe's human qualities on one side of a paper and her animal qualities on the other side. Acknowledgement by masters of marriages between their slaves was not to be. This is evident when church or community didn't recognize Sethe's marriage to Halle because there was no ceremony, nothing to mark their union. Morrison also shows the reader that slaves were of minor importance to their masters as Sethe is sent to prison for damage to Mr. Garner's property when she killed Beloved. Throughout the work, Morrison creates an idea that human beings are merchandise, where everything has its own price. The statement that Morrison points out by linking these relationships is that slaves were the ones caught in the middle of the war even though the whole point of the Civil War was to free the slaves. Like Stamp Paid says, there were still black refugees who didn't know the war was over and it didn't seem any different. Morrison's work reflects history from the black viewpoint as she showed psychological and long-term damage slavery made on black people. Physical damage was expressed through the "chokeberry tree" that was on Sethe's back from whippings. I believe Morrison makes good use of flash backs where she links the past to the present but she could've been more clear in defining characters because the reader sometimes gets confused as to which character is doing what.