Beloved

Rating:
Summary: This Novel Lit. Me On Fire
Review: Well, for the longest time I have always praised John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany has my favorite novel, but just three hours ago, I put Beloved down after reading it over a six month period (just that good!) and was just, I could have fallen to pieces. This book is pure empathy, and I do mean emotional understanding. I personally view Morrison as a gift from God; though many people priase her for being the first African-American Nobel Prize in Literature Winner, I just have to recognize and silently praise her for being one of the few "real" teachers this planet has to offer. But this novel just lit me on fire...it had me dancing, it had me screaming...I have never read anything like this before and would just like to thank Miss. Morrison for such a wonderful gift.

Thank you

Rating:
Summary: Good book but disturbing subject
Review: I read this book with an open mind and was shattered by the words. Toni Morrison is a powerful writer and her words destroyed my peace of mind. It opened a world of violence which I've been exposed to but never at such a level. Toni Morrison takes you into her characters' mind and this is not a place I want to be. Facinating, disturbing but well written.

Rating:
Summary: I did not yet read this book but plan to i the near future
Review: I would like Oprah to read a booke, however, that I have read. It is "peace with God" by Billy Graham. If you keep in contact with her, maybe you could suggest this to her and her many book club readers. I have all my friends reading this as I had a life changing experience after reading this book! God wants everyone to make their peace with Him. Oprah would be a great person to acknowledge this, as well as Mr. Graham is. Thank you, God Bless you at Amazon and Oprahs Book Club. Sincerely, Lin C.E.O- Keepsake Cottage -

Rating:
Summary: Beloved is Powerful and Gripping
Review: I read this book and found it overwhelming and powerful. Toni Morrison has a brilliant way of expressing emotions in complex character developments. Since reading Beloved, I have read Sula and Tar Baby and remain a Toni Morrison fan. Her brilliant writing style and expression are quite moving.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books EVER
Review: It surprised me that this book only received an average of 4 stars from the comments that people have written about it. And, might I be so bold to take a guess as to why the score is not higher. I believe too many people want a "traditional" read when they pick up a novel. If you want an easy read that doesn't challenge your mind and cause you to think about the book even after you've put it down, then don't read Beloved. Toni Morrison is one of the most amazing authors I have ever encountered and deserves nothing less than 5 stars for this amazing story about a freed slave's life after killing her child in order to keep her from the "jaws" of slavery. Everyone reads about slavery in school, but few understand how truly horrible it is until you read this novel. OPEN YOUR MIND AND READ IT!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Try to understand it, it's worth reading.
Review: I had to read this book for an undergraduate english course. Yes, my teacher explained all the confusing parts to us. He also gave us the background of the story which is most important part. If you don't know the basis for the story, find out because its interesting to know. The book was intense and it kept my attention. I am now in graduate school and I consider it one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Anything but unbelievable and incomprehensible
Review: I wasn't originally going to comment on this book, but after reading the multitude of bizarre responses from other readers I couldn't resist. Comments describing Toni Morrison's poor grasp of the English language, the unorganized, sloppy writing style, and the characters' unbelievable motivations baffled me. And then there was the confused reader from Columbus, Ohio who believes the novel is about devil-worshipping. But what struck me the most was how many teenage readers didn't understand the novel. Guys, you're making us look bad! There is nothing in Beloved that an average reader should have difficulty with; anyone who abandons their expectations and opens their mind to the writing style will thoroughly enjoy such an engrossing novel. The writing style is not sloppy and unorganized, it was a carefully planned randomness, an attempt to imitate the way "rememories" surface in a person's mind. This is how the novel progresses--the characters recall memories in response to the slightest stimuli, thinking of the past daily the way we all do. And it is their pasts which become the characters' motivations in the present, guiding their actions and branching the plot into an ever-expanding chokecherry tree of intrigue. Does the novel wrap up all of its loose ends? No, it doesn't even come close, but that, once again, is a result of the experimental (and successful!) writing style. There is no true end, and no true beginning; like time and memories the novel is fluid. As Toni Morrison herself said, the past is infinite, as is the world of BELOVED.

Rating:
Summary: Scorching
Review: Writing so ripe it drips. Lines to stun the reader on almost every page. The chapter which contains the thoughts of a ghost is one of the most moving and surreal things I have ever read. The book loses some steam after it comes clean about the identity of Beloved, but by then the force and beauty of the novel are too well installed to budge. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Rating:
Summary: "Beloved", a crawling-already girl slave killed by her mummy
Review: Toni Morrison's "Beloved": a rich book that takes the reader in Cincinnati, Ohio, from the plantation cabins to apartment buildings in the city, from the South of slavery to the North, land of freedom. The title suggests how much space the main character occupies in the novel. The reader receives lots of information about slaves'life, where some white masters deployed extreme cruelty while others were too compassionate. "Beloved": the story of a crawling-already slave girl who comes back because of an excess of love that her mother's slaughter prevented her to express. "Beloved" Signet Book edition reads on page 315 "Ella didn't like the idea of past errors taking possession of the present." This sentence seems to summarize the presence of the ghost-child. All the characters are submitted to the wrath of Beloved, because of love unfulfilled. Denver, the only surviving character (nothing proves that she is still sane at the end) stays alive because she takes less space than Beloved and nobody cared for her because only those who are angry and desperate attract the attention like Beloved does. Morrison is a master teller. She keeps the reader abreath, by frequent intrusions into the past. Once you get caught up by the story of the three Pauls, Paul A, F, D, Halle, Sixo and his Sixty-Mile woman, Baby Suggs and Sethe, you cannot stop. You want to know all. Her story contains everything: she talks about the slaves' participation in the Secession War, the Underground railroad station, the situation of indentured servants, all mingled with love stories. And love. And love. Deep love that hurts. Love permeates the story. The key maybe to surviving: the absence of love. Page 314 of the Signet Book Book edition says, talking of Ella "Nobody loved her and she wouldn't have liked it if they had, for she considered love a serious disability." Maybe love is at the heart of the matter. Maybe Sethe Loved too much. Maybe Beloved loved too much. In this case, isn't love destructive? Beloved a novel about love, slavery, man's slaughtering of man and revenge.

Rating:
Summary: Twice Read Tale
Review: This must be read at least twice. For those who can't figure it out, read it once through, and turn around and read it again. Once you have the plot, you will be astounded at Toni Morrison's layering.