Beloved

Rating:
Summary: Indecent
Review: Morrison's word choice is excellent. She's obviously a good writer, but truly, her subject matter leaves A LOT to be desired, in this book. Its raunchy beyond belief. People do things with farm animals that they shouldn't. I couldn't get through the first two chapters without vomiting. Some things you just shouldn't put in your head.

Rating:
Summary: beautifully ugly; ugily beautiful
Review: Postmodern writing doesn't get better than this. This book is absolutely beautiful but so horrendous as to leave one sleepless. I suggest reading it all in one sitting, as I did for school. There's a part of it where the heroine reflects on a horrific place she was once at and realizes that for all its terror and suffering, she'll always associate the name of that place with the beautiful trees. Reading this book, too, is like that.

Rating:
Summary: I will call her beloved, who was not beloved...
Review: ...and so Morrison sets up her novel.

Set in Ohio post-Civil War. Sethe is an escaped slave and has been living in Ohio for eighteen years. All that remains of her family now is her youngest daughter Denver and an angry spirit haunting their house. Paul D. whom Sethe has not seen since she escaped from Sweet Home comes along and a series of events follow: each adult begins relieving horrible memories of the past, a mysterious girl who calls herself 'Beloved' appears, and Sethe reveals a terrible incident in her past.

With a haunting and unique plot, this book is right up on my favorites list. My above summary did it no justice. I was a bit wary when I began reading it because it was a) an Oprah favorite and I tend to distrust mainstream, and b) the prose style was very unusual. The beginning is a tad confusing but stick with it; you will be rewarded with an excellent story!

The flashbacks that Paul D. and Sethe both have throughout the book are excellently done and potray the horrors and hardships of slaves. The presence of Beloved makes up the main plot and you'll be breathless as you begin to learn about her and how she figures into Sethe's life.

All-around, I was very impressed with this book. The plot was well-crafted and suspenseful and the characters were very fleshed-out. I will be reading more of Morrison's work in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing Short of Breathtaking
Review: Nothing Short of Breathtaking

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I was 'sipping' my usual cup of tea one late afternoon, in my work's coffee shop, when I was invited by a customer to sit with him. I grabbed the opportunity, of course, as I am a lover of conversations, great or not. The person, a Fijian "native" ("I am a native, not an Indian," as the person puts it.) then talked about the "white men". Oh my, what a topic- where should I start? should I talk at all? should I just listen? Our conversation was nothing more than a conversation between two 'bored' people, it was rather quick, in fact, and very pedestrian. But despite the quickness and the "pedestrian-ity" of the conversation, I can't help but notice the passion of the other person whilst talking about "white men"- as it was full of spite.

Beloved, by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, is full of spite as well. Lots of it. One beauty of this book is that as the reader, you'll feel it as well- the spite, the anger, the isolation, the deprivation, the lifeless, freedom-less and the loveless life of the Negroe population before, during and after the American Civil War.

As one reviewer pointed out, the examination of slavery in this book is almost "clinical", and one shouldn't find this a burden- there is no need to read a history book on the issue of slavery BEFORE dealing with the novel. Morrison is a wonderful story-teller, and I am certain that "Beloved" is not intended to be read only by learned people. And nor is it a book only to be read by Black Americans.

One is able to point out numerous themes embedded in this great book- moral ambiguity, the 'rememory' and 'disremembrance', slavery. But one theme captured me the most was the author's portrayal of the banality of evil. (And talk about the banality of evil and its doers.). Furthermore, you'll find it amazing how Morrison was able to place a great number of motifs and symbols in this novel, the house number "124" and Sethe's "chokecherry tree" are two good examples.

The character "Baby Suggs" should easily become an immortal, literary character of the future. She's both inspirational and tragic, a character as stimulant of the mind as Shakespeare's Hamlet. (I doubt, however, that Baby Suggs is an original creation- and if "she" simply is a character out of Ms Morrison's brilliant mind, then the author would have to be the greatest American writer of the last century)

The last parts of the novel may alienate some readers, and I definitely found it extravagant and unnecessary at first. But, fear not, this is a great novel overall!

Hence, if you love psychoanalysis, read this. If you love the idea of a multicultural society, read this. If you want to become more tolerant, read this. You love political or historical or romantic or feminist or experimental or traditional novel, read this. THIS is for everyone!

(Oh, and you don't need to be full of spite to appreciate "Beloved")

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, haunting tale
Review: I decided to read Beloved as part of a personal campaign to improve the "quality" of books I was reading - or at least to seriously broaden my horizons. I must admit I approached it with some trepidation. I thought that Toni Morrison would be difficult to read, too female-oriented or just plain boring.

Of course, as with all great writers, she's nothing of the sort! The language is really beautiful and poetic. The characters in this, what amounts to a ghost story, are extremely well developed. Toni builds the story, eaking parts of each character's history out - leaving us guessing, wondering, wanting more information. At first this can make for some difficult reading as it's not entirely clear in the first chapter just what is going on. But stick with it, it will pay off in the end.

Rating:
Summary: an excellent textbook, a mediocre novel
Review: This book gave a detailed, clinically precise look on slavery and its impact, both physical and emotional, on people. It had many moments of insight, like one only "loves small", because what one loves could be taken away easily. The main protangonists actually had an OK life under the old master. But freedom that depends on the mercy of other people is not true freedom. Sethe took to the extremes to protect her children because slavery is worse than death. She let Beloved sucked her life away, partly because she saw nothing of value in herself. Her children were her "best things", while she had been "dirtied". Another scar from her pervious experience. I can go on and on...

But the characters never really reach across to me, as they seemed merely tools to serve a purpose. No, I'm not black. But I've always thought a true classic should touch all humankind. I end up giving it 3 stars nevertheless 'cause it did serve the educational purpose pretty well.

Rating:
Summary: The Layers of Beloved
Review: I wrote essay after essay about how wonderful this book is for my college English class this past semester. It's is incredibly hard to understand, but that is what makes it such a good read. The layers that Morrison provides makes you really think about history, about the past, and how lucky you are. If after reading this book you don't understand it, I suggest heading to your local library or the internet, finding some books and articles where Toni was interviewed about this book, and really discovering how many symbols overlay other symbols. It will leave you gasping in amazement, in horror, and reach into the depths of your soul. I have gone back time and time again to read a passage newly illuminated to me. One of the most fabulous books of our time that will be a classic, standing strong beside the likes of Plato, Erasmus, and Dickens.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant, but very confusing
Review: At first, this book was addicting. Halfway through, new characters and themes were introduced without ample explanation, leaving me wondering "Did I miss something??". I may have indeed missed something. Perhaps I lack the intelligence needed to understand this book. The parts I did understand I found were quite poignant and mysterious. I'm currently struggling through the last 60 pages or so. I skim-read the last page and I know it's poignant, but the journey there has been long and confusing.

Rating:
Summary: I will call them my people, which were not my people;
Review: Toni Morrsion's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Beloved, ventures through the black experience in America. This novel is based upon a true story of infanticide and slavery. This book is full of gothic elements and acts of terrible violence. Sethe's present and past have caused her to be abandoned by the community. Sethe escaped from the farm "Sweet Home" with her four children, but after only twenty- eight days of freedom she was captured by her old master. Rather than allowing her children to be returned to slavery she attempted to kill all of them, succeeding only in killing the baby girl "Beloved". After her master decided that she was no longer fit to serve, Sethe was released to raise her three remaining children at 124. Beloved's ghost began to haunt the house causing Sethe's to sons to flee after encounters with the ghost. Sethe's busy career as a cook didn't allow her to spend time with her daughter Denver. Denver the only one left in the house is eighteen years old and terribly afraid to even get up enough courage to leave the yard. All of the characters of this novel, are former slaves, children of former slaves, and suffer a troubled relationship to their own past. Morrison does an excellent job in portraying the trials and tribulations of slavery shortly after the Civil War. Toni Morrison's realistic venture through slavery in this book has definitely made it a masterpiece of its time and history as well.

Rating:
Summary: Review on Beloved
Review: Beloved is a powerful story about a former slave, Sethe, and her struggle to overcome her past. Sethe's past haunts her and forbids her from ever leading a "normal" life. Ever since Sethe escaped slavery she and her daughter Denver have been trying to live a "normal" life in Ohio. Many years earlier Sethe murdered one of her children, a girl, so that the child would not be sold into slavery. In the house that Sethe and her daughter live in a ghost disrupts their lives. Sethe and Denver believe that that ghost is Sethe's murdered child. Later in the story, a young woman shows up at Sethe and Denver's home. The young woman goes by the name of Beloved. Sethe and Denver take in the young woman and she stays with them. It is not until later in the story that Denver figures out who the girl is, but she does not know exactly what the young woman wants. The girl causes many disruptions in the household. Sethe's past is mainly told through flashbacks that take place throughout the novel. Toni Morrison avoided using "flowery" words to describe events in Sethe's life. By doing this, she makes the story sound very realistic. Beloved is the most unique book that I have ever read. Just when you think that you have figured out the story another twist occurs in the plot. Toni Morrison's unique style of writing and her unique stories will keep her novels, such as Beloved, in the hands of readers for many years to come.