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Summary: Toni Morrison did a superb job in writing such a powerful no
Review: Toni Morrison did a superb job in writing such a powerful novel. Her technique sort of 'dizzies' the reader at first, then builds a foundation on what slavery was like in those days. Her story was based on an actual ovvurrence. Morrison took this event, embellished it by creating a baby ghost who shows itself in the form of a young women, and called her story Beloved. Each character's thoughts is heard to share with the reader his/her perception of the events. The one amazing character that is heard the most is Sethe. Sethe grows up on a farm called Sweet Home. There she marries Halle and has children. One thing black women have to refrain from is forming a bond with their children because majority of the babies gets sold to another farm. Sethe did form that bond with her children. Because she loved them boundlessly, she'd rather they die than have to go through the agony of being a slave. Unfortunately, Sethe was only able to save one of her babies, Beloved. 124 was spiteful. Full of baby's venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims. The grandmother, Baby Suggs, was dead, and the sons, Howard and Buglar, had run away by the time they were thirteen years old - as soon as merely looking in a mirror shattered it (that was the signal for Buglar); as soon as two tiny hand prints appeared in the cake (that was it for Howard). Neither boy waited to see more... This is the opening statement of Part I. It is effective in a way that reveals the strength of this baby ghost. The baby's venom is so potent that it scares off Howard and Buglar, and the word victim, suggest that Sethe and Denver are helpless against the baby's venom. Sethe and Denver's lives evolve around the baby ghost until Paul D. arrives. He is a former slave that labored on Sweet Home Farm. Paul D. took interest into becoming part of Sethes' life. He was ablto drive away the spirit. In the late afternoon, after a family day at the festival a young woman is found sitting on a stump near house 124. She calls herself Beloved. Her skin was a ssmooth as a baby's 'okole'. She never spoke much at first. As days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months she expressed herself more freely. Beloved grew and became stronger. 124 was loud. Stamp Paid could hear it even from the road. He walked toward the house holding his head as high as possible so nobody looking could call him a sneak, although his worried mind made him feel like one. The arrival of Beloved triggered irresistible interweaving memories of the past and present events that were filled with anguish and fear. What treggered in Sethe was the "rememory" of the death of her baby. The grief and guilt in her hert, soul, and mind was Beloved's main food source. She was greedy for her mother's-love that was taken from her by brutal death. The beginning statement of Part II, stated above, is 124 being loud with urgent demands from Beloved to Sethe. Sethe was aa Beloved's every beckon call. She does everything Beloved desires because she does not want to lose her baby again. Beloved is awae of this and is taking ultimate advantage. Beloved mysteriously disappears when Sethe suddenly attacks Mr. Bodwin, a white man, instead of her own flesh and blood. This black literature of slavery is of top quality. The language of Toni Morrison does more than entertain its audience, history of being a slave is taught, history of being a slave is felt and the history of being a slave will never be forgotten.
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Summary: Beloved is more for the patient and adventurous readers.
Review: A little bit of patience and an open-mind is all that is needed to fall in love with Beloved. The book presents itself in the first few lines as being a maze of story lines leaving the reader to choose which path to follow. The controversial issues of slavery, murders and ghosts may be overwhelming for the reserved readers, but if you are adventurous, this is the story for you. The style may be perplexing at first, but if you are patient and take the time to read, you may find Morrison's style to be one of the elite. However, I happen to be one of those reserved readers and I find Beloved to be a very disturbing book. Although Morrison should be praised for writing on subjects that other authors wouldn't dare to think about, I do not feel the impact that she had intended. The ghost child who was murdered by her own mother and the cruel punishment that the slaves endured are not subjects that I want to read about. I am also not patient enough for Morrison's style. I could not get past the first page without reading it three times. If you can get past the first page, Beloved is a novel I would recommend to you. However, if you are like me, it would be better if you read something that fit your personality.
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Summary: What am I missing?
Review: I consider myself very fortunate to have discovered several new authors as well as several excellent books by reading the Oprah Book-of-the-Month club selections; however, I was very disappointed in "Beloved". The story is hard to follow, slow, and did not contain the history I expected. I got so tired of reading about Sethe's daughter Denver trying to keep Beloved happy, of Paul's confusion as to where to sleep, of Beloved's mood swings...I've read thousands of books in my life, and only twice have I not bothered to finish a novel. "Beloved" was one of them. My guess is that the symbolic and poetic content of "Beloved" is over my head, which surprises me immensely. I was disappointed that the story didn't catch my attention.
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Summary: You must be consicious of the intermittent course of events.
Review: Toni Morrison was committed to describing and analyzing the black experience in the South. In here novels, she celebrates black women's strength and vitality and reveals their struggles. Regarded by many as Morrison's most successful novel, Beloved is the story of Sethe, a mother who kills her daughter Beloved rather than have her grow up as a slave. The book explores many complex themes, including black Americans' relationship to slavery. Morrison's use of multiple time frames such as, "by 1873" and "for years," and wonderful occurrences (such as the reapprearance of Beloved) demonstrate her lyric storytelling abilities. Sethe, Paul D, Denver, and Baby Suggs were characters who experienced similar feelings as I. Throughout the novel these three-dimensional characters struggled to discover their true identities and purpose in life. From the outset of the story, I also struggled to understand what directive Morrison was communicating. Morrison's portrait of her characters and events is difficult to grasp. It is entirely up to the reader to conclude the meaning of an action, exposition, or dialogue. Because of this, it is arduous to remember chapters that were covered. Countless instances I consulted with my fellow classmates and instructor for their understanding of Morrison's intention through her diction. For example, I did not comprehend what was the "tree" on Sethe's back or what was "a hot thing (p.212)." This novel could not be left unfinished. For myself, I needed a closure to the story and an understanding of how Sethe conquered her heartbreaking challenges. At certain moments in the novel I question its merit for winning the 1988 Pulitzer Prize. Most times while reading the novel, it offered me no pleasure as a so-called "masterwork of American literature," by John Leonard, Los Angeles Times. Instead, lewd situations caused me great discomfort. The school teacher's insolent comparision of Sethe to an animal is very disturbing. Furthermore, its salacious language is for mature audiences only. In your attempt to pursue Beloved, consider the views of your peers and other reviewers of the novel. Reading it alone or with no background on the story, is to your disadvantage. To achieve a total understanding and appreciation, it is important to share your opinions with others who have undertaken Beloved. Its readers must be patient, open-minded, and conscious of the intermittent course of events. This novel is recommended for readers who enjoy suspense and using their intellect.
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Summary: Beloved sete the reader onto a roller coaster of the mind.
Review: Opening with a grtesque scene of evil, Beloved sets the reader onto a roller coaster of the mind. This roller coaster was fast and exciting at some ponts, leaving more to be desired,and slow and hard to follow at others. Throughout the book were tossed small little subplots, that in many ways had nothing to do with progressing the book forward, but that kept it in the past. Baby Suggs' singing in the field had little to do with how Sethe, and Denve had their current lives, it did not directly impact, just removed a minor character from the story, who didn't want to go. Another one was Sethe being ar work, it was rare when Beloved left the house, and when she didn't go to Sethe's work place. Paul D, when he arrrives at 124, finds an old broken down house, which is in the middle of a mid life crisis. He is also like the book in many ways, he takes a while to let his feelings show, preferring to keep them locked up inside. As he enters he sees the evil, and "throws" it out. This effectively gets rid of the evil, but only for a short time. In this time the reader is entertained with little sub stories, meant to either slow down the story, or to show more detail, and creativity of Toni Morrison. These little plots were very hard to piece together into anycertain order, especially when they did not deal with a chapter before or after the plot, but related later on in the book. When Beloved arrived the story begins to pick up, but again at a snails pace. More little intricacies, like Sethe's working chapter, where she goes to work, are brought up. With Beloved in place and much of character developed earlier, in essence she is the reincarted ghost of the house, it starts to get slower, as if the snail is dying. Paul D again stirred up the book and got it moving forward, but only a little, as he put it, "a tin heart that didn't want to be opened." To recommend this book for furter reading past just for content would not be to much fun on any readers part. With the "experimental" style, of throwing everything into the book whenever wanted, instead of some organization of ideas, it gets difficult to read. Beloved brings to mind that maybe such things as the parnormal actually exist, and also that maybe some of the plantationsof the old south were not so bad and whipped the slaves. Beloved also allows the reader to see life through the eyes of a slave turned ex-slave, with many hardships, like the boys who milked Sethe, and the "tree" on her back, and how they, the slave, viewed the white man, as "a man without skin." Morrison did on thing well, and that was to show how slavery would, in the case of an ex-slave, prompt him/her to take his/her own life, and that of the life of those he/she loved, and cared about.
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Summary: Diffucult, kept me busy.
Review: I found the book to be diffucult and slow at first, but once into the book it was actually intriguing and I couldn't put it down. I do not feel the subject is over used, this was about a important time in our history, it expresses the feelings a few individuals might have had at the time. It showed that Sethe believed death was better than a life of slavery, and to imply that, I find it a very powerful novel. It was very emotional and touching in parts and I recommend it to any one who enjoys a well written story.
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Summary: The best book I ever read. Wonderful!!!
Review: If your looking for a book with muliple ideas to connect with then Beloved is for you. It offers a new type of understanding. The Book is much better then the movie.
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Summary: Too obtuse for her own good
Review: When I am in the mood to get lost in a whirlpool of complicated and obscure dialogue, I will stick to Henry James. At least James' form follows the function of his novels. Morrison's style does not add to the artistry of what could have been a very powerful novel based on the theme. All the plaudits are much ado about nothing.
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Summary: Beloved is like picking the meat out of a black walnut
Review: No one ever gets a black walnut out of the shell in one piece--can't be done. Reading Beloved is like that--you find the most amazing nuggets as you pick through the hard shell. I bought the book to help me understand the movie and hoping it would add depth to what I had seen. I didn't get the depth I was looking for, but I got great clarity from the book. This is an experience that begs to be shared--I needed to talk about what I had seen and read. Even though the guidelines tell us no one word reviews--I think Wow! applies.
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Summary: Brilliant but confusing
Review: I thought Beloved was evocatively beautiful yet incredibly sad. Many parts confused me. What happened to Beloved in the FIRST PLACE? The author never said! WHY did it happen? What was about to happen that Beloved needed rescuing from? What was with the stream of consciousness poetry near the end? I didn't understand a word of it. All the jumping back and forth from past to present ad nauseum was just too much. On the other hand, the characters were wonderfully defined and seemed like real people with all their human frailties and strengths. I wanted to take many of them home to my house to give them a better life! I'm not sure I would recommend this book. There were too many loose ends. I like things all wrapped up in neat packages!
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