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Summary: Beloved will open your eyes to the life of freed slaves.
Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison gave me a new view on the life of freed slaves. While reading the book I really felt the pain of the main charector, Sethe. Sethe was a slave who had run from her master when she was very young and with child. It seemed she had escaped with no problem but something very strange happened when she reached her destination. She killed her baby.[No, not the one she was just pregnant with, another] Well, this child comes back to life and tries to kill Sethe. At first I found the book very confusing but after a while I couldn't put it down. In some ways its like a mystery because you don't know what will happen next!
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Summary: A thought provoking text,it makes you question todays values
Review: Given "Beloved" to read as a compulsary text for English A-Level, as a seventeen year old, I was at first daunted by the unrecognisable language used and the strange recollections that you first meet. Once over this initial hurdle, "Beloved" quickly became one of my most loved and most hated books. Toni Morrison has created a novel which questions human and social values, evoking sympathy and compassion in all of us. The way the characters are treated by other human beings and by society in general is so horrific, that we can only give them sympathy. The characters become closer to the reader by their narration in "the stream of consciousness", but at the same time distanced by todays society's lack of understanding with their situation. We are not intended to empathise with them as the story is not one to be kept alive. It is not a story to pass on.
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Summary: Can you believe I once threw this book across my bedroom?
Review: That is how my first encounter with Toni Morrison unfolded. I was so confused and angry I threw it across my bedroom screaming at the top of my lungs. Many years later, and after reading "The Bluest Eye", "Sula", "Jazz" and my favorite, "The Song Of Solomon", I picked the dreaded "Beloved" from the shelf and decided to try it again. And am I glad that I did! It is her best work. The characters are three dimensional and wholly human. It is the story of Sethe, a former slave, who is haunted by the past, and the ghost of her daughter, Beloved. A certified classic. It makes you want to thump Faulkner and Hemingway across the head with it.
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Summary: Beloved--The Review
Review: The literature know-hows knew exactly what they were doing in awarding Toni Morrison with a Nobel Prize in Literature for this novel. Beloved is a true masterpiece! A unique story into the hideous crimes of slavery and their effect on the enslaved! This novel reopens everyone's slavery wounds regardless of race. Unlike many novels, Beloved offers personal healing in us all. As the main character Sethe revists her past, you will cry her tears and feel her pain. Only after "rebirthing" the daughter that Sethe, herself, has murdered(and at the same time saved from the treacherous claw of slavery), can Sethe be at ease. As Sethe finds her inner peace she invites the reader to share in her joy. Morrison has turned an extraordinary woman into a universal symbol of heroinism and self preservation. Sethe's triumphs are transferred to the reader making Beloved a truly enjoyable book to read and re-read throughout the years. Beloved is not the typical touching heartache novel. Beloved is a novel of life and sacrifice. Go to Sethe and free yourself! You'll be amazed at what you have in common with a woman with a tree on her back
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Summary: Beloved ROCKS!!!
Review: I LOVED Beloved. The characters were portrayed beautifully, with Morrison's uncanny talent to describe. The flaws built into each character made the book unbelievably realistic, while the magical appearance of Beloved was amazingly surrealistic. The protagonist, Sethe, while an all-loving mother, is nevertheless too excessive in her love. Paul D, while sincerely loving Sethe, is still a sexist. Baby Suggs, although a caring community leader, spends all day lying on her bed after the "misery."
Other than the successful depiction of the various characters, Beloved is filled with many flashbacks, impeccably told. I gained a new understanding and also a different perspective on the postbellum era. Morrison has really done it this time, creating the masterpiece which haunts and delights at the same time.
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Summary: Mysterious, compelling, and savagely beautiful
Review: I first came to Morrison's work in graduate school when I was forced to read "Sula." It was yet another occasion when I learned why the teachers were the teachers and the students were the students.
Morrison's insightful and sometimes frightening representations of the emotions that accompany intense passions--hatred, love, fear, joy--blend seamlessly into her detailed and realistic accounts of lives that she seems to have lived herself. She never sinks to judging her characters for her readers. Instead, she gives living color to these pitiable yet proud, misguided yet messianic lives. And each life she shows us has at least one facet that rings true to our own lives.
Buy it or borrow it. Or borrow it and then buy it. After you read it, you'll want it on your shelves.
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Summary: If you love stream of consciousness, you'll love this book.
Review: Toni Morrison takes stream of consciousness writing to a new extreme. There is one whole chapter with no punctuation. This may not sound like a good thing, but it is. This style of writing, at which Morrison is particularly adept, allows the characters to do more than just talk and think. It allows the reader to look into the character and follow its thoughts. This book is puzzling, but as the story progresses it slowly becomes clear what exactly is happening. One must have great patience in the beginning of the book, for it is often times confusing, but after a chapter or so, the reader is irrevocably hooked. Morrison also makes symbolism and literary allusions work for her. If you're into an absorbing read, this is it. However, be prepared to invest a lot of time and effort in it. This book is not for the casual reader
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Summary: Wonderful fantasy mixed with history
Review: I read this book three years ago and have recently read it again. Morrison's words are touching and frighening. The story of Sethe's life as a slave, her escape and life there after is very absorbing and disturbing. Although the appearance of Beloved is quite unbelievable (to me at least), once you
get used to her presence, the book is excellent
and will haunt you for years after.
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Summary: Genius Has a Name and it's Toni Morrison
Review: What will a mother do for her child? Will she die for it? Will she kill it herself to keep it from dying at the hands of others? At some point or time we all say we'll do whatever it takes for the health and happiness of our children and then the day arrives when either we eat these words or live up to them. Sethe lives and and in a sense dies by them. This story is so full of metaphor and symbolism that a reader must bring something to the book in order to get something out of it. Toni Morrison has asked us a question and after reading this book some who thought they had the answer may want to re-think it. This tale, though gruesome and horrific is one of Ms Morrison's most fascinating and intriguing stories to date. We often ask what will love do for us, what does love have to give to us, when we should ask, what will we do for love? It doesn't get much better than this
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Summary: Original and Fantastic Work!
Review: The book did not follow the accepted standards of the literary world and that is what makes it special. It is special because it does not describe the objective world; it describes the subjective world. It makes one appreciate emotions. The book delves into the characters' minds deeply, giving the reader a sense of intimacy. Excellent book for ones seeking original and refreshing work.
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