Beloved

Rating:
Summary: A life changing experience...
Review: This should be required reading for every person in the US. She made me FEEL slavery. I walked away understanding slavery in a way I never thought possible. We all think we know what slavery did to those in bondage, but until you read Beloved, you can't possibly understand. She made me understand that slavery affects those in the African American community today. The utter obliteration of the family and of love: how can a people who experienced this ever be able to heal. This is truly the most important book I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal
Review:
"124 was spiteful."...

Thus begins Toni Morrison's epic, moving, technically astounding novel. And upon reading the opening chapter, the reader will be rendered confused, moved, horrified, and gripped in six or seven pages of fantastic writing. It is impossible to really say that "Beloved" is the tale of the ghost of a baby, embittered and vengeful, or "Beloved" is the tale of Sethe, an ill-treated black woman who is too afraid to "go inside" and face her past. No. "Beloved" is none of these. In fact, Morrison's novel (if indeed it can be called a "novel") is written in such a way that it cannot be described as one story. It is a collection of memories, "rememories", and haunting images, collectively compilled to create a harrowing reminder to the people of today that the slave trade must NOT be forgotten. It must be remembered.

But to remember is to move on. And to move on is to forget.

"This was not a story to pass on...this is not a story to pass on."

Morrison's non-linear narrative style plunges the reader into a world of memory. The book is non-chronological and therefore more than a little confusing to begin with, but, on delving deeper into the secrets of Sethe's past, the supressed memories of darker times are slowly uncovered. Aided by impressive language techniques and a unique style of writing, Morrison proceeds to break down the genre of "Slavery" writing and creates a new, ingenious type of story. By combining the historical elements of a novel about black slavery and the chilling, spine-tingling terrors of a ghost story, Morrison draws the reader in hungrilly, thirsting for our attention and causing us to thirst for more...just as Beloved thirsts for Sethe, acceptance...and revenge.

"Beloved" is more than a book. More than a tale, a fable, or a fiction. "Beloved" is a memory. A protest against forgetting what is almost already lost. "Beloved" is spine chilling, heart-warming, and eye-opening. Most importantly, "Beloved" is unforgettable.