Rating: 
Summary: magnificient
Review: just thought you would like to know that Morgan State University is using this book for their "Junior" class in English.
Rating: 
Summary: If this is considered great literature, just shoot me!
Review: I read this book based on Oprah's declaration, "It was the best book I've ever read". Well Oprah you lost credibility with me. It was the worst book I've ever read. I deplore Tony Morrison's writing style. Why can't she just SAY IT! Who wants to read a book three times to finally GET IT? Her nuances are simply not that interesting. Next time Oprah recommends one of her titles, I'll simply say, "YUCK"!
Rating: 
Summary: At least I can say I tried.....
Review: From the reviews posted here, Paradise seems to divide people into two seperate camps - those who gush & gush, and those who feel ripped-off. I fall into the latter category. I am truly sorry to say that, as I enjoyed Beloved immensely. I look for books to affect me emotionally & at the last page of Beloved, I was crying. However, reading Paradise felt like a chore. Like so many others, I forced myself to finish it. You can't imagine my relief on finally being able to put the damn book down! Out of pride I finished it, I wanted to be able to say,yes, I read it. Luckily, this didn't dissuade me of reading any other Toni Morrison novels. Immediately after reading Paradise, I read Song of Solomon, probably not wanting to leave such a bad taste in my mouth. Well, it worked and I think I'll pick up The Bluest Eye next.
Rating:
Summary: ???
Review: I am a fairly sophisticated reader. I read a book a week, and was an English major and have read many of the great classics. But for the life of me I don't have a clue as to what Ms. Morrison is trying to say here. There is no doubt that she is a talented and skilled writer. Her descriptions and some scenes are striking. However, she is all over the map here. There are so many unnecessary characters in this book that the average reader will be completely lost. Who is who and how are they related to one another? After awhile, a reader will just give up. I have read two other of the author's books, but after this one I will not attempt any future ones. I think Toni Morrison is one of our most overrated American authors and has been given literary prizes simply because no one knows what the heck she is saying.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa. Where'd that come from?
Review: This book literally gave me chills.It emphasized a small little light thaat had been growing inside of me throughout the book, and just exploded at the end. I never realized that the book would be so powerful until I finished it. I admit, you must have patience to get through the midle of the book, the endless strand of names that almost threw me off. But perserverance is the name of the game with this book, and luckily I had it. I had no idea Oprah had recommended this book, and now that I know she had, I want to see her little segment thing with Toni. I want to hear what others thought about it (that's why i am writing this review). My AP Comp/Lit teacher had recommended this about three months ago, along with practically every other Toni Morrison book she'd ever read. I had also been told by my friends that thisbook blew them away as well, so I was drawn in. So, I started reading it, and three days later, I had learned something. Like any good book, though, the author becomes the teacher, and I the student, and I am pleased to report that I learned a LOT! her writing style of going places that aren't expected, and writing with such incredible words, all put together, it blew me away. Something else I freely admit is the fact that I hadn't realized I was attached to the characters until the very end. After the assault, I felt so touched that it startled me. So, my hats off to Toni Morrison, because now I understand what new things are possible with a great story...a great lesson.
Rating:
Summary: Not a success. Book sinks under its own weight, doesn't mov
Review: Morrison's obvious fluency does not serve her well in this novel. Paradise is a quagmire that sucks into itself all that could make it rock: movement, action, a forward-going narration, dramatic tension, tight plotting. Morrison seems to have been too much in love with the book's "epic" format and her own ability to write expressive, descriptive prose to pay attention to the above requirements. Paradise is full of ideas and themes; unfortunately it quickly becomes an inert mass that eludes our desire to give it our full concentration and praise. Is it perhaps several novels mistakenly entwined in one binding? A huge effort, not a success.
Rating: 
Summary: this is a model of out times
Review: this is truely a great novel. I'm an african american that can truly relate to the concept of the oven as being a focal point of tradition and can identify with the elders in the town of Ruby as calling the young people "talk back young people". Ms Morrison has already made a statement in literature with her pervious works and in this one she knows that she can still tell a story and will be here in a long time I found this work to be as powerful as the song of solomon. get this!
Rating:
Summary: Worth the work to read it, but...
Review: ...I started to withold .25 star out of contrariness, wishing there was a version of this book available for those who prefer more linear narratives. That way, the ideas in Ms Morrison's writings might get a larger audience. She takes us into places in our hearts we recognize and refuse to confront, with topics like sexual exploitation of women by men; sexual exploitation of women by other women; child abuse; adultery; the lost promise of Reconstruction; Black color-casting; the nature of wealth(land versus cash); the Depression; the Fifties; Vietnam; the Seventies slide into anarchy; sexism; the Black Church, midwifery and folk medicine. Of course, racism and its brutal aftereffects is always an issue in Ms Morrison's work. It's clever how she links the past with the brutal here and now, when we still don't know what to do with all that hurt. I am always amazed that so many people say Ms Morrison's books are too hard to read. I say, that's ok - they're supposed to be. Feel the pleasure of reading your favorite best-selling storytellers, mystery authors, and thriller-writers (I do!); just know that when you read a Morrison book you need to set aside some time to savor it. It's worth the work. MAS
Rating:
Summary: To all of you basing your readings on a talk show host....
Review: I guess it just got to me to read all of these reviews by people who got the book because of Oprah's recommendation (interestingly enough, some couldn't spell Oprah's name) and despised it. Don't get me wrong, I think that Oprah's recommendations are wonderful because it gets people to read who wouldn't otherwise read, but sometimes you have to realize when you're over your head. If you stopped reading it out of frustration or you hated it because you didn't get it, then you have to wonder if you *thought* about it or just *read* it. If you didn't get it, find someone else who has read it, and discuss it. Don't just leave it hanging because this book is really so full of things to discuss. Perhaps Toni hops upon a soapbox on ocassion, but then again, a lot of people who wrote reviews didn't get it, so the soapbox was perhaps unnoticed. It just irks me because I believe Toni Morrison to be a wonderfully gifted writer, and this tale may be more complex than previous stories such as _Sula_ or _Song of Solomon_, but I believe this to be just as fantastic as her other products.
Rating:
Summary: Poetry in Prose
Review: "Paradies" is not an easy read. It is thought provoking. The language and structure is poetry. The novel must be read like a poem - aloud to a friend, with long silent pauses for reflection between paragraphs. As with all of Morrison's novels, this one deals with basic human needs, virtues and failings. Race and sex are only some of the determining factors. The driving force is fear. Fear of contamination from outside, fear of rejection, fear of ones own weakness, fear of women's power, fear of fear. Morrison's very human characters live and try to deal with these fears, each in their own way. All fail. Paradise turns ruby red with the blood of the murdered women who churned the men's fears.
|
