Paradise

Rating:
Summary: I found '' Paradise'', hard to follow after only about half
Review: of the book because I found it hard to follow. But, after reading the above reviews, I am willing to give it another try.I also found "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt, hard to follow but I re-read that and found that an excellent book. So, maybe there's hope for "Paradise".

Rating:
Summary: complex and engaging, but where's the joy?
Review: I found myself drawn into the intricate plot -- the various stories woven around the many characters. Although I enjoy the musicality and rhythm of Morrison's writing (also present in her other novels), I found this particular work to be less joyful than her other novels -- less affirming, more preachy. At several instances in the novel, Morrison chooses to directly spell out her message (e.g. concerning God and love), rather than allow the readers to draw their own conclusions. The preachiness or the obviousness, for me at least, tended to distract from what I have always so enjoyed about her previous works, especially "Beloved" and "Song of Solomon" -- namely, a sense of the author's great affection and care for the people she creates in the novel, and the overall joy (sorry, I keep coming back to this word, but I have previously found it central to her work) despite immediate circumstances and social injustice.

With this novel, I got the sense that she was more concerned with politics than story -- if this is what she chooses to do nowadays, that is fine. It is only that I personally preferred her earlier area of concentration -- which I felt was the state of the human being, the African American human being, across time and space. Thus, although I found the novel a digestible, dense read, and quite entertaining, I did not feel as involved with her characters' plights as in her other novels -- it appeared to me as if they were dead pieces being moved around in Morrison's political design, rather than living people undergoing the harrowing experiences she describes.

Rating:
Summary: Recommend wholeheartedly
Review: This is not to be read as a substitute for pulp fiction, as a beach novel to pass the time, a substitute for TV. If that is your intention, prepare to be dissapointed. This is to be read in silence, preferably without any foreseeable interruption, because it will grab you and keep you sitting. The stories weave in and out of each other, catching you at moments, as connections reveal themselves. This is also a flipper. You will find yourself going back and rereading, trying to find passages and commit them to memory. What seemed unimportant becomes important, what seemed a focal point becomes a tangent. I read it like a sleuth, and recognized in it the same kind of inspiration that one finds in a Garcia Marquez. How many times I have read a Garcia Marquez short story ,ran back to find 100 Years of Solitude in my bookshelf and found that, yes, effectively the main character in the story was a tangent in the novel. Or been surprised that such an initially unimportant character emerges as the main character after 50 pages. Or been amazed that what seemed so confused is clarified in one sentence. Such is the way that Paradise constructs itself. Not an easy read, but well worth it for the mini-epiphanies. Congratulations, this is a marvel!!

Rating:
Summary: Why bother?
Review: I made it through half of this book and said forget it. I had to force myself to get that far. Toni Morrison can't seem to say what needs to be said for the reader to halfway comprehend what is going on in Ruby or at the convent. This makes for a selfish author who has let success go to her head.

Rating:
Summary: Paradise was strange yet fasinating at the same time.
Review: I turned the last page last week, and I picked it up again during my lunch break today. I was very intrigued by Paradise. It is absolutely fasinating. I understood what was going on throughout the book, but then I did not understand at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: the measure of literature today
Review: Toni Morrison has, I think, written a book which defines literature today. Through the non-linear narrative and the ethereal prose, Paradise provokes the reader to extend, expand herself in order to read in a new way. I was moved by the spirituality of her prose and the realization of the profound price of both faith and freedom.

The novel isn't as solid as I had expected, and I was left feeling that the promise of the opening sequence was not fulfilled.

Rating:
Summary: At last! Something Intelligent.
Review: At last! Something intelligent, stimulating, challanging and quiet frankly a feast of yummy writing that I could not put down. I honestly don't understand why people have found this novel to be confusing. After all, most T.V. shows jump around with their narratives, though admittedly, not around in time. It is refreshing to read the unpredictable. To be surprised and entertained by each character as they appear, clearly mind you, announced at the beginning of each chapter. As in Ruby, Mavis and so on. I love the fact that Toni Morrison has not stuck to the proverbial beginning, middle and end. To those who gave this book a low rating largely due to the fact that they couldn't figure it out. Stick to Wilber Smith, Mills and Boon et al. Why did I rate this book as a 9 instead of a 10? Well Ms Morrison, at the risk of sounding cheeky and disrespectful, I wished that you had put a recent photograph on the back cover. Hey Girl! I just love your hairstyle!

Rating:
Summary: Are you up for the challenge of Paradise??
Review: Be forewarned: this is not a beach read. As a bookseller, I exercise great caution when recommending this book. It is infinitely complex, mentally draining, and worth every bit of effort. Stick with it if it intrigues you. If you just can't get into it, put it down....for the time being. Return to it at a time when you want the satisfaction of completing a daunting task.

Rating:
Summary: I wonder about those critics
Review: A dud. I've read Morrison's earlier novels. They were good. Perhaps the Nobel and Pulitzer went to her head. And I wonder about literary critics who seem to praise novels simply because they are written by "established" writers. A tangled plotline doesn't always make for a good story. Skip this one. It ain't worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: I had to force myself to read finish this one...
Review: I love to read a good book,nothing like curling up in the corner with a blanket and a nice light to read by. With this book I was sitting upright,grabbing the book with both hands and I kicked the blanket off me with utter frustration. I have never read such a confusing,frustrating and dissapointing book in my life!!! Dont waste precious time reading this book, when you could be doing or reading something better...