Rating: 
Summary: Lost in Pardise
Review: Never have I wanted to get out of Pardise so bad. It has taken me appox. ten months to finish this book, because i have a warped sense of having to finish a book before starting a new one. My New Year's resolution was to read 12 books this year (one a month) I would have had better luck with a diet. The story being portrayed here had great potential, but I think maybe Miss Morrison was cooking or on the phone and forgot where she was and so did I.
Rating: 
Summary: Very pretty language but ultimately too ambitious
Review: Morrison is guilty of turning writing into something of a hyper-conscious attempt at art. Authors have done so in the past with varying degrees of success---Shakespeare, for one, was extremely succesful, but Morrison is no Shakespeare and I very much doubt that her works will endure to the extent that our old Elizabethan friend's have, if at all. The crux of the matter lies in this: Morrison, in all of her self-conscious effort, has written a tale so complex and so multifaceted that it lacks a firm center, something for the average reader to hold on to. (English teachers love this sort of book; gives them a lot to talk about.) She foregrounds too many themes and places equal emphasis on all of them so that we, the readers, are left without a definite direction of thought. I am extremely skeptical when someone claims that they have read Paradise and that they "get it." One can "get" a theme here and there, but I have yet to meet someone who understands the novel as a whole, and I really don't believe that I ever will. Morrison has neglected to include an overarching point to Paradise, and as so, has neglected the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: vague
Review: this seems to be a very difuse narrative, after reading part of it i had to put it down with a sense of not knowing what i was reading. the people in the story seem to have lost connection and the tale is hard to follow
Rating: 
Summary: An emotional and poetic tale of resurrection.
Review: This is a harrowing story. A small group with a big dream has taken off to create their own paradise on earth. The original group is a brotherhood of black men and women of near-direct African descent, racially pure, "8-rock" dark. Rejected by whites and even blacks of less pure descent, they found their own, closed community.But like all racially closed communities, they have their own excellences and their own bigotry. Ultimately, they begin to see their own flaws. The women that gather at the Convent are a symptom of all the ills of the society the small town tried to escape. Rejected by the town, and leaning on each other, they manage an escape of their own, and perhaps attain a more meaningful paradise - in the real world. As usual, Morrison's writing is lyrical and laden with emotional imagery. However, characters are never truly developed, the highly symbolic scenes are difficult to string together into a storyline, and events are difficult to decipher. It is a challenging and difficult read, but a gripping story.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed,philosophical & thought provoking in spots
Review: The overall theme and many of the issues addressed are very thought provoking and well worth being put in print. The problem is the story it self does not flow. At times it is not clear who is the subject of the chapter and where you are in time and place. I would not recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting and captivating.
Review: Unlike some of the reviews I have read, I found this book easy to follow. I couldn't put the book down, I wanted to find out how all of the characters came together & what their story was. It was definately an interesting story, which I enjoyed thoroughly. If you are a good listener, you will not have a problem following this book.
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT (???????)
Review: I am a student who had chosen this book to do a presentation on. It is the worst mistake of my life. The characters are flat and unrealistic, the author jumps from scene to scene without allowing the reader to understand properly what happened previously. I am quite disappointed with this book as i had all negative things to say about it and i had expected better. After reading this book i would never read one of her books again.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing piece of literature
Review: Paradise is brilliant, thought-provoking, disturbing, and beautiful. Anyone looking for a story other than the quick and empty bestsellers available should read this book. It isn't an "easy read", it is meant to be READ. I applaud Ms. Morrison for challenging me to use my ability to read, think and react, and I feel privledged to read a great literary work that was actually written in my lifetime. This book should be discussed for decades in American Literature courses taught at Universities across this nation. Paradise lives up to its title.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah, what were you thinking?
Review: I, along with many of your readers, found this book to be very disjointed and difficult to read. Many of the characters were poorly developed and their relationships quite unclear. The plot, while brilliant in its intentions, was slow to unfold and had glaring holes. Basically, I enjoyed one chapter and am sorry I finished the book (always waiting for it to finally get interesting).
Rating:
Summary: Horrible, Slow - Moving, and Difficult To Follow
Review: This novel moves rediculously slow, with benign details and decoy storylines. I found it very difficult to folow which for me is a first. I would give it no stars if that was possible, but I will give it one star for its title that lures you in and makes you read this very boring book.
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