Beloved

Rating:
Summary: Magic done with words
Review: The painful memories, the dreadful experiences, and the hurt placed inside one's heart. Remembering the past is a thing some do not want to face.

This is the challenge that Sethe and Paul D have to face in Toni Morrison's Beloved, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Fiction.

Set in the late 1800s in rural Ohio, shortly after the slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Beloved is a novel about Sethe, a former slave who once worked at a slave plantation known as Sweet Home. Along with her daughter Denver, the two women reside at 124, a home haunted by the ghost of Sethe's murdered infant child. Paul D, another ex-slave from the Sweet Home plantation, visits Sethe at 124. It is he who forces Sethe to look back at her past experiences and reveal the secrets hidden within her. One day, a young woman named Beloved arrives at Sethe's home. Believed to be the embodied spirit of the dead child, Beloved's arrival causes chaos at 124. In her own way, Morrison causes chaos in the mind of the reader.

Many argue that Beloved is confusing and was not pleasurable to read, and I agree. But this is why Morrison is so effective in Beloved: she allows the reader to experience the flashbacks (known as "rememory") and the pain at the same time the characters are going through them in the novel. I have yet to read another novel that can make the reader suffer as much as the characters do.

Morrison varies her style of writing throughout the book to emphasize the thoughts of a certain character in Beloved. Although most of the novel is written in the third-person view, Morrison writes as Sethe, Denver, and Beloved in these "stream-of-consciousness" chapters. Sethe's lack of education is easily seen as she rambles on. Denver, on the other hand, seems to be an intellectual young woman who seeks to protect the loved ones she has. Beloved's erratic and haunting section adds to her mysterious appearance.

While reading Beloved, one must ask his or herself, "is Morrison racist?" There are many instances which hint Morrison is attempting to degrade the white race. Take schoolteacher, for instance. The name "schoolteacher" is not capitalized. Morrison implies that schoolteacher does not deserve respect and is low in social status, but his actions in the book prove otherwise. "Men without skin," a reoccurring image from the character Beloved, also refers to whites as being inferior to the blacks. Morrison speaks to the reader as if whites are void of life.

Beloved is a well-written novel that reveals the physical and emotional torture slaves had to endure, even long after their release from captivity. However, Morrison's graphic, detailed descriptions of horrific events may be sickening to the stomach for some readers. I was not fond of having to visualize human beings sodomizing cows, nor women bashing their own baby's head against a solid wall. Just for Morrison's magic in delivering this story to the reader, I recommend Beloved for most readers (some may be offended by the graphic images and themes in this novel).


Rating:
Summary: Pure Genius
Review: The writing in Beloved is nothing less than genius. Toni Morrison is at her absolute peak in this novel. I've read this book several times and each time I discover something new and amazing. Morrison masterfully weaves the construct of time into themes of this work. There are so many poetic, philosophical and spiritual nuances to this piece that I would do this novel no justice by trying to explain them or list them. Of the hundreds of books I've read in my life, Beloved is my favorite and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading....it is a treasure.

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: Read thoroughly, then repeat
Review: To read a book like Beloved is bewildering, for it requires immersion into an institution so depraved, so removed from the human experience that the main character's actions seem terrifyingly fantastic, as do their supernatural consequences. But Morrison doesn't expect us to fully understand the story, at least not in a single reading, only to experience it and to feel the same frustration and terror her characters feel. She doesn't attempt to explain or unravel slavery; what Morrison does is merely show it to us, not from the circumspect historical perspective, but from the perplexed individual experience. Admittedly, the structure of the novel is dreadfully confusing, but Morrison is making a statement here: See if you, any of you, can get your bearings in this world where the ultimate expression of love is murder.
To further complicate things, Morrison doesn't prepare us for anything, particularly the elements of magical realism. Instead, she delves right into a ghost story. But realize that the supernatural is not only accepted as realistic in the African tradition from which these characters were uprooted, it is welcomed. Baby Suggs holy remarks that having a ghost is nothing extraordinary. She tells Sethe to be glad the spirit is that of an infant's and not a full-grown man.
I must concede that even with the advantage of first reading this novel in college, with the added wisdom of my professor, Beloved was still a bear of a book to read. Shifts in voice and point-of-view baffled me, particularly the section in which the voices of the three women merge. The story does not offer itself up easily, but neither does the subject of slavery itself. Neither is linear, at least not to the individual memory, which moves in and out and often overlaps or reinvents itself. This is what Morrison calls rememory.
In spite of the difficulties, Beloved is a story that every literate person should undertake. Morrison's lyrical prose is nearly reason enough to recommend it, but for the student of literature, especially, the book should be teased apart and combed for the multiple layers of meaning. I've personally looked at the symbolism of trees in the story and felt I only scratched the surface of what Morrison so masterfully weaves into this relatively short book.
The basic plot was borrowed from the true story of Margaret Garner, and though it is certainly the unique female chronicle of slavery, of having children "rented out, loaned out, bought up, brought back, stored up, mortgaged, won, stolen or seized" (23), the book is also a painful examination of the male slave's experience, as seen primarily through the character Paul D's eyes. In many ways, the stripping away of hardwearing manhood is even more poignant than the demoralization of women. A rooster named Mister, which walks about freely on the plantation, mocks at the male slaves, who, though sexually depraved, manage to refrain from raping Sethe, the only woman among them. For me, this section of the book was the most painful to read. In another section, Paul D. says to Sethe: "A man ain't a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can't chop down because they're inside" (69). Who but Morrison could say so much with so little?
Beloved is a horrendous, beautiful book too intricate to absorb in an isolated reading. It's one for the collection, to take in slowly. Don't give up on this deservedly acclaimed work of art.

Rating:
Summary: A novel that deserves a second reading
Review: Toni Morrison shines in this novel with the use of powerful, spell-binding writing. Creatively apt metaphors abound, "Beloved" showcases a feast of brilliant storytelling techniques which promises to mesmerize the reader. Well-crafted life-like dialogues, a convoluted yet captivating storyline and heartwrenching themes are just some of the gems that can be found in the book. Through a story set in rurual Ohio several years after the Civil War, "Beloved" is founded on the aftermath of the protagonist(Sethe)'s escape from slavery. The opening statement "124 was spiteful" set the tone for the book. Though a free person now, Sethe is still tortured by memories of the past. She wants to let go and start life anew, but her child whom she killed, the tree-like scars on her back, stories of from Paul D and Stamp all return to haunt her. Not many will be able to rationalize Sethe's intention behind murdering her children. However, considering the setting of the scene with "four horsemen", reminiscent of the biblical Apocalypse, we are actually more inclined to empathize with Sethe.

The inhumane treatment of the black slaves described so vividly reminds us of the atrocities of slavery. "Beloved" also seeks to illustrate the theme of love - mother-daughter love, sisterly love, heterosexual love and brotherhood love among the blacks. The book's allusion to a ghost wreaking havoc in the house is only an excuse for the unfolding of the plot.

"Beloved" is a book that scores on the depth of the issues covered, the marvel of its storytelling and the soundness of characterization. A first reading may leave the reader a little confused, but subsequent readings will leave him in a savoury mode. "Beloved" is ambitious writing, but Toni turned in a spectacular performance. Few will not be touched by it.


Rating:
Summary: A Rich Tapestry
Review: Toni Morrrison's writing style in her beautiful novel Beloved is reminiscent of poetry. The writing is concentrated; each word has purpose and conveys meaning to the reader. She doesn't concern herself so much with writing conventions as with telling the story. A book of this style is incredible because you read some sections and are left only with a feeling that is hard to articulate. Reading this novel was for me a highly emotional experience. Beloved, with its rich tapestry of images and emotions, left an indelible impression on my soul. Using unforgettable characters, Toni Morrison illustrates the balance that we must achieve with the past in a story dealing with the aftermath of slavery. Sethe, the protagonist, is haunted by the past, by slavery and the death of her oldest daughter, only referred to as Beloved. She swings between pushing the past away and being totally consumed by her previous actions. Morrison weaves the story together in a way that draws you into the life and experiences of Sethe. When I think of strong women, the image of Sethe will be conjured up in my mind. She is a symbol of sorrow and suffering but also of love.