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Love

by Toni Morrison

3.56 · rating details · 3,092 ratings · 219 reviews

Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison’s spellbinding new novel is a Faulknerian symphony of passion and hatred, power and perversity, color and class that spans three generations of black women in a fading beach town.

In life, Bill Cosey enjoyed the affections of many women, who would do almost anything to gain his favor. In death his hold on them may be even stronger. Wife, d...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published January 4th 2005 by Vintage (first published October 1st 2003)

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Jun 01, 2008

Matthew rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I have to admit, I have been averse to reading a Toni Morrison novel since just about the time I became literate. There's no valid reason for this; I tend not to like things that everybody and their mother praises until I finally cave and try them and realize that there is in fact a very good reason that everybody and their mother praises them. I'd give examples, but I'm fresh out. And anyway, this is about Toni Morrison right now! And to get back to her, I've proved myself correct again: I am a...moreI have to admit, I have been averse to reading a Toni Morrison novel since just about the time I became literate. There's no valid reason for this; I tend not to like things that everybody and their mother praises until I finally cave and try them and realize that there is in fact a very good reason that everybody and their mother praises them. I'd give examples, but I'm fresh out. And anyway, this is about Toni Morrison right now! And to get back to her, I've proved myself correct again: I am absolutely insane for not listening to everybody and their mother much earlier, because Toni Morrison is great. Great! Just great.

I picked up this book based solely on the title. I've been trying to get an understanding of love for quite some time (cf. my recent journal post, "Spooning for Spooning's Sake and the Death of Love"), and things had been going relatively poorly. I've read bunches of heterosexual love stories and came out empty. I tried stories written by men, nothing. Stories written by women, still nothing. The straights gave me nothing, so I tried the gays, and gay love stories were almost even less helpful than the straight ones! (As a gay man, this left me disappointed.) So, I thought I'd try to see if the African-American woman had anything to say about it, and I figured Ms. Morrison was as good a bet as any.

I can't say that I finally understand why some people just don't fall in love with other some other people (*cough*me*cough*) or why love makes you do some of the things you do (*cough*delete things like myspace and LJ in fits of rage*cough*), but I can see why Love made some people (*cough*me again*cough*) spark for Toni Morrison. The characters are so elegantly wrought that each story seems clear, lucid, full. Complete. There are quite a few characters that span quite a few generations, and to be able to explore them all so thoroughly in such a short novel is quite the feat. The plot, too, is finely done: it unravels at a perfect pace, glances coyly at its reader from behind a veil before lifting the fabric and revealing what lies underneath. Never once did I feel the story slow or bore or lag. Finally, the narration is extremely interesting: most of the book is told from third-person limited, but who exactly limits the view changes based on chapters, paragraphs, even sentences. At times, though, Love breaks into an italicized first-person narration, and it is this narrator that appeals the most to me, whose words I found myself highlighting most often.

I read the novel in spurts, though, and I think this affected greatly my appreciation and understanding of the novel. I've been having a rough week or two and because of that, basically everything I've done has been splintered and tainted with not-so-happy feelings, and I really want to read the novel again, in as short an amount of time as possible. As I said, the plot really does slowly undress itself, and I'd like to see now if I can catch glimpses earlier on of later events, to take my completed knowledge of the novel and apply it to the bits earlier on and see if they shed any more light on Love, the book if not the phenomenon.

The end of the novel leaves a bit of plot unwrapped, though, and that may put a few readers off. Myself, I like to see everything wrapped up. Even if things don't end happily, I like things to end: I hate being able to ask, "So what happened with... ?" Nevertheless, I didn't mind it quite as much as I thought I would have with this novel, and if your trepidation that the ending may leave you hanging is the only thing preventing you from reading this little ditty, get over it pronto and get the book and read it. Personally, I plan to fall into Love again quite soon, and as often as possible!

(Sorry, I had to get at least one cheesy pun in there. You were expecting it. Admit it.)(less)

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Jan 30, 2011

Dominic rated it

Shelves: modern-literature

The worlds of Toni Morrison are rarely beautiful places. They are landscapes covered with scars and suffering, bruises and bitterness. Yet the way she writes these places into life and imagination leaves me exhilarated every time. And when I put one of her books down for the first time, it calls me back into in immediately. I can't wait to re-read Love. And like all Morrison novels, it actually requires re-reading.

In the lively spirit of William Faulkner, Morrison entangles reader...more

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Sep 15, 2011

Michael Bacon rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Toni Morrison’s characters in Love are largely (perhaps only) within the frame of stereotypes, though more interesting than that suggests – from a literary perspective. From a social/cultural (emphasis on cultural) perspective, however, they’re easily understood as offensive and racism-propagating. In defense of this decision, Elaine Showalter argues in her review of Love in The Guardian that “Morrison's imaginative range of identification is narrower by choice ; although she would no doubt argu...moreToni Morrison’s characters in Love are largely (perhaps only) within the frame of stereotypes, though more interesting than that suggests – from a literary perspective. From a social/cultural (emphasis on cultural) perspective, however, they’re easily understood as offensive and racism-propagating. In defense of this decision, Elaine Showalter argues in her review of Love in The Guardian that “Morrison's imaginative range of identification is narrower by choice ; although she would no doubt argue - and rightly - that African-American characters can speak for all humanity. But in Love, they do not; they are stubbornly bound by their own culture; and thus, while Love is certainly an accomplished novel, its perfection comes from its limitation” (Showalter).

Morrison may, perhaps, be displaying the effects of cultural gender (and race) with the purpose of critiquing them rather than encouraging or praising them, fitting into DeLauretis' "The Technologies of Gender." She might be working to construct gender by presenting a previous construction of it unfavorably. She does not write satire; I do not mean that. She writes her characters as if they are real people she believes exist, but that she’d rather were of a different nature than they possess. She is not critiquing the portrayal of gender by culture but is critiquing the manifestation of actual gender (as chosen by social actors) that culture has created in them.

Junior might be sexualized (even visually and even from her first introduction) because she represents Morrison’s understanding of how (black) women are sexualized, by others, by culture, and by their acceptance of that culture. To reference David Kingsley’s reference to Valerie Smith’s essay "Bleck Feminist Theory and the Representation of the 'Other'", it seems reasonable to argue that Morrison “suspend[s] the variables of race, class, and gender in mutually interrogative relation (318)” in order to present the machinations of gender rather than to directly complain about them or their representations in culture.

Showalter, Elaine. "A Tangled Web." The Guardian. 29 November 2003, 29 Nov. 2003. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/nov/29/fiction.tonimorrison>.
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Jun 28, 2010

Jalena rated it

There are so many quotes in this book that I want to write down and remember forever. Beautifully written, amazingly crafted story of the complexity of love, human relationships, family, betrayal, innocence, and friendship. It raises fascinating questions about what love really means and whether most are capable of giving it for reasons other than selfish gain, or to meet a personal need. Every character's story is told from various perspectives, not always in order. while this makes the boo...more

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Apr 11, 2010

Tifnie rated it

Shelves: fiction

?? I'm not too sure I know what I read. This book is about 200 pages and what I thought I could finish in a couple of days, if not one, ended up taking the better part of 3 to 4 weeks.

Love, if I understand correctly, is about a perverted wealthy old man who ends up marrying an 11 year old girl and eventually has this child take on the business of a running a resort. Much to the dismay of his actual blood family. Thankfully, the author didn't go into detail regarding the relations...more

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Sep 19, 2009

Katherine Lennon rated it

Shelves: give-away

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 20, 2009

Lanew-yorkaise rated it

From http://lanew-yorkaise.com/

His soft eyes stare out invitingly from the portrait above the bed, but his lips aren’t talking. Bill Cosey has been dead for 25 years. And women in the small town of Silk are still scratching at each other over him.

Toni Morrison paints a disturbing, delicate, and erotic portrait of female friendship in Love, her eighth novel. She shows how this emotion, and the need for it, can lead to the deepest forms of hatred. In the words of the autho...more

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Feb 13, 2009

Janelle rated it

· review of another edition

Wow this book really confused me. However it was not a bad story at all in fact I enjoyed it. I expected the irony of the whole story. What is so intriguing about this book is that you don't really figure out the whole story until you reach the end of the book. Therefore in the beginning of the book you are presented with the facts and characters. However as you journey through the book's plot you learn why each character is so memorable and you begin to distinguish one character from the other...more

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Jan 26, 2012

Roger DeBlanck rated it

With the publication of Love in 2003, her first novel in six years, Toni Morrison’s remarkable literary career stretched into its fourth decade. During that time she has won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977, the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and the crowning achievement of the Nobel Prize in 1993. At 201 pages Love is one of Morrison’s more slender novels, but it lacks none of the virtuosity that can be expected in all her works. Love explores secrets and crimes of the heart through an a...more

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Aug 04, 2011

Raphaël added it · review of another edition

L'histoire de plusieurs femmes noires qui ont toutes été marquées, à des degrés divers, par le même homme et dont les destins sont entremêlés dans le passé et le présent. L'homme est décédé depuis longtemps mais les femmes, ou leur mémoire, sont toujours vivantes et toujours empêtrées dans de vieux souvenirs.
Peu de choses sont révélées d'emblée, la narration se fait par touches, en alternant les différents points de vue, les différentes époques, les faits réels et le ressenti, etc. Tout se pass...more

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Aug 06, 2011

Ddc2503 rated it

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This is a book club selection for August, 2006

The cook's soliloquies were somtimes too long and rambling. I did pick-up on her hint on Cosey's death, but thought I had "imagined" it until the end of the book, so was justly supprised at the ending.

Love

by Toni Morrison

Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison’s spellbinding new novel is a Faulkner...more

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Nov 26, 2011

Josh Ang rated it

Toni Morrison's "Love" seems like a misnomer when considered against the ghastly concerns of the slim novel. There is the oppressive presence of the absent Bill Cosey, a man who creates havoc among a horde of women who occupy the centre of the story. The mysterious L frames the narrative and her omniscience provides a commentary on the feud between Christine and Heed (short for 'Heed the Night'). Christine's mother, May, is also a force to be contended with, as she joins in (and instig...moreToni Morrison's "Love" seems like a misnomer when considered against the ghastly concerns of the slim novel. There is the oppressive presence of the absent Bill Cosey, a man who creates havoc among a horde of women who occupy the centre of the story. The mysterious L frames the narrative and her omniscience provides a commentary on the feud between Christine and Heed (short for 'Heed the Night'). Christine's mother, May, is also a force to be contended with, as she joins in (and instigates) the fray. Add to the mix a young stranger with a shady past and dubious intentions, Junior (or June for short), and we have an inter-generational cast of women who fall under the spell of Bill Cosey, within and after his lifetime. Conventional enough.

But as Morrison leads the reader into the narrative, little morsels are served and our views about the characters are constantly challenged and we reevaluate them. That Cosey is not just a black man but a rich owner of Cosey's Resort in depression-era Atlanta reveals an interesting take on power and race issues. That his bride Heed was his granddaughter's best friend and that he had practically yanked an 11 year-old into an illicit marriage raises concerns about child rape and the perversity of Bill Cosey. But the novel is not about him; it is about the women who deal with their relationships with him and how that informs their relationships with each other.

Morrison's novels are never easy to read (at least for this reader) and the density of her prose and deeply incisive writing bears re-reading to harvest the wealth of all she is saying. There is an orality to her writing that invites you to actually hear (and see) the characters as they speak, especially in L's narrative, which takes on the blend of folklore surrounding "Policeheads" that drown immoral and errant women off the beach and the history about the women and the Resort, which blur into one another, and in the end offers up more questions than answers to the narrative.

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Jan 14, 2009

Anne rated it

This idea is intriguing--a story about obsessive love, with a man who is no longer alive at the center. It is probably my literal minded-ness, but the fact that the magnetic object Bill Cosey, is only one letter away from Bill CosBy, and has a strangle plainness and lack of polysemy (cozy? costly? costly bill?) that many other characters' names do not follow, exacerbating the effect, all of which rather marred my ability to immerse in the book. I kept picturing the absent figure sitting at a tab...more

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Nov 10, 2009

Patty rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, african-american-literature, american-literature, contemporary-fiction, family, dysfunctional-family, fiction, friendship, love, audiobook, mothers-and-daughters, relationships, women-writers, southern-fiction

This is my second Morrison novel in less than two months. I read A Mercy for my book group and realized that I found that novel challenging, but excellent. So I wanted to see how I would relate to another one of her novels. This one was read by Toni Morrison.

I am impressed by Morrison's ability to narrate her own novel. Reading for audio books is not easy, and I have listened to few authors who do a good job reading their books. Morrison's reading enhanced this book.

...more

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Feb 17, 2010

Tracy Darity rated it

Shelves: tracy-s-book-club

"Love" was typical Toni Morrison. It starts out requiring 110% of your intellectual being, otherwise, you are lost from the gate. And that is what happened to me. This book was very confusing and hard to get into. The character depictions, the indepth descriptions of a oceanside town, the timelines, spirits from the sea claiming lives,etc was just too much to concentrate on. I often found myself going back and rereading passages to figure out relationhips amongst the characters. It...more

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Oct 23, 2011

Louise Silk rated it

Shelves: fiction

I had the privilege of listening to Ms. Morrison read LOVE to me while I was driving. What a treat. She is as phenomenal reader as she is a writer.

The story is a brilliantly created structure where details are revealed slowly and beautifully. The writing is as smooth as butter.

This is about complicated relationships where each character experiences great pain throughout life that creates a warp understanding of love. Through the telling there is much to learn about the co...more

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Nov 07, 2011

Jason rated it

This follow-up to Paradise suffered from the opposite problems that turned me off to that one. Where paradise was too dense and too spread out, this novel felt more like the first draft of a novel that was meant to be expanded and never was. It's a good story, but it's a story that doesn't go much deeper than its own surface, which is highly uncharacteristic of Morrison's work. Maybe she felt some of the same things about Paradise i mentioned in my review of that one (or other misgivings I di...more

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Sep 22, 2008

Jeannie-marie rated it

She's a powerful writer. I love how she weaves these dysfuntional stories into one that has the simpliste clarifying themes. great story of how we hurt the ones we love the most.

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Feb 06, 2009

Darci rated it

· review of another edition

Oh, my. What to say when I love an author and have blissful memories of drowning in her work in the past, only to be faced with a book I just couldn't get into? Perhaps I'm not smart enough (anymore?) to read Toni Morrison, but I had a hard time following this one. I felt like each time I picked up the book I had to remember where I was and who the characters were and how they were connected. The story line was ok, even mildly interesting, but I felt like I spent most of my time trying to fi...more

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Apr 23, 2010

Lightofbeauty rated it

As much as I really admired Morrison's poetic, lyrical, and emotional prose, I really couldn't get into this novel. There was little to no characterization, and frankly, the story just wasn't interesting. At times it felt like Morrison was more interested with trying to make every word, description, and dialogue sound so poetic and deep and meaningful than actually telling a story. Because of that, it became far too tedious of a book to read, and far too dull as a novel. At the end, I just gave ...more

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Jun 30, 2011

Deb rated it

· review of another edition

Men and women experience love and obsess about love in many, many different ways. Toni Morrison explores the multifaceted nature of love in this short but deftly written novel. The central figure is Bill Cosey, and yet he is already dead and gone when the story begins. Bill, a good bad man or a bad good man, is the object of desire, love, obsession for all the female characters. His actions for good and for bad determine the course of their lives. But he is revealed as a less than perfect...more

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Aug 11, 2010

Orishaz rated it

· review of another edition

Looking back over my notes after I finished reading this book I absolutely loved it. My favorite quotes from the book:

Pg. 83 - "She once fought a better class of car than this because of an odor. Tried to kill it and everything it stood for, but mostly trying to kill the White Shoulders stinging her sinuses and clotting her tongue. The owner, Dr. Rio, never saw the damage because his new girlfriend had the car towed away before the sights of it could break his heart...Killing...more

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Dec 02, 2008

Destini added it

Recommends it for: people who want to hear a love story

This book has a very interesting start. It starts off talking or a tale of the Oceanside community of up beach, a resort that was popular before. She talks about a family and a girl who asks the husband of a jealous wife where a house was. The wife was not very pleased about knowing that her husband was talking to this lady because she did not look or seem to be a very nice or good girl if she was looking for a job at Cosey's Place. Where every woman competed for the attention of a man and they ...moreThis book has a very interesting start. It starts off talking or a tale of the Oceanside community of up beach, a resort that was popular before. She talks about a family and a girl who asks the husband of a jealous wife where a house was. The wife was not very pleased about knowing that her husband was talking to this lady because she did not look or seem to be a very nice or good girl if she was looking for a job at Cosey's Place. Where every woman competed for the attention of a man and they would kill each other on the kitchen stove if they had to. The young lady's name was Junior, also known as June. June Vivianne to be exact. She claimed to have lived in the neighborhood that she was applying to work in, but Mrs.Cosey was not at all convinced. This book is very interesting but the author used a lot of illustrated words and it is a bit challenging to picture it all in your head and make a movie of it, but it is still an outstanding book I would recommend it to anyone looking to seek a meaning or a version of what this wonderful author Toni Morrison thinks of as 'Love'. This book makes you realize that sometimes we learn about love through its exact opposite; Hate. As you read on more in the book you find out that Mr.Cosey is really a phantom and everything seems to unwind. This book describes a dysfunctional family which some people may be able to relate to. So after we are introduced to Mrs.Cosey, or Vida, we find out that she still worships her dead husband for all that he has done for the community. Now junior falls in love with the jealous woman's son, or Roman. This is a forbidden love and can be very violent at times. Romans mother does not like junior or any lady who works in the Cosey resort. The real reason all the ladies want one another to die is because they all want what is left of Cosey's legacy but little do they know, Christine pretends to be the cook or servant but is really is Cosey's granddaughter so if anyone was going to get it, it would be her. The final claim of 'Love' is a story of claiming the right of friendship and moving on into the future.(less)

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Aug 28, 2008

Kathrin added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 21, 2008

Ryan Mishap rated it

Shelves: novel

My opinion may be a little biased as she is pretty much my favorite writer. That said, if this were a novel by some unheard of newcomer, it would be great. As it is Morrison, it is just pretty good. The writing is superb—description, dialogue, etc. She has a great ability to draw a character, make them real, so fast, and deep. It is the plot of this novel that is less than great, I think. Though I probably missed much of the themes she brings into it, I still feel like I didn’t know what she was...more

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Jun 13, 2008

Tamara rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

In Morrison’s latest novel, we finally see a group of prosperous African Americans. As an autonomous community, the people of this seaside community struggle with one of the most prevalent aspects of love: desperation. Each character, in some form or another, is in love. Whether it’s sisterly love or romantic love, the reader is enchanted by the ways in which we cling to each other. Though the resort falls to ruin in the end, the relationships that were formed struggle to stay alive.

...more

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May 01, 2008

Jamie rated it

Recommends it for: Morrison fans, people who like a challenging read

Shelves: undergrad

It's amusing to read the negative reviews for this book on the site; it seems almost easier, I guess, to dismiss it as unmanageable (and thereby, "bad") than to honestly try and tackle the novel for what it is--a thoroughly complex and beautifully written drama of the different kinds of love and the betrayals that twist them.

This is the fourth Morrison novel I've read, and while it isn't my favorite by a long shot--it's not haunting in the way Beloved is, perverse in the wa...more

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Feb 26, 2008

Denise rated it

Recommended to Denise by: Bookgroup

Shelves: bookgroup

I actually didn't like the book. I don't need a book to entertain me by girls / women fighting among themselves for the attention of a man. I think I see too much of that in real life ;) But it is interesting to see how one person affected so many people even decades after he died. Just shows you how important everyone one is and how their role could an affect generations after they are gone.

I did like the quote, "It's like we started out being sold, got free of it, then sold ou...more

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Jan 18, 2008

Pam rated it

Shelves: literature

Absolutely phenomenal. Morrison's insight into the complicated relationships of men & women as well as children & their parents is, as alwasys, nuanced and moving. Love is also another stellar example of Morrison's skill at creating structure. The way the story is laid out slowly - the details trickling like rain - forces the reader to frequently change her assessments of the characters and their motives. Who is the victim? Who is the oppressor? These aren't easy answers in life, nor are t...more

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Dec 16, 2009

Maggie Campbell rated it

"People tell me that I am always writing about love. Always, always love. I nod, yes, but it isn't true- not exactly. In fact, I am always writing about betrayal. Love is the weather. Betrayal is the lightning that cleaves and reveals it."

"Each story has a monster in it who made them tough instead of brave, so they open their legs rather than their hearts where that folded child is tucked."

"Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so ...more"People tell me that I am always writing about love. Always, always love. I nod, yes, but it isn't true- not exactly. In fact, I am always writing about betrayal. Love is the weather. Betrayal is the lightning that cleaves and reveals it."

"Each story has a monster in it who made them tough instead of brave, so they open their legs rather than their hearts where that folded child is tucked."

"Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's."

"Young people, Lord. Do they call it infatuation? That magic ax that chops away the world in one blow, leaving only the couple standing there trembling? Whatever they call it, it leaps over anything, takes the biggest chair, the largest slice, rules the ground wherever it walks, from a mansion to swamp, and its selfishness is its beauty. Before I was reduced to singsong, I saw all kinds of mating. Most are two-night stands trying to last a season. Some, the riptide ones, claim exclusive right to the real name, even though everybody drowns in its wake. People with no imagination feed it with sex- the clown of love. They don't know the real kinds, the better kinds, where losses are cut and everybody benefits. It takes a certain intelligence to love like that- softly, without props."

"The new woman should have let him learn the lesson- observe the warning of what a displaced woman could do. If he had been allowed to see the result of getting rid of one woman, it might help the new one convert her own rental in his arms to a longer lease."

"Some creaky, unhip glossy for teenagers disguised as men that catalogued seduction techniques, as if any technique at all was needed when a woman decided on a man."

"You can live with anything if you have what you can't live without."

"But listen, let me tell you something. A good man is a good thing, but there is nothing in the world better than a good good woman."

"So this is what happy feels like."
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About Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford), is an American author, editor, and professor who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature for being an author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality."
Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African American characters; ...more

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Quotes from Love

“Young people, Lord. Do they still call it infatuation? That magic ax that chops away the world in one blow, leaving only the couple standing there trembling? Whatever they call it, it leaps over anything, takes the biggest chair, the largest slice, rules the ground wherever it walks, from a mansion to a swamp, and its selfishness is its beauty. Before I was reduced to singsong, I saw all kinds of mating. Most are two-night stands trying to last a season. Some, the riptide ones, claim exclusive right to the real name, even though everybody drowns in its wake. People with no imagination feed it with sex—the clown of love. They don’t know the real kinds, the better kinds, where losses are cut and everybody benefits. It takes a certain intelligence to love like that—softly, without props. But the world is such a showpiece, maybe that’s why folks try to outdo it, put everything they feel onstage just to prove they can think up things too: handsome scary things like fights to the death, adultery, setting sheets afire. They fail, of course. The world outdoes them every time. While they are busy showing off, digging other people’s graves, hanging themselves on a cross, running wild in the streets, cherries are quietly turning from greed to red, oysters are suffering pearls, and children are catching rain in their mouths expecting the drops to be cold but they’re not; they are warm and smell like pineapple before they get heavier and heavier, so heavy and fast they can’t be caught one at a time. Poor swimmers head for shore while strong ones wait for lightning’s silver veins. Bottle-green clouds sweep in, pushing the rain inland where palm trees pretend to be shocked by the wind. Women scatter shielding their hair and men bend low holding the women’s shoulders against their chests. I run too, finally. I say finally because I do like a good storm. I would be one of those people in the weather channel leaning into the wind while lawmen shout in megaphones: ‘Get moving!” — 33 people liked it

“I know it's trash: just another story made up to scare wicket females and correct unruly children. But it's all I have. I know I need something else. Something better. Like a story that shows how brazen women can take a good man down. I can hum to that.” — 3 people liked it

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