Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he,...
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May 07, 2011
brian
rated it: 
my second toni morrison. and, again... wow. song of solomon. kind of impossible to do an all-encompassing book report, so i’ll keep it limited to this: while reading i returned, again and again, to the recent genocide in the former yugoslavia. to the first time rape had been charged as a war crime; to rape as a means of ethnic cleansing. now, think about this: to cast such shame on the women who were raped and the men who were powerless to act so as to prevent the continuation of the family. to
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Dec 16, 2009
Jeffrey
rated it: 
Toni Morrison is perhaps the most important writer living today and Song of Solomon is perhaps the best novel of the last 50 years of American life. Despite the high standing of both novel and author, there are many that chide both for delving too far into the world of African American mythology. The book, according to a reviewer on this very website, bitterly states that Song of Solomon is more fable than novel. Attempting to paint the novel as fable undercuts its central mission: to highlig
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Dec 17, 2009
Rich
rated it: 
I would like to have given a lower rating because I simply did not enjoy the read, but there is a value to this book that I cannot deny. Powerfully written, and has great cultural insight and thought. But really, I couldn't relate very well -- perhaps that is the point in many cases. I can't explain it much better without spending more time looking at it again than I'd like to, so I'll leave it at this:
I felt enlightened. I felt like shit. All without feeling very invested.
I felt enlightened. I felt like shit. All without feeling very invested.
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Dec 16, 2009
Dan
rated it: 
Toni Morrison is an absolute master of prose rhythms and this book is beautifully written. It reads like great literature and one can see why she's deserving of her nobel prize. But I had a serious problem with this book (which I read over ten years ago so forgive me if my memory of it is vague). The first three quarters of the book are terrific. Written in a realistic style and capturing the modern lives of its characters. The final section of the book suddenly turns into a fable, and the main
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 10, 2011
Ash
rated it:
'When Hansel and Gretel stood in the forest and saw the house in the clearing before them, the little hairs at the nape of their necks must have shivered. Their knees must have felt so weak that blinding hunger alone could have propelled them forward. No one was there to warn or hold them; their parents, chastened and grieving, were far away. So they ran as fast as they could to the house where a woman older than death lived, and they ignored the shivering nape hair and the softness in their
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Nov 15, 2007
Katie
rated it:
I have read a couple of Toni Morrison's other novels, but this is the by far the best I have read. This is a stunning tale of self-discovery that follows the lives of a black family living in Michigan. The majority of the narrative revolves around Milkman, the first black child born at Mercy Hospital, and the son of a prominant and wealthy businessman. To escape the town and threat of death by the hand of his scorned lover and cousin, Hagar, he goes on a quest for treasure. He may not find what
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(4 people liked it)
Jan 21, 2012
Kristen
rated it:
Great book. Morrison's writing sometimes borders on poetry and there are some rather profound ideas in her wotk that one could easily miss.
The novel is set in Michigan, my home state, and I know it's fiction and the unnamed town is completely fictitious, but for the life of me I can't stop trying to figure out where this imaginary town would be. I've put way too much thought into this but I just can't help myself and I decided that they lived either in the thumb area or on the west More...
The novel is set in Michigan, my home state, and I know it's fiction and the unnamed town is completely fictitious, but for the life of me I can't stop trying to figure out where this imaginary town would be. I've put way too much thought into this but I just can't help myself and I decided that they lived either in the thumb area or on the west More...
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Jun 28, 2007
Jen
rated it:
One of my absolute favorites, partly for the following:
"You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it More...
"You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it More...
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Dec 17, 2009
Josh
rated it:
I love Toni Morrison, I really do, but this book reads like a standard lemon of a workshop story: every character has both an eccentric name and some striking characteristic. This one has no navel, and this one is supernaturally lucky, and this one jumps off of buildings. And there is none of the assured economy of either Beloved or my personal favorite, Jazz. Here, we have to get every detail about every damned thing until I feel like I'm choking on the stuff of the book.
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Jan 02, 2012
Jennifer (aka EM)
rated it:
This book deserves a Masters thesis, and not the paltry little Goodreads review that I can give it.
I feel as though I've just taken a walk late at night in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, where I've peeked into windows and glimpsed intimacies--not quite secrets, rather private moments--between people who are like me but unlike me.
I'm certain I've only understood the top layer of what Morrison is saying here, since the images and characters are so rich and complex and since More...
I feel as though I've just taken a walk late at night in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, where I've peeked into windows and glimpsed intimacies--not quite secrets, rather private moments--between people who are like me but unlike me.
I'm certain I've only understood the top layer of what Morrison is saying here, since the images and characters are so rich and complex and since More...
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Aug 13, 2007
Kimberly
rated it:
I absolutely loved this book. An Afican American, trying to trace his history to find the real name of his father, and he comes to find that his history (and he does have one! He is not "Dead") is preserved in a children's song. The relationships between the characters are of the greatest importance as well, between friends, families, community members, strangers. Toni Morrison, whether by some natural talent or incredible perceptiveness manages to include such truthful description
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Jun 06, 2008
Tiffany
rated it:
Janette--this is the author whose name I couldn't remember the other night, but she didn't write Color Purple, that was Alice Walker, I haven't read any of her books.
This was definitely my favorite Toni Morrison book, once again, so poetic, it's like reading music. This book has a lot of mythology in it as well(people actually fly) but it's very interesting. It's been a long time since I first read it, I need to go back and read it again, but I remember being in awe of her writing, More...
This was definitely my favorite Toni Morrison book, once again, so poetic, it's like reading music. This book has a lot of mythology in it as well(people actually fly) but it's very interesting. It's been a long time since I first read it, I need to go back and read it again, but I remember being in awe of her writing, More...
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Aug 13, 2007
Sarah
rated it:
this is one of those books i REFERENCE...all the time, in my head, during conversations, as in 'oh like when milkman said...' or 'that reminds me of how mason dead got his name...' also i have a lifelong fascination crush on pilate. i read the book in highschool so it's been a loooong time but i still have vivid visual memories of pilate peeling an orange on the porch in a black dress, and of the description of her voice being like pebbles knocking together. classic, epic, surprising, and beauti
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Dec 01, 2009
Book Title: Songs of Solomon
Author: Toni Morrison
Reviewed By: Chandler LaFee
Songs of Solomon begins with an end. The ending of a life, in the first 5 pages an insurance agent Robert Smith jumps off the roof of Mercy Hospital declaring he can fly. He is obviously wrong and plummets to his death. The next day, Ruth Foster Dead gives birth to the first black child born in Mercy Hospital, Milkman Dead. The story then follows Milkman Dead also known at Macon Dead III and his l More...
Author: Toni Morrison
Reviewed By: Chandler LaFee
Songs of Solomon begins with an end. The ending of a life, in the first 5 pages an insurance agent Robert Smith jumps off the roof of Mercy Hospital declaring he can fly. He is obviously wrong and plummets to his death. The next day, Ruth Foster Dead gives birth to the first black child born in Mercy Hospital, Milkman Dead. The story then follows Milkman Dead also known at Macon Dead III and his l More...
Dec 01, 2009
Song of Solomon
By: Toni Morrison
Review by:Chris Mendoza
Jumping out off the top of the Mercey’s Hospital or as other people may see it as “No Mercey Hospital” because there has not been a black patient treated at the hospital. Robert smith wearing two silk wings jumps off believing that he can fly and dies. I think that it was interesting in how the author Toni Morrison tells the reader how other people in the book don’t call Mercey’s Hospital by that name but in More...
By: Toni Morrison
Review by:Chris Mendoza
Jumping out off the top of the Mercey’s Hospital or as other people may see it as “No Mercey Hospital” because there has not been a black patient treated at the hospital. Robert smith wearing two silk wings jumps off believing that he can fly and dies. I think that it was interesting in how the author Toni Morrison tells the reader how other people in the book don’t call Mercey’s Hospital by that name but in More...
Nov 04, 2011
Debra
rated it:
Macon Dead, III, aka "Milkman" is not actively in search of himself. He works in his father's business, forms no serious romantic attachments, and spends his leisure time drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Concerned with only his personal pleasure, he feels little connection to his parents, his sisters, or his race. That all changes on the evening that he interferes with his parents' routine of domestic violence - suddenly, both his father and mother wish to share their truths, and
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Sep 29, 2011
Jen
rated it:
Read this one a long time ago... one of my favorite books. Woke up to read it's banned book week (also realizing most of my favorite book are considered 'banned' books), got this post this morning on Facebook, figured I would share:
Toni Morrison
In honor of Banned Book Week (September 24 - October 1, 2011) so this week check out and read SONG OF SOLOMON by Toni Morrison. Challenged, but retained, in the Columbus, OH schools (1993). The complainant believed that the book contains la More...
Toni Morrison
In honor of Banned Book Week (September 24 - October 1, 2011) so this week check out and read SONG OF SOLOMON by Toni Morrison. Challenged, but retained, in the Columbus, OH schools (1993). The complainant believed that the book contains la More...
Aug 03, 2011
Yasmin
rated it:
Of a family that was lost and found, lost again and maybe you could ssay found once more. Macon Dead (father to Milkman)never found all of himself to forgive Pilate or love Ruth. No one but Milkman found Susan Byrd or Circe; Guitar and Hagar were lost. Had Magdelene known as Lena been lost or found-was she ever either? What does it mean to find your people-know where they come from? Are the people important or the place they came from more important? Does it matter if fanyone remembers th
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Jun 29, 2011
Maria
rated it:
"Song of Solomon" requires rapt attention and close analysis, but is ultimately very rewarding. It is stuffed with symbolism, imagery, and biblical allusions that take forever to unpack, but every time you think you've turned over every literary stone, there is always another to be found. For that, it is rewarding, even if it seems over the top at first. The "magical realism" component requires a mild suspension of disbelief, but if you're aware of what she's doing, you won't
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Jun 19, 2011
Mason
rated it:
Ideologically dense, emotionally complex, confusing as hell--in other words, it's vintage Morrison. Awesomely epic without succumbing to gassy, self-absorbed grandeur (hello there, "Beloved" and "Paradise"), "Solomon" is nothing less than a literary magic trick, conjuring up a mythic all-black phantasmagoria of magicians, assassins, and explorers, and then holding up a cracked mirror and showing us that it's nothing more than a distorted reflection of our own world.
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Jun 13, 2011
Danielle
rated it:
Enthralling mix of fantasy in a young man's struggle to find himself. Morrison really is an amazing storyteller. Names and flight are used brilliantly as motifs for identity and freedom, and her commentary on gender roles and race (set in the 1950s/60s) is interesing as well. It's fascinating that nearly all the relationships in Song of Solomon are entirely void of love; everything is about control and fulfilling personal desires, especially in main character Milkman's family. The closest thing
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Jan 10, 2011
Lindsey
rated it:
In the novel "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison, the author created an interesting way to portray black like in America during the contradicting different of life in America as a black person, striving for success yet restrained by family origin and class. For those that would like an enjoyable, yet emotional read about with various heartbreaking moments, then this book is for you. Death, violent groups against racism, weird romance, internal conflicts of shame of one's class and/or ra
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Jul 20, 2010
Jee
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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Nov 30, 2009
Blanca
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Song of Solomon
By: Toni Morrison
Reviewed by: Blanca Ahumada
Song of Solomon written by Toni Morrison is a fiction novel which also includes an adventurous story. The novel was written in 1977 the setting for Song of Solomon takes place in the 1931 and 1963 and also includes back flashes that go as far back as in to the late nineteenth century. It takes place in an unknown city in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The novel is written in past tense the story is told b More...
By: Toni Morrison
Reviewed by: Blanca Ahumada
Song of Solomon written by Toni Morrison is a fiction novel which also includes an adventurous story. The novel was written in 1977 the setting for Song of Solomon takes place in the 1931 and 1963 and also includes back flashes that go as far back as in to the late nineteenth century. It takes place in an unknown city in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The novel is written in past tense the story is told b More...
Oct 26, 2009
Matt
rated it:
After reading this book, Songs of Solomon, I found one theme that stuck out to me, the theme of racism. Almost every character in this book was African American and so not a single person suffered from racism, the whole community suffered from it. Solomon was a slave and Guitar’s father “died from racism.” This theme haunts Guitar through most of the story with flashbacks from present events such as the Birmingham Church bombing. These kinds of events turn Guitar into a crazy murderer. Th
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Oct 22, 2009
Angela
rated it:
This book focused on the aspects of African Americans life just when they were granted thr=eir free Edom. The main character, Milkman, is the third generation of this so called “freedom”. I give quotes around the word “freedom” because even in the book it is non-existent. In this book Toni Morrison gives the impression that all throughout the book that Milkman is not free of himself. He seems to be mean or sad, angry or depressed. Like there is something holding him back from truly enjoying life
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Sep 27, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
I once tried to read another of Toni Morrison's novels, Beloved, but it was one of the few novels that I gave up on before finishing. I do have to say that Morrison does an excellent job of bringing to life a vast array of characters: respectable men and women, children, poor country folk, hustlers, as well as down and out adults struggling in the cities in Song of Solomon . She also manages to string together a compelling narrative about a particular family over time. There is suicide, birth, m
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Nov 16, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
This book takes me back to my college English classes, when I read so many books that were rich in beautiful language but poor in plot and action. There's no doubt that Morrison is a gifted writer, especially when it comes to down-to-earth, authentic dialogue. Her writing is poetic and lyrical without being abstract or fussy -- she describes real things, disgusting things, sadness and passion with an intense energy and verbal power.
But the plot of this book didn't grab me. I remembe More...
But the plot of this book didn't grab me. I remembe More...
Jul 12, 2011
Isaac
rated it:
Song of Solomon is written really well and with a great familiarity. I felt like Toni Morrison perfectly communicated my life's timbre in a way only a few other authors are capable of. You can feel her pragmatic intelligence. Some of the highest praise I can pay her is to say that she rises about literary pendantry; her words reflect a savvy life-force, feet firmly on the ground. She does good work writing from a male perspective and not demeaning him in the process. The story was fun and read q
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May 15, 2011
Courtney
rated it:
Such as thick, rich story. Absolutely mind-boggling how talented of a storyteller Toni Morrison is. This book came highly recommended and did not disappoint in the least. In fact, it surpasses my already high expectations.
My first thought when finished with this book: "Damn."
If the last book I read can be summed up in one word, "pace", then this book, as unjustly as it can be, will be summed as "story". The singular impact of the story More...
My first thought when finished with this book: "Damn."
If the last book I read can be summed up in one word, "pace", then this book, as unjustly as it can be, will be summed as "story". The singular impact of the story More...
