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Paradise

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 11,546 ratings · 474 reviews

"Rumors had been whispered for more than a year. Outrages that had been accumulating all along took shape as evidence. A mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their honeymoons. Two brothers shot each other on New Year's Day. Trips to Demby for VD...more

Hardcover, 318 pages

Published December 24th 1997 by Knopf (first published December 12th 1991)

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Jan 17, 2009 brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to brian by: mindy, joseph

#4. paradise. ah… paradise. a profound frustration. here we have the best and worst of toni morrison. check the story: nine families trek across the west to create an all-black town in oklahoma divorced from mainstream american society. cut off from:

“Television.”
The congregation rippled with laughter.
“Disco.”
They laughed, merrily louder, shaking their heads.
“Policemen.”
They roared with laughter.
“Picture shows, filthy music.” He continued with fingers from his left hand. “Wickedness in the str...more

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Oct 02, 2007 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up at a Friends of the Library sale and didn't give it much thought... It was a mild read, somewhat sad, somewhat rich.
I actually finished the book a week ago and the last chapter has got me still milling over whether I think it's a masterpiece or a flop. Any book that still has me thinking a week later should probably get more than 3 stars.. I might just re-read that last chapter and see if I get it this time.

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Aug 12, 2007 Shayla rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

It's funny, I've tried to get many of my friends to read this book and they all start and then stop, while I've read it twice (I rarely read books more than once, even if I really like them).

I just loved the complexity of this non-linear book. Each chapter is devoted to the main women in the novel, including the town itself, Ruby. Ruby is an all-black town in OK, founded by freed slaves. This is a town that prides itself on its history and on its racial purity among other things. It is these bel...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Will B rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was selected by one of my professors, an expert in African American literature who has published a couple of books of his own, for a 400-level college lit class.

On the first day that we started this book, he walked in, sat it down on the table in front of him, and said, "I hadn't read this book in a while. I couldn't remember if I liked it or not. I don't think I do."

A week later, I knew I didn't.

Morrison has long been lauded for her evocative lyricism, but here more so than in her o...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Ryan added it · review of another edition

Non-linear and filled with about a million different characters (many with multiple names) don't expect Paradise to be a casual, Sunday afternoon read. About 60% of the way through I gave in and just let myself experience the novel without necessarily having to completely make sense of it. It made it somewhat easier to read, but also frustrating, because I know there is a lot of rich complexity I just didn't pick up on. Definitely a book that warrants multiple readings, I think. And maybe a flow...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Resa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoy Toni Morrison, so when this book was assigned it was more of an excuse to read more of her work than an assignment. The only other novel of her I’ve read in full is “The Bluest Eye” which I have to admit was a lot easier to follow than “Paradise”. Although of the two I think “Paradise” is the better book. Something about “Paradise” really gets under your skin. I’m not sure what it is, but this is a novel that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the last chapter. I admit...more I really enjoy Toni Morrison, so when this book was assigned it was more of an excuse to read more of her work than an assignment. The only other novel of her I’ve read in full is “The Bluest Eye” which I have to admit was a lot easier to follow than “Paradise”. Although of the two I think “Paradise” is the better book. Something about “Paradise” really gets under your skin. I’m not sure what it is, but this is a novel that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the last chapter. I admit I did rush through the last few chapters to get it finished in the assigned time (we had about a week and a half to finish it) but even then it didn’t fail to have an effect on me.

Once again Toni Morrison has delivered a great novel. Her detailed, lyrical prose makes this book read almost like poetry. It is truly beautiful and disturbing. Then again what can you expect from a book with the unforgettable opening line of “They kill the white girl first.” From this point on you know you’re going to be in for something more than just an average story. I will warn any perspective readers, while the prose flows as you read it the plot is confusing. The story switches view points and time quite frequently and while this adds to the story’s appeal it does make it difficult to follow. I would suggest reading this book with a pen and paper handy, start drawing some family trees or at least a character list. I had to keep character names on my bookmark just to make sure I knew who was who and how they were all related. Once you have your system down for keeping track of who’s who (or you could just be better with keeping track than me and not need an aid) you’re in for a truly wonderful read. Morrison deals with both racism and colorism in such an easy manner you hardly know she’s doing anything but telling a story. That’s the beauty of Morrison’s work. She weaves her message into the larger picture of the story and lets you walk away to think about things on your own
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Apr 06, 2012 Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

About midway through the novel, around the time of the snowstorm and Anna Flood’s rumination on her natural hair, I almost declared it my favorite of Toni Morrison’s works, which actually would have made it my favorite novel of all time, since that slot has been occupied by “Jazz” for the past 15 years. By the end of the novel I was not quite as satisfied, but I still plan to give it a few more reads during my lifetime. I don’t really feel the need to summarize the plot or themes of the novel, I...more About midway through the novel, around the time of the snowstorm and Anna Flood’s rumination on her natural hair, I almost declared it my favorite of Toni Morrison’s works, which actually would have made it my favorite novel of all time, since that slot has been occupied by “Jazz” for the past 15 years. By the end of the novel I was not quite as satisfied, but I still plan to give it a few more reads during my lifetime. I don’t really feel the need to summarize the plot or themes of the novel, I’m just going to give my impressions. It was always enjoyable to read, and at times felt easy. I’m not sure whether the story is even that complicated, but an appendix explaining the history of the towns Haven and Ruby would certainly help, along with a genealogy of some kinds, similar to Faulkner’s appendix and Compson family tree in later editions of “The Sound and the Fury”. It took me nearly two hours to read the chapter entitled Patricia, which is only 32 pages, because I had to concentrate so intensely in order to keep the family histories sorted in my head.
I enjoyed the setting of Oklahoma in the late sixties/early seventies. I know a lot of readers have been disappointed that the novel does not take place during the settling of the West, but I tend to favor the small, dying towns of the mid-20th century as seen in the works of Larry McMurtry. Those are the towns I grew up around in Colorado, so it was very easy to conceptualize the town of Ruby. What I connect with most in Toni Morrison novels is the way characters, particularly female, tend to ruminate on the past, turning an issue over and over in their head, often with some resentment. People in small towns can have long memories of past wrongs and to quote Faulkner, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
The novel has so many themes that are just barely touched upon: Booker T. Washington vs. WEB DuBois, the reorganization of the West by the highway system, the role of Native American heritage in African American history (obliquely referenced in the Blackhorse family’s hair texture), the decline of small towns following WWII, the disenfranchisement of blacks following the end of Reconstruction. What we have a lot of: twins or close siblings, a detailed sense of genealogy, a small town’s perspective on Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, and a lot of preoccupation with skin tone.
I was much more taken with the town than the Convent, which I had originally thought would be the primary setting. I loved the description of the Convent’s original construction as a debauched mansion, but the inhabitants who appeared after Mavis and Gigi got on my nerves. I had no problem with the ‘mystical ending’ which I did not think was all that mystical. I have had encounters with spirits of deceased relatives who just wanted to say hi and bye, so it was not a big deal to me. I came away with the feeling that the world that we’re living in, right here and now, should be our paradise. By saying that it is somewhere else that must be found, or that paradise is so fragile that it must be protected, we set ourselves up to do terrible things to our fellow human beings. The citizens of Ruby created what they defended against.

PS-don't try to get out of reading this book by listening to the audiobook. I started listening to it after I finishes the novel just because I like to hear Toni Morrison's voice. The audiobook is abridged and makes little sense. With a book like this you have to just hunker down and take your time. The devil is in the details.
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Feb 01, 2012 Bridgette Redman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Toni Morrison is able to weave a tale so intricate that it may take several readings before one can figure out what happened.

One of the wonderful things about this summer has been that I've finally gotten around to reading new authors--authors who have been on my "to-read" list for a long time but never quite made it off the list. This summer has been a time to discover such authors as Maya Angelou, Dorothy Sayers, and, now, Toni Morrison.

The Author

Paradise is Toni Morrison's 7th novel, and the...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paradise is a masterpiece by Toni Morrison, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. I first became acquainted with Morrison, a literary giant, when I read her first novel, The Bluest Eye many years ago. Her novels are difficult to read because of her lyrical prose, her symbolism, use of figurative language and involved plotting. Paradise is no different. When I first began to read the novel, I found it difficult to follow the story line. It begins with a violent act in the present d...more Paradise is a masterpiece by Toni Morrison, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. I first became acquainted with Morrison, a literary giant, when I read her first novel, The Bluest Eye many years ago. Her novels are difficult to read because of her lyrical prose, her symbolism, use of figurative language and involved plotting. Paradise is no different. When I first began to read the novel, I found it difficult to follow the story line. It begins with a violent act in the present day and works backward to when the town of Ruby was founded and even before, shortly after the end of the Civil War.

Morrison delves into the lives of inhabitants of the Oklahoma town, located ninety miles from the nearest town. She interweaves the story of the founders (the old fathers) of the town with that of their descendents, their marriages, births and deaths, the war, changing attitudes, and the generational conflicts. The author examines the machinations between families and explores the lives of the women (outsiders) who come to the Convent, a place of refuge, each one for different reasons. A large house or mansion, the Convent is a place that the town folk have visited over the years to buy produce. Even the Convent has a past that has changed over the years into a place some of the men of the town view as sinister.

The story opens with nine men from Ruby entering the Convent that is located seventeen miles from Ruby. The men, armed with guns, shoot the first woman they meet. There are other women in the Convent whom they plan to kill. We don’t learn their reasoning until the final part of the novel. The story isn’t linear; rather the plot bounces back and forth from present day to past revealing motives. As the years past, relationships change, conflicts arise as outside forces insinuate upon the insulated community. It’s easy to become caught up in the characters’ lives, each character is drawn with precision, and drawn into the suspense. The themes are universal and provocative. Despite the novel’s complexity and its mythical nature, in the end, the conflicts are resolved, life goes on. An epic, Paradise needs to be read more than once to understand and appreciate its richness.
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Jul 15, 2009 Peppers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paradise is the final book of Morrison’s trilogy examining blackness in America, though her trilogy could just as easily be about love. Beloved we see a mother’s love, in Jazz we understand another all-consuming romantic love, and in Paradise we examine the love of God and use of religion. A town called Haven, later named, Ruby, run by men, who decide to kill women who have been victims of their own lives, ruining one paradise with intention of saving another. There is inherent irony in Toni Mor...more Paradise is the final book of Morrison’s trilogy examining blackness in America, though her trilogy could just as easily be about love. Beloved we see a mother’s love, in Jazz we understand another all-consuming romantic love, and in Paradise we examine the love of God and use of religion. A town called Haven, later named, Ruby, run by men, who decide to kill women who have been victims of their own lives, ruining one paradise with intention of saving another. There is inherent irony in Toni Morrison’s novel Paradise, but the irony is not resultant from the play of fates, but evolution. The town of Haven is founded to escape victimization and found a new life where, “freedom was not entertainment, like a carnival or a hoedown that you can count on once a year. Nor was it the table droppings from the entitled. Here freedom was a test administered by the natural world that a man had to take for himself everyday. And if he passed enough tests long enough, he was king.” Haven, a town which was founded to house those who were turned away or run-out everywhere else, festers from within from fear and the security of money, a system of power, and order to maintain both. This results in the murder of women, who like those who founded the town, were also escaping lives without hope. As Connie tells one of the first new strangers to Ruby, “scary things not always outside. Most scary things inside.” Morrison forces us to examine ourselves, every fear, hope, misguided action, unspoken word, all our judgments and preoccupations are held up to the light and under this scrutiny we find redemption in darkness and often evil where we thought there could only be good or God. She has a way of reinventing the world by breaking with easily held generalities and delving deep into characters, seeking out humanity as it is and as it manifests. We are spared no glory or shame, no hypocrisy or heroism, people in all their rich, complex existence are playing out in tense, personal, ideological battles in everyday ways to violent outrage. (less)

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Jun 23, 2009 Lavonne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't write my review of this right away, as I was still trying to decide exactly how I felt about this book. It was very difficult to read and about half way through, I went online to read other readers' takes on it.

Either people loved it or they hated it. If they loved it, they had read it two or three times and read/watched numerous interviews with the author as she explained her themes, just so they could understand it. I am willing to explore deeper meanings in a book, but it has to be...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: african-american-lit

Why is it that so often in life the very thing you’re trying to avoid becomes you? Why do the oppressed become the oppressor? Why do the abused become the abuser? Why do those who demand openness and equality become insular and elitist? Why does the love that we strive so hard to obtain turn into a protective curse when we attempt to contain it vs. allowing its empathy and compassion to extend to all? These open-ended questions are only the tip of the iceberg in Toni Morrison’s "Paradise". It is...more

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Olutosin I first read Paradise about fifteen years ago when it came out. I found it an uneasy read for a number of reasons and not from structure, which I know...more I first read Paradise about fifteen years ago when it came out. I found it an uneasy read for a number of reasons and not from structure, which I know some readers have expressed. I enjoy non-linear books because in real life unlike novels, things don't always make sense as they happen and it is only with hindsight that we gain insight.

I was disturbed by the fact that I just couldn't relate to the convent women; I found the collective brokenness unbelievable and somewhat repulsive. How was it possible, I thought, that there could be so many 'victims' congregated together? Surely I thought, still in the splendour of youth with (subconsciously) endless the possibilities of life ahead. It seemed to me that they used any excuse, exception of Mable and Seneca, to run from the world, to hate men, to be victims in their lives.

I come from a literary tradition, Amos Tutuola, Wole Soyinka, Ben Okri et al, where the spirit world walks in tangent with the visible world and is acknowledged if somewhat feared. So Toni Morrison's world was an easy one to walk into. A world where people and spirits are interchangeable.

Neither is Ruby an alien concept; ethnic rivalries constantly erupt among people who appear to come from the same history. Even here on the African continentand a lighter shade of dark especially for women is passport to good things. In pidgin English, there is an expression 'Black is beautiful but yellow is better!'. The lightening skin industry in most parts of Africa continues to boom despite reports of associated cancers/damage.

The irony of course is that the convent and Ruby are essentially predicated on the same principles; hurt, fear, rejection and a desire to re-define and preserve self.

I found, 15 years ago, few of the characters elicited sympathy and it was only as the book drew to it's conclusion that I began to feel for and with them. Richard Misner made sense to me; his stance to fight, to use force if necessary to make change was in line with my world view.

Fast forward, 15 years, and my re-reading has taken me on a different journey. Luckily I had forgotten the story line and came back to it fresh and without prejudice. The more I read the more it prompted and triggered past emotions, emotions which were now at odds with how I was actually responding to the characters.

This time I ached for all concerned; I have in the past fifteen years experienced chronic sickness, motherhood and loss. It now means I wear different specs and understand, in a way it was previously impossible, the need that drove the creation of safe havens both at the Convent and Ruby and to resort to violence out of fear to protect the beloved idyll.

Richard Misner I see now also as flawed. He too is culpable and as responsible for the tragic events as anyone else but nevertheless to be embraced not castigated.

There is not a single character without a mole in nature; all are flawed, all are walking injured. It is just that some carry there scars visibly, like the women at the convent, childless Covey, drunk Menus but in reality there is none that has escaped being damaged in their journey through life.

What I fail to understand however is what happened to the women. Is the ambiguity deliberate ? As someone else posited, were the women at the convent ghosts right from the start and the convent itself purgatory? Were they waiting to have their sprits guided to release by Connie? Were they always solid apparitions already departed?; Mabel murdered by her daughter, Gigi slaughtered like the little boy in the riots, Seneca disposed of by the chauffeur of rich lesbian and Pallas murdered by the boys in the lake? Were the subsequent sightings 'spirit enabled' closures? Did I miss something!!! I would love to know what others think.

If I am privileged enough to be alive in 15 years I will reread this book and will come back to write about it impacts on me. This reading has been a wonderful journey of self discovery for me.(less)
May 06, 2012 11:40pm

Jul 19, 2011 Kenny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advisory-2011-2012

Paradise is a novel by Toni Morrison which talks about the men from Ruby, Oklahoma, women who are Connie, Mavis, Gigi, Seneca, and Divine, who are part of the Convent, and also townswomen, who are Pat, Lone, and Save-Marie. The men from Ruby, Oklahoma, and the women from the Convent are quite similar. In the beginning of this book, it starts out highlighting the town of Ruby, Oklahoma, and then it goes on with women who are from the Convent, who are given their own chapter. Each chapter has a st...more

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Jun 04, 2010 sheena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-japan

There is a special hell for black people who only give Toni Morrison three stars. Please don't send me there.

Paradise is the story of black God-fearing utopia (nah, not an oxymoron!). Ruby, the town where the story is set, prides itself on its "absence of the unsaved, the unworthy and the strange." The townspeople are preoccupied with pleasing the Lord and fighting the "threat of white immigrants". Something has to happen, so not far off lurk ex-pat heathens who (not needing a man, OR God!!) put...more

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May 02, 2013 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-challenge, may-2013

I didn't exactly enjoy the process of reading the novel, because the writing is hard to follow and demands full attention of the reader. Overall, I think this is a great read for literature students, African studies, gender studies, etc. The novel was difficult for me to wade through, but the unique fluidity of the timeline and the events and character developments are very gripping and provide a driving force that makes the less interesting parts bearable. I think this novel has added to my kno...more

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May 16, 2012 Luke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-list-2012

This is the fifth of Morrison's books that I've read, and like all the others, it is beautiful. I find it hard to rate Morrison's work in the 5-star system, because in comparison to most books by other authors, Morrison would almost always deserve 5. When I compare her books to each other, I can't go as high as a 5 for most of them because I don't feel they are quite as good (perfect) as Beloved.

Paradise is a dystopian novel. It may not seem like it at first--it doesn't transport us into some d...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Roger DeBlanck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Paradise was Toni Morrison’s first novel after winning the Nobel Prize. Her success and acclaim as a writer make every novel she publishes a battle against proving she can surpass what she has already accomplished. With Paradise, there seemed to be a consensus among critics and reviewers that the work was, of course, brilliant but it didn’t match the power of the works that made her famous. But Paradise is as original and breathtaking as Morrison’s other major novels. Returning to the rural life...more

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May 13, 2012 Sarah Saville rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those who want a challenging and great novel.

Shelves: 50-books-in-2012, library-books

When I picked this up at the library, my friend told me "You will love it, but you won't understand half of it" and boy, was she right. Yet I loved it.
Morrison has a style of writing that just draws you in and before you know it, the novel is over and hours have passed. I would give it a five just for that reason alone, one can't stop reading, but it was so confusing. I know that there's a reason behind it, no one is really supposed to know what is happening, not their characters nor the reader...more

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Apr 12, 2009 Lisalit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"They shoot the white girl first."

I have yet to be disappointed in Toni Morrison. This novel centers around a town founded by freed slaves who were rejected in other towns, immersed in its own history and fully self-sufficient. But there is an underlying current of unease. The town has split into two factions of founder's descendants, and debates are raging. The children are different, moved by the civil rights movement and other signs of the times. Outside of town is an old convent, which has s...more

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Jul 15, 2011 April rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, women

I am a huge Toni Morrison fan, and I have always heard that Paradise was her "worst" novel. It seemed to leave a lot of people feeling unsatisfied, and though I don't like to go into a book with preconceived notions, it is hard to avoid. Therefore, I didn't have high hopes for Paradise.

I actually enjoyed it, and I think that I would have enjoyed it immensely more had I read it in print and not listened to the audiobook. Don't get me wrong - Toni Morrison's reading of her own work is really magic...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If there were half stars available I would definitely top this novel out at 2 1/2. I like what she was trying to do, but in the end she does way too much, makes the novel way too dense, way too spread out (each chapter is the story as told by one of the NINE main characters, so you have basically forgotten the previous chapter by the time you wade into the next one), and the whole thing (especially the metaphor of the oven in the center of town) just too heavy handed. I think maybe Morrison was...more

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Dec 30, 2010 C rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite

I liked this very much. Possibly the Morrison book I liked best. There are probably a lot of biblical metaphors I'm still not getting, just like Toni Morrison's other books, but I think I could understand this book better. This is very good. Morrison won the Nobel Prize for a reason. This is the story of an ex-slave town that had to relocate (but some of them were also ex-lieutenant governors, they were not just ex-slaves, which is very bizarre to me. Ex-slaves were allowed to be lieutenant gove...more I liked this very much. Possibly the Morrison book I liked best. There are probably a lot of biblical metaphors I'm still not getting, just like Toni Morrison's other books, but I think I could understand this book better. This is very good. Morrison won the Nobel Prize for a reason. This is the story of an ex-slave town that had to relocate (but some of them were also ex-lieutenant governors, they were not just ex-slaves, which is very bizarre to me. Ex-slaves were allowed to be lieutenant governors but that went downhill yet again when even more racism fired up. They weren't given so much power again for a long time. ) On their way, they tried to stay at a town with people that were not '8-rock' (a way for one character to describe how pure black the town is) and were rejected. They realized that not only were whites racist, but so were other black folk to shades of skin different than their own. When they eventually found their new home, the town of Ruby is unaccepting of anyone, until inevitable tragedy. Also near the town is an old convent, a house of women, that are trying to escape the brutality of the world, just like Ruby.There is much brutality, like any Toni Morrison book, but how can that be avoidable with such subject matter? There is just something in the way of the little details that make the story (ie: the words "Furrow of His Brow" on a community oven and how people in the town interpret what it means, and the many meanings that only Morrison could show it has). Everything ties together amazingly well. I also liked that at least one woman at the convent is white, which we learn on the first page, but we are never told which woman it is. It is so important to the characters, but Morrison is saying it shouldn't be for the reader, I think. It isn't shoved in your face : "This woman is black. This woman is white." The women's problems are universal and deserve sympathy that the town of Ruby never gives them. What happened to the town of Ruby wasn't right, but neither was their unacceptance of anyone else. They did the same and worse and ultimately became what they were trying to avoid.(less)

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Feb 16, 2011 Sam Weaver rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book starts with an act of cold blooded violence. In typical Toni Morrison style the scene is both lyric and gruesome. I had some trouble getting through the second quarter of the book, as the scope and scale of characters introduced were hard to keep track of. However, the second half of the book was incredible...exquisitely written, with layer upon layer of complexity.

Paradise is, at its heart, the story of a town. More specifically it is the story of the women and men who live within the...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Paul Sheckarski added it · review of another edition

I don't think I can say anything intelligent about this novel without a stornger background in women's & Black lit. There are many stylistic choices which gave me pause, whose purpose may be hidden to me by my capital-p privilege. I have foremost in mind the constant revision of established narrative, where we revisit the past from a new perspective and change, cloud, clarify our perception of particular events. Not to say that women's lit is the only tradition to capitalize on multiple poin...more I don't think I can say anything intelligent about this novel without a stornger background in women's & Black lit. There are many stylistic choices which gave me pause, whose purpose may be hidden to me by my capital-p privilege. I have foremost in mind the constant revision of established narrative, where we revisit the past from a new perspective and change, cloud, clarify our perception of particular events. Not to say that women's lit is the only tradition to capitalize on multiple points of view, but oral narratives, and the ways in which oral narratives alter our opinions about people & about the past, seem especially important to so many of the major works by women I've read.

If the canon, the written language, has been controlled by men, then spoken language, for women, must be a powerful antidote, especially at the moment when dialogue (understood not only as words between inverted commas but as the intermingling of worldviews & dialects) suffuses the novel.

Rather than press these clumsy fumblings any further, I'd rather unpack the words "challenge" and "difficulty," which I've seen many commenters use to describe their experience of reading this novel.

What is our physical and emotional response to a text which we -- later -- describe as challenging? Muscular tension. Sighs and furrowed brows if we're especially theatrical. Adjusting position in our chairs. We suddenly find ourselves uncomfortable. Our pleasure has been interrupted. If an unchallenging story is a clear, well-marked country lane, then a challenging work is a 5 o'clock cloverfield snarl. Our eyes, our thoughts, had been cruising along and then unexpected obstacles forced us to tamp down on the brake pedal. Though we may not experience the same sickening stomach plummet that accompanies an urgent application of brakes, there is still a kind of shock that follows the interruption of our readerly pleasure.

What do these obstacles consist of? Confusion: the inability to connect, associate, synthesize the present words with the previous words. Disappointment follows confusion, disappointment in ourselves to "live up" to the text. Or frustration, if we feel the text has played us unfairly, if we feel it has pretensions which don't merit our energy and time. In this regard, it threatens us, or at least our image of ourselves as intelligent readers.

Consider: the text and the reader integrate with each other under ordinary circumstances. When the story's humming along we don't think of it as an object, as a thing separate from ourselves. It's simply here, and here is where we are. The shock I described before can be said to be the shock a fish experiences when removed from water: the sudden realization of otherness, a thing other than ourselves whose pleasures we took for granted until this moment. Suddenly in our hands we find something strange and unfamiliar, a thing which threatens us, or at least our opinion of ourselves, and which, most shockingly, has been there all along!

For myself, I have found it useful when confused or frustrated by a text to plunge deeper into it. Often, the momentary confusion resolves itself a page or two later; the author intended the confusion in order to inspire a certain emotional response in one's reader. Occasionally, I have missed a fact as I read which caused me to misread successive sentences. I have also found myself treading water when confronted by an unfamiliar style, approach, worldview, which became familiar to me -- became 'easy' -- only after much exertion and patience.

In summary, the words "challenge" and "difficult" do not describe a text. They describe one's experience of the text. All texts are easy in that they comprehend themselves.(less)

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Apr 11, 2010 Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I don't know how to say anything about this book. It feels beyond my capacity to review. This is the third Toni Morrison book and again I'm in awe. I didn't feel as attached to any of the characters in this book as in the other two. There were names coming and going and it was difficult to keep them all straight. That may have been her intention, though, because this story was more about a group of people and their attempt at creating their own Paradise. I was especially struck towards the end w...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my all-time favorite books. This book was being read while Oprah was on trial in Texas. I remember wondering about this book because she had a few book clubs from Austen in the audience and one woman kept saying she "didn't get it." Oprah kept repeating to re-read the last few lines of Chapter 1.

The books starts "They killed the white girl first....." So I dragged my heels reading this one. BIG mistake! Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I didn't see why some people were having t...more

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May 31, 2010 Lauryi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Toni Morrison is one of those writers who seem to feel that it's ok to go off onto dreamlike tangents, since she's a genius. Well, she is a genius, but I don't enjoy a book that leaves me befuddled at the end. The ending doesn't have to be happy, the ending can be open to interpretation; all that's ok with me. But when I have to say "huh?", mull it over and STILL can't understand a lot of the book, I don't enjoy it. After reading the reviews, I see it's not just me (I AM a fairly intelligent per...more

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Nov 06, 2009 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The part of the book concerning the town of Ruby, Oklahoma, a small black town founded in 1890 was very interesting and made me wonder if there were many towns similar to that. The people inhabiting that town were very dark skinned and very nice looking. On there way there to find a place to start over from another area many miles away they went to other black towns but were turned away because the lighter skinned blacks did not want intergration with the dark familes.

The part of the book concer...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, multicultural

This book has THE BEST opening chapter I have ever read. I HATED the ending. I was mad at Morrison who refused to provide answers to the ending. Basically, she said if the reader doesn't get it then the reader doesn't deserve to be helped/given the answers.

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Dec 08, 2009 Ksenija rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

maybe it's because i read Morrison's Jazz just before this, which i think is her best book of all, that i'm just not raving about paradise. because Jazz was so complex, i get the feeling that toni said "must make next book even MORE difficult!" and then went to work. it feels unnecessarily thick at parts, especially when the lineage of the characters is being sorted out and you're trying to keep track of 40 main players.

that being said, Morrison writes as beautifully as ever, and she plays tric...more

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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; among the best k...more

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“Let me tell you about love, that silly word you believe is about whether you like somebody or whether somebody likes you or whether you can put up with somebody in order to get something or someplace you want or you believe it has to do with how your body responds to another body like robins or bison or maybe you believe love is how forces or nature or luck is benign to you in particular not maiming or killing you but if so doing it for your own good. Love is none of that. There is nothing in nature like it. Not in robins or bison or in the banging tails of your hunting dogs and not in blossoms or suckling foal. Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is natural you are blind. It is a learned application without reason or motive except that it is God. You do not deserve love regardless of the suffering you have endured. You do not deserve love because somebody did you wrong. You do not deserve love just because you want it. You can only earn - by practice and careful contemplations - the right to express it and you have to learn how to accept it. Which is to say you have to earn God. You have to practice God. You have to think God-carefully. And if you are a good and diligent student you may secure the right to show love. Love is not a gift. It is a diploma. A diploma conferring certain privileges: the privilege of expressing love and the privilege of receiving it. How do you know you have graduated? You don't. What you do know is that you are human and therefore educable, and therefore capable of learning how to learn, and therefore interesting to God, who is interested only in Himself which is to say He is interested only in love. Do you understand me? God is not interested in you. He is interested in love and the bliss it brings to those who understand and share the interest. Couples that enter the sacrament of marriage and are not prepared to go the distance or are not willing to get right with the real love of God cannot thrive. They may cleave together like robins or gulls or anything else that mates for life. But if they eschew this mighty course, at the moment when all are judged for the disposition of their eternal lives, their cleaving won't mean a thing. God bless the pure and holy. Amen.” — 256 people liked it

“Love is divine only and difficult always.” — 9 people liked it

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