St.'s review
Paradise (Oprah's Book Club) by Toni Morrison
Before reading this book, I had read every prior Morrison novel--from the uneven-but-pretty-good-with-one-amazing-extended-metaphor ( Tar Baby) to the very good ( The Bluest Eye) to the overwhelming ( Beloved). I had a very high opinion of her.
And then I read Paradise.
The Nobel committee should have asked politely if they could have their prize back.
Morrison can't write white characters. Brilliantly sympathetic portrait of a child molester? Yes (see Cholly in Bluest Eye). White character even vaguely recognizable as human? No. It's only mildly distracting in Beloved, it mars Tar Baby, but it makes Paradise unbearable, since white characters take up such a large chunk of the book.
I don't read awful, awful books to the end--reading time is too precious to waste on crap, unless it's fun crap. I gave Morrison the
And then I read Paradise.
The Nobel committee should have asked politely if they could have their prize back.
Morrison can't write white characters. Brilliantly sympathetic portrait of a child molester? Yes (see Cholly in Bluest Eye). White character even vaguely recognizable as human? No. It's only mildly distracting in Beloved, it mars Tar Baby, but it makes Paradise unbearable, since white characters take up such a large chunk of the book.
I don't read awful, awful books to the end--reading time is too precious to waste on crap, unless it's fun crap. I gave Morrison the
