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By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 3 posts · 1370 views
last updated Jan 18, 2013 07:12PM
What Members Thought
3.5 stars from me. It's a very difficult and tough book for so many reasons. I'd like to give it more stars but Toni Morrison's style is a bit too vague for me. I understand her ingenious used of metaphors, magical realism and symbolism concept, and of course all the "read between the lines" moments. No sentence is wasted, everything has a meaning (hidden or plain).
The difficult topic is quite draining. Slavery is never easy to be digested. Especially in this book - a plot inspired by a true sto ...more
The difficult topic is quite draining. Slavery is never easy to be digested. Especially in this book - a plot inspired by a true sto ...more
Updated August 2011
I am revisiting this book 1) because it is one of my favorite literary works, and 2) because my son selected it as his summer reading book for his English class. It's very nice reading a book and discussing with someone. Previously, I had read this book as a part of an English class, "Illness as Metaphor," so I naturally focused on mental illness and the long-term repercussions of slavery.
As I read it now, though, I pick up on multiple challenging themes: The mother-daughter ...more
I am revisiting this book 1) because it is one of my favorite literary works, and 2) because my son selected it as his summer reading book for his English class. It's very nice reading a book and discussing with someone. Previously, I had read this book as a part of an English class, "Illness as Metaphor," so I naturally focused on mental illness and the long-term repercussions of slavery.
As I read it now, though, I pick up on multiple challenging themes: The mother-daughter ...more
"She left me[...] she was my best thing."
"Her tenderness about his neck jewelry--its three wands, like attentive baby rattlers, curving two feet in the air. How she never mentioned or looked at it, so he did not have to feel the shame of being collared like a beast. Only this woman Sethe could have left him his manhood like that. He wants to put his story next to hers."
"He leans over and takes her hand. With the other he touches her face. 'You your best thing, Sethe. You are.'" ...more
"Her tenderness about his neck jewelry--its three wands, like attentive baby rattlers, curving two feet in the air. How she never mentioned or looked at it, so he did not have to feel the shame of being collared like a beast. Only this woman Sethe could have left him his manhood like that. He wants to put his story next to hers."
"He leans over and takes her hand. With the other he touches her face. 'You your best thing, Sethe. You are.'" ...more
I don't like to watch movies about ghosts or read scary stories so I was unsure about how I would like Beloved. The book is so much more than a ghost story. It's about the horrible things humans have done to one another, and the ways we can heal and keep on living. Apart from the plot, the writing is beautiful. I've seen this novel described as "epic prose" and I completely agree.
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Jan 04, 2013
Mirja
marked it as to-read
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review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books-you-must-read-before-you
Mar 22, 2016
Jen
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
southern-american-lit,
great-american-read
Feb 16, 2017
Colleen Chi-Girl
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
anti-racist,
feminism
