From the Bookshelf of The Challenge Factory…

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

Start date: February 15, 2024

Finish date: February 29, 2024

Discussion: Archived-A Year of Banned Books

Discussion leader: Erica

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Archived-A Year of Banned Books

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* Reading List
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 97 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 04:05PM

* A Year of Banned Books Info
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 122 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 03:53PM

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What Members Thought

Oct 20, 2015 Zuzana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2015-challenge, 1001-books

My first Toni Morrison, I will definitely read more from her.

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Oct 18, 2018 AsimovsZeroth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classic, library-books, hardback, black-authors

Clearly, this is a book that has inspired many people to review. So I'll skip the summary.

Much like Lolita, the subject matter is horrific, but the writing is beautiful. This is the first Toni Morrison novel I've read and I'll certainly be making an effort to seek out her other works.

The most common complaint I've heard, is that there is a disjointed feeling to the book that never quite resolves itself. Lives made up of little moments, so loosely connected that you're left feeling slightly diso Clearly, this is a book that has inspired many people to review. So I'll skip the summary.

Much like Lolita, the subject matter is horrific, but the writing is beautiful. This is the first Toni Morrison novel I've read and I'll certainly be making an effort to seek out her other works.

The most common complaint I've heard, is that there is a disjointed feeling to the book that never quite resolves itself. Lives made up of little moments, so loosely connected that you're left feeling slightly disoriented. Maybe even a tad resentful towards the author who presented you with this indecipherable puzzle.

However, I suspect that was the author's intention all along and that's why I'm in love with this book. Morrison leaves the reader with the inexplicable feeling that something you can't quite identify is wrong. The same feeling that Claudia, our narrator feels when she receives a white doll. Confusion and a rage she doesn't understand. Though the narration is from the point of view of an older, wiser self that has reflected on these events, the disjointed writing style seems designed to bring the reader closer to the emotional state of the children in the book. They understand they're being treated differently, but don't understand all of the reasons why or how. Their lives are chaotic, full of adults who don't have time or answers. They are in a world of conflicting messages that leave them unable to identify whether to idolize or resent white people, or their own families and authority figures and how to view themselves. Morrison doesn't want you to listen to her story. She wants you to feel it.

I believe this is also the reason that she repeatedly inserts lines from the Dick and Jane reading primers and why the words just start running together. These children can't relate to stories about white children with lives that are utterly foreign to them. This happy, brightly colored world of effortless order and carefree play means nothing to them. The words run together in their heads, because there is no point or context from their point of view. Yet even so, it is ingrained in them from constant exposure. Meaning is unconsciously assigned over fragments of experiences to cope. Such as the flowers.

I thought it was fantastic, but I would have rated it lower if I had rated it the instant I finished. I was sucked right in. It wasn't until I was out of the headspace Morrison had lured me into and had some time to reflect that connections started to emerge from the chaos. ...more

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