Ha Med
asked:
hey guys! I am not a native, but I'm not new to novels....... I cant quite understand the text in this book, Am I the only one??? should I read another book prior to this one in ortherto understand??? (the literary books I had read and came across with no problem at all: pride and prejudice, Frankenstein etc,,, ) thanks in advance
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Trena Reed
Toni Morrison has a unique way of using the language. My husband felt the same way about the book at first, but I encouraged him to continue reading and by the end he understood and enjoyed it.
Some of the illusions she makes at the beginning of the book are foreshadowing--glimpses of future events. The book has a kind of rhythm that may feel unfamiliar, but if you stick with it, by the end, you may find an appreciation for her unique style.
Some books, and this may be one, are better the second time you read them when you know the full story and can appreciate the depth of meaning. I encourage you to continue reading, but in the end, it's okay to say this style/book is not for me.
Good luck.
Some of the illusions she makes at the beginning of the book are foreshadowing--glimpses of future events. The book has a kind of rhythm that may feel unfamiliar, but if you stick with it, by the end, you may find an appreciation for her unique style.
Some books, and this may be one, are better the second time you read them when you know the full story and can appreciate the depth of meaning. I encourage you to continue reading, but in the end, it's okay to say this style/book is not for me.
Good luck.
Conductorwoman
The answer lies in the introduction. I have taught this book several times, always asking the students to read the intro first. The key is in Morrison's stated goal:
"I wanted the reader to be kidnapped, thrown ruthlessly into an alien environment as the first step into a shared experience with the book's population--just as the characters were snatched from one place to another, from any place to any other, without preparation or defense."
This was exactly my experience the first time through. Each time I teach the novel I re-read it. Each time I re-read it, I find something new. This is what makes literature great. If you find yourself tangled in Morrison's use of time and place, know that the author has succeeded. Slow down a little and see how she throws you from 124 to Sweet Home, to the escape, to the prison camp. It's not a read to be done quickly, but one to be puzzled out, thought about, and then savored. It's worth reading again and again. I have come to love this book.
By the way, my students have tried to cop out and watch only the movie and still had difficulty. They discovered that reading the book together has revealed to them what the film was about. If you have/had someone with whom to read together, the experience is even better.
"I wanted the reader to be kidnapped, thrown ruthlessly into an alien environment as the first step into a shared experience with the book's population--just as the characters were snatched from one place to another, from any place to any other, without preparation or defense."
This was exactly my experience the first time through. Each time I teach the novel I re-read it. Each time I re-read it, I find something new. This is what makes literature great. If you find yourself tangled in Morrison's use of time and place, know that the author has succeeded. Slow down a little and see how she throws you from 124 to Sweet Home, to the escape, to the prison camp. It's not a read to be done quickly, but one to be puzzled out, thought about, and then savored. It's worth reading again and again. I have come to love this book.
By the way, my students have tried to cop out and watch only the movie and still had difficulty. They discovered that reading the book together has revealed to them what the film was about. If you have/had someone with whom to read together, the experience is even better.
Amber
I think Morrison is using this style to show us how the trauma of slavery fragments the minds and personalities of those who lived through it. Both Sethe and Paul D. are trying to repress the memories of what happened to them and separate those past selves from the free, fully realized selves that they are trying to be now, for their own survival, but the past is haunting them both psychologically and literally. In modern terms, they have PTSD and they're suffering flashbacks. If it's hard to read, imagine how awful it must be to try to live like that.
But they can never be fully free and fully realized until they can get it out and exorcise it, so to speak. I think the exorcism of Beloved is an allegory for this psychological process of cleansing and healing.
But they can never be fully free and fully realized until they can get it out and exorcise it, so to speak. I think the exorcism of Beloved is an allegory for this psychological process of cleansing and healing.
Greg
Ha, you are exactly right: this novel is needlessly confusing. I did like the creativity, and some passages were beautifully written. But I feel like Morrison wanted to make it all very confusing so that it would feel like a brilliant novel. It worked for the critics, but not for me.
Wordsworth
The previous answers are all correct-- it's definitely an unusual style. I'm very good with English and literary writing, and I had some trouble following along in some points, but by the end a lot of the vaguer events (not to say the highly abstracted details) become clear. I expect she was working in the same vein as One Hundred Years of Solitude, letting the memories flow together and be disjointed vignettes that are only fully understandable after we've experienced them from everyone's viewpoint. (I loved that description toward the end of the book of the perception of "time-- the way it dripped or ran".) I just finished this book for the first time and am putting it in my to-reread pile so I can better appreciate the themes, metaphors, and lyrical passages.
Dinah
I started reading this and felt I was re-reading sections, as most of you have mentioned. I switched to an audible version and love it. Toni Morrison is the narrator, and it just flows with her reading skills.
Kat
I feel the exact same way! I just started the book and have to keep re-reading to feel comfortable with moving on but from my experience reading one of her other books, Toni Morrison has a very unique and special way of writing. So keep reading and sure enough you'll understand everything as things come together.
Barbara
This book is written in a poetic way and if you can suspend the need for linear narrative, this book can astound.
Heather Buckley
I couldn't get through the first page and have too many other books to read, to not enjoy or understand what I'm reading.
Laura Nicholas
I think the fact that this is African American genre is also part of why it seems so confusing. The genre it's self is unique in the way authors discuss time while weaving their texts with the oral African American story telling tradition as well as what seems to be old slave language. The book isn't easy or straightforward especially if, as a reader, there is an unfamiliarity with the genre. African American Fiction is very unique hardly comparable to the "classics." African American literary fiction is complex in unusual and unfamiliar ways. I haven't finished the novel, but I have read a handful of other Morrison's novels and thus far, this is the most beautifully, lyrically, poetically written book of hers I've picked up. It feels a bit like Colson Whithead's Underground Railroad. Magical fiction.
Odille Hansen
I feel the same way. When I got to page 40, I wondered what in the world the author is trying to tell me. I am continuing to read the book (assigned for my book club) and hoping it will become increasingly enlightening. I keep thinking that it must have won a pulitzer for some reason.
Rosalinda
Hi, thank you for your frank question. I had to force myself at first to keep on reading. But then I fell into the cadence and beauty of her writing and loved her writing more than any other writer I ad read before.
Persevere and you will be rewarded with the unique beauty of her writing and an understanding of the horrible history of slavery.
Persevere and you will be rewarded with the unique beauty of her writing and an understanding of the horrible history of slavery.
Rita
Thank you! I'm half way through, still kind of struggling, but I do love the story. At times I am a bit confused but I think this is one of those books I will go back and reread.
Elisa Dell'Aglio
I know it's an old thread but I just wanted to add my personal experience. I am not a native English speaker. I bought this book togheter with the Physics Nobel Prize Winner Feyman's "Six Easy Pieces". I bought both books in Italian... and guess which one I found more difficult?
Definately Beloved! It was quite hard to understand the plot, especially in the first pages, but even in the course of the book: various details are only evoked and never clarified. It is an Author's choice, I guess to suggest that some things are so painful, so inexplicable, that cannot be totally explained, or told.
Definately Beloved! It was quite hard to understand the plot, especially in the first pages, but even in the course of the book: various details are only evoked and never clarified. It is an Author's choice, I guess to suggest that some things are so painful, so inexplicable, that cannot be totally explained, or told.
BP Aryal
It seems difficult but if you are familiar with the storytelling technique it's very interesting. Morrison has used a magic realism technique to tell the story. Please, understand this technique first, then it will be easier for you to enjoy the book.
Deepak Pitaliya
I too find this book very difficult to understand and follow.
Gary Gautier
Try Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. The prose style is more straightforward and it's a great book -- better than Beloved, in my opinion, as Morrison really finds her own voice in Song of Solomon.
Kristine Parrish
As mentioned in previous answers, this is definitely a true reflection of Toni Morrison's writing style. She is SUPER descriptive and poetic in her writing, which can take some time to get used to. I would recommend Jazz & Song of Solomon by her as well!
Nicola
I've just finished it and it's not a straight forward, relatively easy read like P&P and Frankenstein are. There is a lot of moving around in time, things which are hinted at over and over and sometimes are never fully explained, leaving the reader to guess at what happened. At other times the characters can seem to speak in riddles (especially Beloved).
I would think you'd have to have quite a good grasp of both English and Literary skills to really follow what is going on a lot of the time.
P.S. Older books (like the two you mentioned) are often much easier to follow for readers who don't speak English as a first language (unless you are reading a translation of course!). They are all (at least all of the ones I've read have been) plain, straight forward books. They don't jump around a lot in time, they don't have unusual or 'innovative' sentence/book structure and there is no magical realism or similar. Occasionally they have words which you don't really hear in modern speech anymore but the words would all be able to be looked up in a dictionary to work out their meaning so that shouldn't be a problem.
I would think you'd have to have quite a good grasp of both English and Literary skills to really follow what is going on a lot of the time.
P.S. Older books (like the two you mentioned) are often much easier to follow for readers who don't speak English as a first language (unless you are reading a translation of course!). They are all (at least all of the ones I've read have been) plain, straight forward books. They don't jump around a lot in time, they don't have unusual or 'innovative' sentence/book structure and there is no magical realism or similar. Occasionally they have words which you don't really hear in modern speech anymore but the words would all be able to be looked up in a dictionary to work out their meaning so that shouldn't be a problem.
David
I want to thank all those who responded to your comment. When I first started reading Beloved I wondered how it could have won any awards at all. I had to read the 1st chapter twice. I even opened Spark Notes with the hope I would get some sort of clear and concise language regarding its theme / premise. Spark Notes made the book even more ambiguous. I'm coming to realize that this is the intent of Morrison. My first comment was that Beloved is all over the place. Like, duh. But I didn't think it was supposed to be that way. I think the movie would make it more obtuse so I am going to wait until I've read the novel a couple of times. Yes, this book is meant to be read slowly and thoughtfully. It's not a one sitting read. It's not a page turning Sidney Sheldon or Jack Reacher novel. I'm so happy to discover that Beloved is a difficult read and requires a lot of patience on the part of the reader. I've never read a story that demanded so much of my attention. I can't tell you how many times I had to back and re-read a sentence, a paragraph, and now I know I am going to need to read it at least twice and maybe more. Happy reading everyone and thanks to all these who have helped us journey through this wonderful novel.
Julie s
If you have difficulty with Beloved, I suggest to try The Bluest Eye first, which is a lot easier to read. Then, read Beloved
kim v
I found listening to the audiobook while reading the physical book really enhanced the experience and made it much more understandable.
Melissa
It took me a while to get used to the style. You also have to pay a LOT of attention. Also, the other classics you mentioned use more conventional writing than this vernacular. I was about 75 pages in when I finally got the rhythm of it.
Kaelyn McAvoy
Also its in a circular narrative, which is super confusing at the beginning.
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