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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
4.5 toni morrisons language is so cutting and specific. this book is really about the people that surround milkman, particularly the women in his life— i loved how unfixable and complex the relationships were in this book
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So powerful, strong and honest. My favourite Morrison so far.
(4.5 stars). Unbelievably rich and lyrical, and probably some of the best writing ever committed to paper. But it also loses a half star for its overpacked, often ludicrous plotting. More after our book club discussion...
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Took me a little bit to get into it and then I devoured most of it in one sitting because Toni Morrison's writing is just so good. Incredible book. Felt a bit more accessible than Beloved and was less emotionally devastating, but still just so good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
90% of the book is flawless. This was my first foray into Toni Morrison's work and it's a delight to find all the hubbub about her to prove valid.
It truly was a joy to read and see all the settings and colours manifest through her fantastic prose.
Nonetheless, what keeps it from being perfect was the last portion of the novel that ironically contained a plot. It was drawn out and yet abrupt all at the same time. Perhaps I need to look around and see the deep analysis surrounding that section and I can see somewhat of its merit now in retrospect but as of right now, that is where I stand.
Be that as it may, I am not only a fan of Morrison but now an unofficial student of her craft and I will definitely be looking into more of her work.
It truly was a joy to read and see all the settings and colours manifest through her fantastic prose.
Nonetheless, what keeps it from being perfect was the last portion of the novel that ironically contained a plot. It was drawn out and yet abrupt all at the same time. Perhaps I need to look around and see the deep analysis surrounding that section and I can see somewhat of its merit now in retrospect but as of right now, that is where I stand.
Be that as it may, I am not only a fan of Morrison but now an unofficial student of her craft and I will definitely be looking into more of her work.
Most of the time I was reading this book I greatly disliked it. Pretty much every chapter I had a “WTF?!” moment. It seemed to jump to new intense plot arcs every chapter and I just didn’t understand.
BUT the ending really brought it all together and made me realize how much I had missed. So I looked up the CliffNotes analysis and that REALLY made me realize how much I missed.
So I would give it a 2 for how much I liked it while reading it. But having read the analysis and realized how much I missed and looking back upon it now I would give it a 4 or higher. So I’m going with a 3.
BUT the ending really brought it all together and made me realize how much I had missed. So I looked up the CliffNotes analysis and that REALLY made me realize how much I missed.
So I would give it a 2 for how much I liked it while reading it. But having read the analysis and realized how much I missed and looking back upon it now I would give it a 4 or higher. So I’m going with a 3.
Not like any book I’ve encountered before, the magic and complexity just swirling through each character. Hearing Toni Morrison read it was enchanting, and I hope to read it and listen to it again.
Few messages have come to me in such a manner. It seems this country has come to a crossroads which it refuses to divorce itself from. There is a path, a moral one, which refuses to ignored. And I find it is because one cannot simply rip itself away from the anatomy of the whole. It is an undertaking which must be completed as one organism.
I began this book unaware of its content. I began this book not knowing that Ferguson & America would once again have to arrive at the crossroad through which humanity can collectively arrive at home in peace. Eerily enough, I finished it the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is through this odd backdrop that this book has presented itself beyond relevant to the self which seeks peace among the masses. Never has a book delved so deeply into my personal search for reconciliation amongst races. With race, in itself, being a figment of human construct.
Hearing the thunder in Dr. King’s voice, hearing the wild winds aching within this book, seeing the fury build within the American & Black community has culminated a passion which seems to always be recharged when I realize that same path home, towards peace, for all, has yet to be chosen.
It is for this reason I chose to share my thoughts on this book & the task at hand. Things constantly change while remaining devastatingly the same. I see now there are topical empathetic inferences that come along with trying to apply one’s self to another’s shoes. I see now that this may only occur on the surface no matter how hard we try to placate or identify. Though we may try to shove the pain of others inside so as to fuse their process with ours, so that we may endure, so that we may seek justice on each other’s behalf so that we may call each other brethren. This may be an act in futility. For if one is constantly under siege as the characters in this book, we may never know the incessant level of strife or stress. It is as the constant arched back of the sole feline in the midst of a rabid pack. For even if safe conditions existed it is not easy to become laxed when one has been conditioned to constantly adorn a defensive attire. Though I may seek with the utmost to understand, I know it is merely the surface. Does that make my empathy less powerful. To me, no. To the sufferers, yes. I can summon the anguish from my bones to those who suffer but what do I know of the potency of a mother’s tear who reared a child I never knew. Our concerns, not bore in equity, in the slightest. Yet, the sincerity is & perhaps this is the best of what we may hope for. That the concern, anguish, will to surpass a nagging beast which will continue to peel at the same wound, will somehow bridge the gap & propel us into a new era. Perhaps in these binds the healing process may find grounds for germination. The environment will become fertile. The descendants from which the seed has spawned will not forget from where they derived but will continue on in this verdant path towards the light, no less. It is a lofty hope. A hope I cannot afford to abandon. No character, as in life, is without sin, without flaw, these flaws, attributes interweave as the circulatory system for the beating of the story’s vital organ. The conflict which humans cannot seem to escape & even crave to an extent.
I leave off with a small segment from the book I found to stir me deeply.
Everybody wants a black man’s life. Not his dead life; I mean living life. It’s the condition our condition is in. What good is a man’s life if he can’t even choose what to die for? Everybody wants the life of a black man. Fair is one more thing I’ve given up. I hope I never have to ask myself that question. It is about love. What else? What else? What else? What else? What else?
I began this book unaware of its content. I began this book not knowing that Ferguson & America would once again have to arrive at the crossroad through which humanity can collectively arrive at home in peace. Eerily enough, I finished it the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is through this odd backdrop that this book has presented itself beyond relevant to the self which seeks peace among the masses. Never has a book delved so deeply into my personal search for reconciliation amongst races. With race, in itself, being a figment of human construct.
Hearing the thunder in Dr. King’s voice, hearing the wild winds aching within this book, seeing the fury build within the American & Black community has culminated a passion which seems to always be recharged when I realize that same path home, towards peace, for all, has yet to be chosen.
It is for this reason I chose to share my thoughts on this book & the task at hand. Things constantly change while remaining devastatingly the same. I see now there are topical empathetic inferences that come along with trying to apply one’s self to another’s shoes. I see now that this may only occur on the surface no matter how hard we try to placate or identify. Though we may try to shove the pain of others inside so as to fuse their process with ours, so that we may endure, so that we may seek justice on each other’s behalf so that we may call each other brethren. This may be an act in futility. For if one is constantly under siege as the characters in this book, we may never know the incessant level of strife or stress. It is as the constant arched back of the sole feline in the midst of a rabid pack. For even if safe conditions existed it is not easy to become laxed when one has been conditioned to constantly adorn a defensive attire. Though I may seek with the utmost to understand, I know it is merely the surface. Does that make my empathy less powerful. To me, no. To the sufferers, yes. I can summon the anguish from my bones to those who suffer but what do I know of the potency of a mother’s tear who reared a child I never knew. Our concerns, not bore in equity, in the slightest. Yet, the sincerity is & perhaps this is the best of what we may hope for. That the concern, anguish, will to surpass a nagging beast which will continue to peel at the same wound, will somehow bridge the gap & propel us into a new era. Perhaps in these binds the healing process may find grounds for germination. The environment will become fertile. The descendants from which the seed has spawned will not forget from where they derived but will continue on in this verdant path towards the light, no less. It is a lofty hope. A hope I cannot afford to abandon. No character, as in life, is without sin, without flaw, these flaws, attributes interweave as the circulatory system for the beating of the story’s vital organ. The conflict which humans cannot seem to escape & even crave to an extent.
I leave off with a small segment from the book I found to stir me deeply.
Everybody wants a black man’s life. Not his dead life; I mean living life. It’s the condition our condition is in. What good is a man’s life if he can’t even choose what to die for? Everybody wants the life of a black man. Fair is one more thing I’ve given up. I hope I never have to ask myself that question. It is about love. What else? What else? What else? What else? What else?
Weirdly sexual. Should have predicted that by the title.