Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - The Bluest Eye

I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to rate this below 5 stars. Content/trigger warning for racism, depression, anxiety, trauma, rape, murder, neglect, abanding children, incest, sexual assault, pedofillia, religious trauma,

Content Warnings

seawarrior's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An arresting, gut-wrenching story of the pervasive power of internalizing hatred. Morrison's skill for writing fleshed-out characters whose experiences reflect and denounce racism, classism and misogyny is awe-inspiring throughout her first novel. Her prose was lyrical, observant and stinging with relevance, which kept me glued to the pages. However, the detail used to describe sexual violence against preteen girls was so disturbing it felt unnecessary. Her inclusion of these segments started to disillusion me as they went on and worsened, but Claudia's voice in the last chapter was reinvigorating if not tragic. Claudia and Frieda are the most endearing characters throughout this story, and I doubt I will ever forget them. Their allied but secret rebellions against racism and misogyny are bathed in childlike innocence but still powerful, as we never see them internalize the hatred of their aggressors the way most of the book's other characters do. Ultimately, this is a disturbing but meaningful story, though the subject matter will make it a rough read for many.

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michaelion's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

At first, I didn't get it. Then, I was starting to get it. Then, by the end, I thought I didn't get it. But apparently I got it the whole time, it's just that the time this book was written for is very different from the time of today. Things have changed a lot, but in many ways after reading this they haven't changed at all. I don't think I liked this book very much, but in some ways I did. I like Morrison's writing style and use of language. Something about it felt very familiar, very eerie, which made it unknown and familiar again. The things she wanted to say, to me, with the hindsight of 52 years in my 22 year old life, have been said again and again and I found myself asking "What was the point?" Which is never a good thing to have to ask. Not every book needs a lesson or a moral or a point. I know what the point was, I've seen it since I was as young as 3 years old, when my parents taught me black was beautiful and thus I never wished to be white, and I understood what race was, meant, and symbolized before I could write my own name down with a steady hand. I realize that the point was made 52 years ago when it was published, or 42 years ago, having been seen with the fresh eyes of a new decade, or even 32 years ago with the fresh eyes of a new generation. By the time I was born the book was probably just a memory of the shadow of an era. So now, personally, I don't like this book, but I do. I respect it. I'm sure had I been 22 when it was published in 1970 I would've loved this book. But again, things have changed and also things haven't. I see that it was important for the time, and it still kind of is, but now reading it I felt the sour feeling in my stomach I do reading and watching media from the decades that have come between then and now: it just felt like black trauma. Too much of it. I'm just tired. Been tired of it since before I was a teenager. Good book. Don't know if I would recommend it, but I certainly will reread.

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