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makayla_muir's review against another edition
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
3.75
I am left feeling noticeably, but not significantly, underwhelmed. As I was reading, I was frequently irked by the sense that I was waiting for the really profound and intense and moving moment of the work, teetering on the edge of it. I think Toni Morrison herself explains the effect of the novel perfectly in the afterward: "...many readers remain touched but not moved."
Why this is or what exactly caused me to feel this way, I'm still pondering as I write this. Is it because Pecola's request and yearning for blue eyes feel so pushed into the background of the novel, outshone almost by other shocking, gut wrenching, abhorrent moments? Sure, it was disabling to see how societies prejudices and self-loathing fuelled culture could manifest itself in such a way into a child. This makes me think of the blonde-haired, white-skinned, blue-eyed dolls Pecola received for Christmas each year and tore apart or her hatred for Shirley Temple. I loved the remarkably unique and nuanced way we were let into Pecola's mind here. But again, I felt an overall lack of tragedy or pain. Maybe this does come down to the fact that I can only ever sympathise, distantly fathom, Pecola's situation. Maybe the pain and shock and tragedy can really only ever strike those who can actually understand it, who have lived through it. In saying that, I do believe that a sense of Pecola's self-loathing, loss and confusion of identity, unworthiness, can be found in all of us, especially in young women. I think this is where Morrison shines -showing the things that all humans have wished for or are wishing for or will eventually wish for. That is, capturing the silly, ever-changing idea of beauty, fitting in with everyone else, feeling worthy or good enough, wishing you had something someone else has. It's true that we have all thought that if we could change just one thing about ourselves -the size of our bellies, the shape of our noses, the colour of our eyes- everything else wrong with our lives will be better, we'll be happy and content, we'll believe ourselves to be worthy of love. So, despite the emotion of this book not necessarily fully hitting home with me, I do believe this to be a very sombre and unforgiving story of what it means to be human. A necessary read and one that has given me an insight like no other into the inner workings of internalized racism, how this comes to be, and the subtle yet drastic influences this can have on the singular and the many.
I could keep adding notes onto here for hours.
Why this is or what exactly caused me to feel this way, I'm still pondering as I write this. Is it because Pecola's request and yearning for blue eyes feel so pushed into the background of the novel, outshone almost by other shocking, gut wrenching, abhorrent moments? Sure, it was disabling to see how societies prejudices and self-loathing fuelled culture could manifest itself in such a way into a child. This makes me think of the blonde-haired, white-skinned, blue-eyed dolls Pecola received for Christmas each year and tore apart or her hatred for Shirley Temple. I loved the remarkably unique and nuanced way we were let into Pecola's mind here. But again, I felt an overall lack of tragedy or pain. Maybe this does come down to the fact that I can only ever sympathise, distantly fathom, Pecola's situation. Maybe the pain and shock and tragedy can really only ever strike those who can actually understand it, who have lived through it. In saying that, I do believe that a sense of Pecola's self-loathing, loss and confusion of identity, unworthiness, can be found in all of us, especially in young women. I think this is where Morrison shines -showing the things that all humans have wished for or are wishing for or will eventually wish for. That is, capturing the silly, ever-changing idea of beauty, fitting in with everyone else, feeling worthy or good enough, wishing you had something someone else has. It's true that we have all thought that if we could change just one thing about ourselves -the size of our bellies, the shape of our noses, the colour of our eyes- everything else wrong with our lives will be better, we'll be happy and content, we'll believe ourselves to be worthy of love. So, despite the emotion of this book not necessarily fully hitting home with me, I do believe this to be a very sombre and unforgiving story of what it means to be human. A necessary read and one that has given me an insight like no other into the inner workings of internalized racism, how this comes to be, and the subtle yet drastic influences this can have on the singular and the many.
I could keep adding notes onto here for hours.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Racism, and Antisemitism
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