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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Sadly, I don't get it, it's so all over the place that I couldn't keep up. I know that this is the intention, but it just wasn't for me.
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Jazz is a puzzle that I'm not sure I solved, I annotated all over it for sure and I'm sure that if I read it again I will do the same all over but with different things.
Layers, there are layers to this book, you can choose to read the upper layers for the plot, what happened with Violet, Dorcas, and Joe? Where did they come from? What made them who they are now?
The other layer, to me the most interesting, is the layer where you try to figure out the way Morrison structures the book, the narrator, who is it? What are we reading? Letters? Diary entries? Their thoughts before bed? It's all open to interpretation and, even though I came up with a few things, I am still not sure what it is for sure but it made me think about many things about life, death, The City.
It is beautifully written, with passages that are like poetry and imagery that just wowed me, like:
"Maybe [the tree] cracked from the inside, bored through by crawling life that had to have its own way too, and just crept and bunched and gnawed and burrowed until the whole thing was pitted through with the service it rendered to others."
I just love how I can picture that tree and all that happens to it.
The plot is complicated, chronologically it goes from Violet's grandmother's teenage years to when Violet and Joe move to The City. It goes backwards in time and then comes back to the present to put into perspective their decisions, their lives.
It's more of a 3.5 that I give it but a high one because it's just so well crafted.
I recommend it to those who like a puzzle, who like complex stories that don't just spell it all out. Anyone who likes beautiful writing.
Layers, there are layers to this book, you can choose to read the upper layers for the plot, what happened with Violet, Dorcas, and Joe? Where did they come from? What made them who they are now?
The other layer, to me the most interesting, is the layer where you try to figure out the way Morrison structures the book, the narrator, who is it? What are we reading? Letters? Diary entries? Their thoughts before bed? It's all open to interpretation and, even though I came up with a few things, I am still not sure what it is for sure but it made me think about many things about life, death, The City.
It is beautifully written, with passages that are like poetry and imagery that just wowed me, like:
"Maybe [the tree] cracked from the inside, bored through by crawling life that had to have its own way too, and just crept and bunched and gnawed and burrowed until the whole thing was pitted through with the service it rendered to others."
I just love how I can picture that tree and all that happens to it.
The plot is complicated, chronologically it goes from Violet's grandmother's teenage years to when Violet and Joe move to The City. It goes backwards in time and then comes back to the present to put into perspective their decisions, their lives.
It's more of a 3.5 that I give it but a high one because it's just so well crafted.
I recommend it to those who like a puzzle, who like complex stories that don't just spell it all out. Anyone who likes beautiful writing.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first I didn’t “get” the narration style, but once I understood the story’s flow, I really enjoyed this book. This was the first I’ve read of this series; I’ll have to start the series in order and read this again.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Jazz focuses on the lives of a black couple, Joe and Violet Trace, who moved from rural Virginia to NY fairly soon after they married. The story goes back and forth in time, from Violet's childhood after her mother dies to Joe's origin as the child of a "wild woman". Though a short book, this is not a quick read.
Joe and Violet have no children, and all seems fine, until he becomes obsessed with a teenager, Dorcas, in their NY city neighborhood. Honestly this part of the story does not fit with Joe's personality as we have met him, so it's a bit confusing. Violet forgives him, Felice (Dorcas's best friend) seems to forgive him, and life in the city goes on.
Joe and Violet have no children, and all seems fine, until he becomes obsessed with a teenager, Dorcas, in their NY city neighborhood. Honestly this part of the story does not fit with Joe's personality as we have met him, so it's a bit confusing. Violet forgives him, Felice (Dorcas's best friend) seems to forgive him, and life in the city goes on.
Διαβάστε και την ελληνική κριτική στις βιβλιοαλχημείες.
After reading for the second time Toni Morrison's great novel [b:Beloved|6149|Beloved|Toni Morrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347984578l/6149._SY75_.jpg|736076] I decided to read the next book called «Jazz» in her Dantesque trilogy of African American history from slavery (Beloved) to freedom (Paradise). From Hell to Paradise.
«Jazz» takes place during the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age.
But of course none of the protagonists are intellectuals belonging to the Harlem Renaissance and the word jazz is not even mentioned in the book, not a single time.
From the blurb:
Joe Trace shoots dead his lover, eighteen-year-old Dorcas. At her funeral, Joe's wife, Violet tries with a knife to disfigure the corpse.
The story revolves around this incident that already happened (so this is not a spoiler).
The narrative takes us back and forth in time. Before the incident, after the incident, during the incident, and sometimes back, in late 19th century, seeing the lives of Joe and Violet when they were young, and even further back during the time of their grandparents, just after the abolition of slavery.
If this book weren't written by Toni Morrison I would have had a hard time with all this fragmented storyline. But thanks to Morrison's mellifluous language, I really enjoyed this book. I didn't love it as much as Beloved but I had a good time.
And I sense a tradition slowly emerging. I will try to read all of Morrison's novels (11), one per month, and finish with a non-fiction book exactly a year after I started my first Morrison. («Beloved»)
October's Morrison will be [b:Paradise|5198|Paradise|Toni Morrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558921210l/5198._SX50_.jpg|2458248]. the final book in the Dantesque trilogy.
I feel a bit intimidated by it since from what I've heard it is her most demanding and complex book. But since I threw my hat in the ring, I will punch above my head, and succeed.