Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Having never read any Toni Morrison before (I know right—how pathetic!!), I went into this novel knowing nothing other than its status as a beloved classic of Black literature. What I got was a deeply gothic, strange, and haunting tale of familial bonds broken and stitched back together within the legacy of slavery. Shifting back and forth through time as Sethe grapples with her painful memories as an enslaved woman at Sweet Home plantation, Beloved expertly evokes the disturbing and horrific realities of slavery and the way it continues to haunt the present. It's one of the most well-crafted extended metaphors I think I've ever read—enslavement as a restless spirit, the aftereffects reverberating throughout the home until it begins to destroy the present.
After finishing the novel, I found out Morrison used Margaret Garner, a runaway who killed her child rather than return to a life of enslavement, as the basis for her story. These historic roots only amplify the deeply painful and disturbing tale Morrison has conjured. As such, Beloved serves as a prime example of the ways fiction and reality intersect to create something new and thought-provoking.
In essence, I vote throwing out all Hemingway required reading and replacing it with this. 16 years of schooling (as an English major!) without a single Morrison novel as required reading is honestly embarrassing, and I hope our educational curriculum seeks to do better. Not just stopping with the "classics" like Morrison, but delving into a wider span of voices and ideas beyond the canon.
After finishing the novel, I found out Morrison used Margaret Garner, a runaway who killed her child rather than return to a life of enslavement, as the basis for her story. These historic roots only amplify the deeply painful and disturbing tale Morrison has conjured. As such, Beloved serves as a prime example of the ways fiction and reality intersect to create something new and thought-provoking.
In essence, I vote throwing out all Hemingway required reading and replacing it with this. 16 years of schooling (as an English major!) without a single Morrison novel as required reading is honestly embarrassing, and I hope our educational curriculum seeks to do better. Not just stopping with the "classics" like Morrison, but delving into a wider span of voices and ideas beyond the canon.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful, haunting, disturbing, this book is a gorgeously written story that will stick with you.
it was okay. Morrison did a beautiful job with the language and the word choice and how everything came together. the attention to detail was cool. i just didn't like it lol
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had to actually slow my reading speed down for this one; the plot feels a little disorganized, but I think intentionally so. Morrison certainly is a master of her craft, however — brilliant mind to write a story with this kind of power.