Reviews

Dom by Toni Morrison

Only show reviews with written explanations

cati's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

Read this after I finished Song of Solomon, so that's going to affect my rating of this. Hm. It's not a bad book, I just enjoyed her other book better. But! We're talking about this book, not that one. I enjoyed Frank and Cee's relationship, I'm a sucker for good sibling dynamics. Of course, the prose is beautiful, though, it's less flowery than Solomon. There were parts where Morrison would describe the death of Frank's friends and it would disturb me--disturbed me more than what McCarthy wrote in Blood Meridian (yeah i said it). I think I wanted more from this book. I understand that Morrison stopped writing this book for a bit (according to Wikipedia) due to a tragedy in her life, so maybe that affected the length of this book, but, who knows. I think this would be a good introductory book for readers interested in getting into Toni Morrison's books.

Content Warnings

saz's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

5.0

sterra's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

I finished this a couple months ago, but I needed time to process exactly how I felt about this book. And then I got lazy and king of forgot about it. Either way I certainly had time to think on it.

Frank is a veteran from the Korean War. He's haunted by his memories of the war, and is unable to move on despite how much he tries to ignore it. When he gets word that his sister is in trouble he has to set aside his trauma to return to a place he never thought he'd see again; home.

In typical Toni Morrison fashion it was primarily concerned with evocation rather than more direct prose. It's her style so I can't really complain. But, my enjoyment of this book was hindered by it in this case. I read this thinking it would be more akin to Beloved - an exploration of characters with events interwoven throughout. Instead, this was mostly just Frank's thought process as he undertakes a journey. The plot which is what made me pick up the book in the first place was secondary. It made the outcome feel anticlimactic. I get that that's kind of Morrison's MO, but it felt tired with this one.

I thought there would be more about Cee's problems at home to parallel Frank's inability to force himself back. Or about the medical experimentation she was forced to go through. Overall, to me it lacked her perspective or at least a general perspective on her situation. It didn't have to follow Cee necessarily, but a discussion with Frank or another female character to expand on her circumstances would have made this a lot more engrossing. It sort of felt like Cee existed as a catalyst for Frank's growth and nothing more. After Cee's POV was introduced I thought it would be more balanced.

I also was kind of bored with Frank's experiences. At this point PTSD is pretty well documented and I'm aware generally with how it affects people. There wasn't anything special about Frank or what he went through to make this stand out. It was written in the standard Toni Morrison way, Frank had the usual 'people aren't all that they seem' Toni Morrison backstory and it was rife with interesting but ultimately unnecessary symbolism. It just felt predictable and stale.

If you haven't read any other of Morrison's books or you are in love with her approach then go for it. It's not a bad book, but it's not for me and I don't think it's particularly good objectively either. Especially compared to her other works.