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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
This fragmentary novel follows a Convent of troubled women, or witches, who leave the city of Ruby for differing reasons. Morrison gradually provides hints towards the real chronology of the story, and the ways in which the Convent gained its reputation. In doing so, she talks about matters of race, womanhood, witchcraft and more. I particularly enjoyed seeing the dynamic play out between various women, and seeing how women can be subjugated as 'mad' for various reasons. The story of Mavis and Divine especially stood out to me. Furthermore, by switching between many different perspectives, Morrison gives the novel an uncanny and mysterious tone. The prose is definitely dense, however I enjoyed how this helped to convey a clear atmosphere.
Not my favorite Morrison book. In fact, didn't think I could dislike something by her until I crawled through this one. And it took a while to read because here, I felt, Morrison was so full of herself! And way too many characters. There were nice moments, and the idea of the story is wonderful, but I don't have that kind of time to deal with this kind of writing!
slow-paced
A difficult read but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Definitely the most complex Toni Morrison novel I have read. A lot to unpack here with the women of the Coven and the townspeople of Ruby, I will give it another go.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Upon picking up this book I feared I would not like it as much as Jazz. Yet as I read on the more it because abundantly clear that it was actually becoming my favourite Morrison book yet. I loved the social themes in this book. They way it tackled so much, created such distinctive and nuanced characters and had a compelling plot in so few pages is an absolute testament to this author's incredible talent. The format of the story where it gives you a scene, goes back in time and then works it's way back to the scene, genuinely had me incredibly intrigued. I adore Morrison's storytelling voice and look forward to picking up more by this author.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read this for a book club - really wanted to love it cus I've heard such amazing things about toni morrison and I still need to read the bluest eye. Maybe I needed to take some notes or sth but I just couldn't follow who was who and all the connections so I don't feel I was able to appreciate it. Really enjoyed elements but then it switched and I didn't know what was happening!
A great book to start off the year I gotta pick up more Morrison
It's so good but also so rich and I'm too tired BC uni :(((