Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Recitatif

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

16 reviews

lidia7's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

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

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takarakei's review against another edition

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reflective fast-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

Really enjoyed listening to Zadie Smith's accompanying analysis of the only short story Toni Morrison wrote, which she posits makes this story even more significant. This one is really a thinker.

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robinks's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

When I first heard about the concept of this short story, I was so intrigued. Now having read it, it really made me think about race and class and growing up. I wish the introduction was an afterword, as it contained many spoilers of the content.

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jjjjo's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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ldpaige's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I thoroughly enjoyed both Smith’s essay and Morrison’s only short story. Both made me think about what I would consider Blackness and Whiteness in the case of the two main characters and made me see race in a totally different light than before I read this book.

btw, i think twyla is white and roberta is black.

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aishallnot's review

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challenging mysterious reflective

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

"Two little girls who knew what nobody else in the world knew—how not to ask questions. How to believe what had to be believed. There was politeness in that reluctance and generosity as well. Is your mother sick too? No, she dances all night. Oh—and an understanding nod."

This was my first toni morrison read finishing from cover to cover and I gotta say this was a pretty decent read. I didn't mind that this was short but this is a book with some questions I have but also an understanding of the themes in this story and how we see identity. I kinda have my theory on which person is what race but I think with "what the hell happened to maggie" line just adds many layers to this among other things.

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mx_sunshine's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was very interesting. I’ll definitely be reading more from Toni Morrison. I love her writing style.
My favourite part was about the signs. Very tense. I’ve never read such an open ended story.
Zadie Smith’s introduction was very insightful but it unfortunately shaped my thoughts on the story before I had a chance to read it.

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akane_readsyt's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Once again brilliant storytelling from Morrison! One girl is White and the other is Black but you’re never told which one is which. You can’t help but try and guess who is White and who is Black, which is a clever way of being confronted with the stereotypes you have about race. As Zadie Smith noted in the introduction, society has structured our belief in needing categorization so even as I went into the story thinking I wouldn’t try to guess, I couldn’t help but attempt and try to categorize Roberta and Twyla. Maybe that’s the point of Morrison’s story; to make the reader confront and question their unconscious bias.

It’s a short book making it a quick read, especially as I was engaged the whole time. Very thought provoking and interesting story!

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lk3ssaf's review against another edition

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reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A great short story, that definitely plays with the preconceptions of the reader. The introduction by Zadie Smith is worth reading as well, but only after you've already read the short story. I agreed with so much of what Zadie Smith said, and there is so much to be discussed about Maggie and what she represents, even though the book focuses so much about Twyla and Roberta.

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