Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Recitatif

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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vanesst's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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laurarosessupposes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

This is such an interesting and well crafted exploration of race and the human desire for answers (or perhaps, more accurately, the human desire to label everything) in a way which forces the reader to be introspective and reflect on their own prejudices, expectations, and biases.

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

⚠️ i recommend reading the story before Zadie Smith’s introduction.
the story itself was thought provoking, really no flaws, it just wasn’t the most engrossing thing i’ve ever read, but i want to talk about the introduction. at first i was reluctant to read it because i thought it would contain spoilers (it kinda did) and because it’s as long as the short story itself. but after finishing the story i needed some context and explanation, and the introduction came through (without offering some “definitive answer”). it was interesting and insightful and made me appreciate even more the ever-purposeful Toni Morrison (this is her only short story?!), and the excerpt from her speech listing the steps for a racist society really resonated with me. most of all, i enjoyed the new perspective it gave me on the story: the “somebody” in everybody, the value of racially-defined experiences, and the commonality we all share as humans. here’s my take, for what it’s worth: the point is that Twyla’s and Roberta’s respective races are not meant to be concluded (that much is obvious), but overtly interchangeable—not just that readers may interpret it either way, but they should interpret it both ways, in every scenario, and see how the meaning changes. very good

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