Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Paradise by Toni Morrison

10 reviews

poisonenvy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.0

Toni Morrison's writing is just so beautiful, sometimes too beautiful for the horrible things she was using it to describe. It's poetic and it's flowing, and while it's sometimes deliberately opaque, it is so only in a way that further enhances the experience of reading it. 

This book, the last in Morrison's loose Beloved trilogy, takes place in the late 60s and early 70s, shortly after the civil rights movement ended. It takes place in the black town of Ruby, where the town elders look only to the past despite the fact that the younger town members keep trying to move toward the future, and the convent, just outside of town, where race doesn't seem to exist (and, in fact, the race of the characters who live there are kept deliberately vague).

This book tackles racism, colourism, and sexism in a stark way, with the poetic language highlighting, rather than diminishing, the horror that all three of those come with. It's not told linearly, and deals with a huge cast of characters, and so it takes some paying attention to really follow it (made even more difficult by the fact that I listened to most of it on audiobook. Morrison reads in way that really highlights how poetic her writing really is, and does not change her voice for dialogue or to differentiate different characters speaking, which also made it a little difficult for me, and I found myself needing to listen to some passages multiple times to fully absorb it, but it did make sure that I was paying A Lot of attention while listening), and it's absolutely worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, Mental illness, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs

Minor: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and Eating disorder

mysimas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This one kinda flew over my head. It’s packed with paralels and symbolism, and the ending can be interpreted many possible ways (or maybe just one way, but I’m too dense to nail it down).

Beautiful prose, intriguing characterisation of very flawed people, the amazing all-woman convent (or coven?) made it a worthwile read regardless, and reread might grant more clarity. Powerful, brilliant book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Car accident, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Confinement, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Murder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Infertility, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Incest, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: War and Slavery

michaelion's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.0

I keep finding myself speechless after reading Toni Morrison, so instead of saying "Girl, you did it again," I'll try to leave a proper review this time.

It's beautiful. You can feel where she wanted to go with this book, and the fact that where she wanted to go ended up changing as she wrote, and in Miss Morrison fashion the end is just as marvellous as her other work. I won't put spoilers but there are so many elements in this book that blend together so well, so wonderful, so black and beautiful...

The alternate name for the book War would not have been so fitting as the title of Paradise. The idea of paradise inherently comes with complication and the town of Ruby embodies that. The plights of the characters, even the climax and the ending. So black and beautiful. Miss Morrison girl, you did it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Classism, Abortion, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, and Racism

Minor: Incest

arnoles's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

This is my favorite Toni Morrison novel. It is simply a masterpiece by one of our greatest authors. The prose is gorgeous, the characters are complex and compelling, and the themes of the novel - home, exclusion/inclusion, belonging, generational hope and trauma- resonate timelessly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, and Cancer

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

meggs1005's review against another edition

challenging slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence

tyyne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This read so much like poetry, what a beautiful work of art. But it made it difficult to follow at times and slow to read. I would love to read it again some day to get a better grasp of it, but I’m not sure if I could handle going through all the heartache again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Child death

racheldelaney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The way I absolutely ripped through this in four days is astonishing.

Placeholder until I can articulate a better review other than “sometimes it’s the roots that turn a bad crop and not the weather”. Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and War

shinysarah28's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Self harm

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Abortion, and Slavery

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Misogyny, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Grief, Infertility, and Hate crime

War, Slut-shaming, Whorephobia, Abandonment

tenten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this is probably one of the most challenging books by Morrison i have ever read — it was dense, with a large cast of characters and a nonlinear storyline, but those are the two things i absolutely eat UP in stories. Morrison's take on an all-black town whose founders suffered exclusion from black and white people alike was such an intriguing aspect of it. 
i loved it! it was confusing at times and not a light read by any means but i'm already looking forward to reading it again.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Racism, and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism and Rape