Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Paradise by Toni Morrison

4 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

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