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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Classism
Moderate: Death, Sexual content
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy
Wanted to get myself back into the swing of reading with a much shorter book, though I was still honestly surprised by just how short this book actually ended up being. But, a short book doesn't mean anything bad by itself, and I liked this, but also was honestly left wanting more.
This was her debut book, written in the seventies, and you can honestly tell it is. The fractured storytelling is good when it's done well, but I felt here it was only done in a passable way. It felt like very little had actually happened in the story, and all of these inciting incidents happened very quickly near the end. I went into this book knowing she gets raped by her father, and thought it happened earlier on in the novel, but it's right at the very end, and everything is just kinda wrapped-up after that. The story seems more like something that's building up to a story that hasn't happened yet, as everything is more just an introduction of every character and a flashback of their past and why they are the way that they are.
I didn't dislike it though. I thought the simple language and shortness allowed the book to have a much stronger punch with its messaging. The feeling of being dehumanized, never having others to comfort you, the restrictions placed on black women in a society that values whiteness and conformity and demureness above all else. It was written eloquently and I did love it for that. Morrison wrote the book simply, but also in a language that is beautiful to read and with imagery that sticks with you for a while. I felt for the characters in the novel and how even though they try to fight to save themselves and rise up against a racist and patriarchal system, it all just claims them in the end, and they pass that trauma and pain onto their children, and the cycle just keeps continuing.
I can see why it's a classic to assign in schools, as it definitely has vibes of 'let's teach white kids how bad racism really is' that you see in a lot of other old books that predate this, that focus on slavery or life afterwards and a lot exist to grapple with that very question, even if it wasn't written specifically for white people. Kinda like how my high school English 11 AP watched Twelve Years a Slave as part of our unit so we could understand how bad slavery truly was.
This review was all over the place, but I did really like The Bluest Eye. A bit more than I thought I would, honestly. When a book is concise, the review doesn't need to take up any unneeded space. This book said what it had to say and it did so in a punch. I liked it for that. I liked how the writing was poetic despite being simple. I just wish it was longer, I wish it had more to it, I wish it had more going on instead of mainly just being a big series of flashbacks setting everything up. Perhaps I'd like Beloved more? It's also on my to-read list.
Seek out non-profit organizations that spend their energy and time towards fighting book bans, challenges, and censorship across America and donate to them, or even join in their cause if you can. 2024 was the year where we had the most book bans in a recorded year in a very long time. We need books like The Bluest Eye, and others that are commonly the subject of such bans. And if you think a review isn't the right place to put this, then I don't think you understand what authors like Morrison were writing for, or about.
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Racism, Rape
Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy