Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment
I can see why this book has been banned, and while I'm very much against banning books, this one would need careful and thoughtful discussion with teens who read it. I was especially disturbed by
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Miscarriage
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
The Bluest Eye certainly satisfies all of these criteria. It's hard to pick one thing to focus on, but I'll go with a question I saw in my online book club discussion. Someone asked how the freedom of one character, Cholly, compared to the freedom of elderly Black women as described in an earlier passage. In my opinion, Cholly's freedom is freedom from other people, from community and the benefits and responsibilities that come from living in community with other people. He still has to conform to social norms, i.e. behave himself, if he doesn't want to suffer too many bad consequences. But Cholly doesn't have any bonds to others that bind him and impact how he lives his life. For the elderly Black women, freedom is more about freedom from societal expectations. They still live in community with other people, and have benefits and responsibilities that come with that and that shapes how they live their lives. But they no longer feel as pressured to conform to social norms, especially since they're less likely to suffer bad consequences as a result.
This is where Morrison makes you think - what does it mean to be part of a community and to be in community with others? How is this distinct from living among people and in a community? One of the key themes of the TV show "The Good Place" was T.M. Scanlon's question of "What do we owe to each other?" It's easy to jump from there to the question of "What happens when we decide we don't owe each other anything?" But Morrison's depiction of Cholly makes you think - what happens when we feel like we do owe some people something, but there is no one left for you to owe?
It's a sad book, but short, which is why I sailed through it, even if my heart was breaking the whole while. I'm not sure what I'll pick up next but it'll be something given that reading is my latest activity of choice to disconnect from work. 5 stars.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage, Misogyny
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Excrement, Grief, Abandonment