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A review by lynecia
The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison
3.0
3.5
I appreciate when my favorite writers do double duty as novelists, as well as critics. (See also, Chinua Achebe's adapted lectures and works of criticism. Morrison is indeed in conversation with him). For the most part, I found the lectures accessible and illuminating. For instance, I don't think I've noticed Morrison's refusal to explicitly racialize her characters, even though she has also made it quite clear that she is writing about Black people. I also appreciated that she references her book, Paradise quite a bit, as it will be my next read by her. However, there were some places here that stumped me. I'm not sure if it was the language, or the idea presented that I didn't quite understand, but that is to be expected when one is dealing with a massive intellect such as The Queen's.
Any Morrison devotee - of which I know many of you are here, should read this! I wish it were more in-depth and referenced more of her work, but as these are adapted lectures, not a dissertations, it will have to do. Besides, I left this short book more excited to reading, and re-reading her work ever more closely, and peeling back the layers for myself.
She just scratches the surface of the oft-repeated phrase "Race is a social construct." Yes, it is as any student of Sociology 101 can tell you, but here she attempts to define how that construct is employed in literature (which is a reflection of society).
My faves here are "Being and Becoming the Stranger", and "The Color Fetish".
I appreciate when my favorite writers do double duty as novelists, as well as critics. (See also, Chinua Achebe's adapted lectures and works of criticism. Morrison is indeed in conversation with him). For the most part, I found the lectures accessible and illuminating. For instance, I don't think I've noticed Morrison's refusal to explicitly racialize her characters, even though she has also made it quite clear that she is writing about Black people. I also appreciated that she references her book, Paradise quite a bit, as it will be my next read by her. However, there were some places here that stumped me. I'm not sure if it was the language, or the idea presented that I didn't quite understand, but that is to be expected when one is dealing with a massive intellect such as The Queen's.
Any Morrison devotee - of which I know many of you are here, should read this! I wish it were more in-depth and referenced more of her work, but as these are adapted lectures, not a dissertations, it will have to do. Besides, I left this short book more excited to reading, and re-reading her work ever more closely, and peeling back the layers for myself.
She just scratches the surface of the oft-repeated phrase "Race is a social construct." Yes, it is as any student of Sociology 101 can tell you, but here she attempts to define how that construct is employed in literature (which is a reflection of society).
My faves here are "Being and Becoming the Stranger", and "The Color Fetish".