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A review by naiapard
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
4.0
God dammit, Toni Morrison. The last part was horribly nasty.
This is not the first book I am reading from her, but this is her first book, the debut novel. I would not have picked this one, out of all her books to read, if not for one of my classes` assignments. I mean, I still have [b:Beloved|6149|Beloved|Toni Morrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632283781l/6149._SY75_.jpg|736076] on my “Currently Reading” shelf. I did not need this one.
What I am trying to get at is that I was acquainted with her writing style and the subjects she approaches—and I knew that I would not be prepared for it, no matter how much I would brace for it. The subjects that she tackles are…powerful.
And it hit me straight in the guts.
The book is disturbing. It shows Morrison`s skill in writing and it foreshadows the powerful voice that she would unleash upon the American literary field through the decades that followed (this book was published in `70). But, god dammit.
It is a book written in the third person, following two or more perspectives, but the one perspective that predominates the narration is that of a black girl.
Her story can be summed up in the following line: she lives in a violent world. And I am not saying it lightly. The causality in which that violence is displayed makes it threefold worse.
I mean, it was 1970 in the US. You did not have to create Star Wars-like scenarios to put in scene the struggle of black girls. The bad guys were as Darth Vader-ish as possible. Believe me (and if you don`t, read the book, but don`t say you weren`t warned)
Jesus, I cannot shake off the feeling of wrongness that still clings to my arms.