Scan barcode
A review by pnwbibliophile
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a tough one to capture in a review. Toni Morison has a way of portraying culture and identity with language in a way that we seldom see. In our lifetimes, we’ll only see perhaps a handful of author’s who are not only good with words, but are using their work to give representation to those who need it and doing it in a way that is pioneering.
This was an emotionally difficult read. It hits at childhood rape, absent parents, alcoholism, poverty, racism (including internalized racism), and sexism.
The overall theme showing how our society teaches black children to see themselves and their counterparts as ugly for their blackness was poignant, to a chilling degree. Parts of this novel made me very uncomfortable to the point where I was convinced I didn’t like it at times (Cholly and Soaphead Church were especially hard to read, for example).
Digesting that this was her first novel and reading her forward really helped me see the full perspective. This is one where you’re doing yourself a disservice not to read the foreword. I liked that she mentioned that she wasn’t satisfied that the disjointed perspectives made “many readers touched, but not moved.” That was to some extent how I felt. Perhaps it was my ADHD, but I had trouble digging into the feelings of each character because the story would shift to a new perspective by the time I was easing into one.
That said, I love when authors don’t follow the typical formula we’re all accustomed to and acknowledge that we all put far too many expectations on new authors and the weight of those expectations is even heavier for the pioneers, women, and POC. Toni was a new black female author when this was published in 1970. I choose to critique it as if I was reading it then. In which case, this was wildly adept use of a novel to weave a tragic story with beautiful, literary language interspersed with authentic colloquialisms and AAVE to give us a glimpse at the African American experience. Definitely made me eager to read more of her work.
I’ll leave you with my favorite lines: “This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live.”
This was an emotionally difficult read. It hits at childhood rape, absent parents, alcoholism, poverty, racism (including internalized racism), and sexism.
The overall theme showing how our society teaches black children to see themselves and their counterparts as ugly for their blackness was poignant, to a chilling degree. Parts of this novel made me very uncomfortable to the point where I was convinced I didn’t like it at times (Cholly and Soaphead Church were especially hard to read, for example).
Digesting that this was her first novel and reading her forward really helped me see the full perspective. This is one where you’re doing yourself a disservice not to read the foreword. I liked that she mentioned that she wasn’t satisfied that the disjointed perspectives made “many readers touched, but not moved.” That was to some extent how I felt. Perhaps it was my ADHD, but I had trouble digging into the feelings of each character because the story would shift to a new perspective by the time I was easing into one.
That said, I love when authors don’t follow the typical formula we’re all accustomed to and acknowledge that we all put far too many expectations on new authors and the weight of those expectations is even heavier for the pioneers, women, and POC. Toni was a new black female author when this was published in 1970. I choose to critique it as if I was reading it then. In which case, this was wildly adept use of a novel to weave a tragic story with beautiful, literary language interspersed with authentic colloquialisms and AAVE to give us a glimpse at the African American experience. Definitely made me eager to read more of her work.
I’ll leave you with my favorite lines: “This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, and Incest