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A review by savaging
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
4.0
It's an uncomfortable book. For one thing, most of the main characters are casually misogynistic. And then there's the violence.
I think Toni Morrison is fundamentally an artist of the scene -- like a Ken Loach film, everything in a Morrison book exists to set up a series of rich, nuanced conversation (but add in some ghosts and witches). This means there are a few scenes in Song of Solomon that are perfect. But I sometimes feel like Morrison jumps too quickly to the scene, in a way that isn't believable to me. Suddenly a cruel and uncaring man inexplicably becomes vulnerable and emotional with his son, and it feels the motivating force is purely Morrison's desire to see what they might say if they started saying what was in their hearts. It feels like writing that shows its seams.
But all this feels like petty quibbling with a phenomenal writer.
I think Toni Morrison is fundamentally an artist of the scene -- like a Ken Loach film, everything in a Morrison book exists to set up a series of rich, nuanced conversation (but add in some ghosts and witches). This means there are a few scenes in Song of Solomon that are perfect. But I sometimes feel like Morrison jumps too quickly to the scene, in a way that isn't believable to me. Suddenly a cruel and uncaring man inexplicably becomes vulnerable and emotional with his son, and it feels the motivating force is purely Morrison's desire to see what they might say if they started saying what was in their hearts. It feels like writing that shows its seams.
But all this feels like petty quibbling with a phenomenal writer.