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cocopopsmonkey 's review for:
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It feels like a herculean task trying to describe this novel and talk about it in a critically evaluative way without sounding like praising it for the sake of praise-- it really is as good as people say it is. Morrison was a master at her craft, the way she wove different deliveries of narratives and perspectives into each other within an order that served the plot perfectly.
The point that held the most resonance was the speculation on the idea of "good slave owners/good ones". The story revisits this concept multiple times with different characters, with a backdrop of an instance that may portray a "goodness" in the favour of the concept or an act that contrasts strongly. And it is rather fascinating (read: absurd) to think of the discussion surrounding the emancipation of Black people being down to "good white people/kind slave owners" and not collective acts of self liberation with other oppressed peoples, making slave owning unprofitable and unviable. This need for a history that shows some people who participate in the acts of evil we witness today doing so because they "mean well" and not for their own interests, and thus furthering this false idea that eventually things that are bad will stop happening when people collectively decide its bad to do.
I often struggle with magical realism but I enjoyed this thoroughly.
The point that held the most resonance was the speculation on the idea of "good slave owners/good ones". The story revisits this concept multiple times with different characters, with a backdrop of an instance that may portray a "goodness" in the favour of the concept or an act that contrasts strongly. And it is rather fascinating (read: absurd) to think of the discussion surrounding the emancipation of Black people being down to "good white people/kind slave owners" and not collective acts of self liberation with other oppressed peoples, making slave owning unprofitable and unviable. This need for a history that shows some people who participate in the acts of evil we witness today doing so because they "mean well" and not for their own interests, and thus furthering this false idea that eventually things that are bad will stop happening when people collectively decide its bad to do.
I often struggle with magical realism but I enjoyed this thoroughly.