BELOVED
TONI MORRISON
Is there anyone who has not come across 'Beloved'?
If there is I would really recommend that you beg, borrow or steal (perhaps not steal!) a copy and read is ASAP.
This book written by Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author Toni Morrison is an incredible, ... Read review
In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the ... more
Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe an...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the ... more
Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe an...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the ... more
Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe an...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the ... more
Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe an...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Compelling story that is destined to be a classic. Disadvantages: Emotionally draining, a hard read
== BELOVED ==
=== TONI MORRISON ===
Is there anyone who has not come across 'Beloved'?
If there is I would really recommend that you beg, borrow or steal (perhaps not steal!) a copy and read is ASAP.
This book written by Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author Toni Morrison is an incredible, albeit disturbing book.
This book is extraordinary on so many different levels, it is one ... ...night and imagine I'd seen Beloved standing beside my bed. The character was actually haunting me, but she haunted Sethe both physically and emotionally. This is not the book to be reading alone at night!
Everyone is haunted in this book and not just by Beloved. They all try to exorcise ghosts of enslavement, robbed dignity, physical pain, and their own inadequacies.
Beloved focuses on slavery, shocking the reader ... more
BELOVED
TONI MORRISON
Is there anyone who has not come across 'Beloved'?
If there is I would really recommend that you beg, borrow or steal (perhaps not steal!) a copy and read is ASAP.
This book written by Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning author Toni Morrison is an incredible, albeit disturbing book. This book is extraordinary on so many different levels, it is one that you will never forget, I guarantee that.
This book is very graphic - it tells of murders, sex, rape and slavery-related situations with great detail. You might find yourself sickened at the extent of the details, as I did; however this is intricate to the story and to the reader understanding the facts.
'Beloved' is about the effort of an escaped slave called Sethe, to love, raise and be responsible for her children. After 28 days of freedom, Sethe is about to be found and she makes a horrific decision, to kill her children rather than see them live in slavery.
Unfortunately, Ms. Morrison got the idea from a true story about a captured runaway slave who did just that in 1851. The actual woman and Sethe, the protagonist in Beloved, both knew all too well that in slavery, there would be nothing that, as mothers, they could do for their children. This was the one act of love that they would be able to perform and the only way they knew of to protect them. This is such a great book, how do I tell you exactly what this book actually is.
Beloved is a really scary ghost story.
Beloved is the story of the love between Mother and children
Beloved is a history lesson.
Beloved is the story of love, anger; wounds that heal and wounds that are yet to be healed.
Beloved is the story of survivors picking up the pieces of their lives and trying to rebuild them.
"Beloved" is a compelling story of former slaves set in Cincinnati following the Civil War. The story, part of which is told in flashbacks, focuses on the lives of Sethe and Denver, a family escaped from slavery, trying to establish their life. The book's focus surrounds the spirit of Sethe's dead baby Beloved. When Sethe and her living daughter, Denver are confronted with Beloved's spirit in the form of a young woman, the haunting begins.
While I was reading this book I would literally wake up in the middle of the night and imagine I'd seen Beloved standing beside my bed. The character was actually haunting me, but she haunted Sethe both physically and emotionally. This is not the book to be reading alone at night!
Everyone is haunted in this book and not just by Beloved. They all try to exorcise ghosts of enslavement, robbed dignity, physical pain, and their own inadequacies.
Beloved focuses on slavery, shocking the reader with various accounts of events that Sethe endured. It also focuses on the importance on family, how sometimes all we have is our family and without them we would be lost. And lastly, Beloved focuses on forgiveness and acceptance - learning to forgive and accept yourself for who you are is essential for others to do the same. As the character Paul D. says, "you are your best thing."
There are two ways that you can read this book; one way is to read it as a ghost story - taking the characters and the plot for what they are. If you are looking for easy reading, this would be the way to read it, though you may find yourself trying to create reasons as to how ghosts could possibly exist.
The other way is to read it symbolically, if you focus on Beloved as a ghost but as a burden - a burden that Sethe is taking and must let go - then you will read the book in a whole new light.
You may be in disagreement with the decision Sethe made (many of the characters in the book certainly were). I doubt any of us could possibly know what we would do in the impossible and hopeless situation that Sethe was in.
Throughout the book, Sethe struggles with her motherhood, trying to mend it and understand her own actions, hopefully to put them to rest, I for one felt great sympathy for the character.
This was a hard book to read, not only for the content but also for the style of writing. At times I had to force myself to keep reading, but at others I couldn't stop. The grammar isn't wonderful, however, this book could not and should not be written any other way - when you are reading the dialogue from an uneducated ex-slave, and you cannot expect her to be grammatically correct. So just keep in mind that Morrison meant to write this book this way and you can ignore the grammatical faults.
The structure of this book is also confusing at times. Morrison jumps around without warning - one moment you're reading about a character and suddenly the character is remembering past events. It takes a bit of practice but eventually you can sort out the two. There are a few chapters towards the end of pure dialogue without any indication as to who is saying what. But if you've been paying attention, you'll be able to follow it well.
Even though this book was hard to read, I enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to anyone, apart from younger readers, as I think it's essential to read about slavery and the effects it had on people. Isn't there a saying that says that if we do not learn about the past, it could repeat itself?
CONCLUSION
This is one of those books that you feel the need to read again, and it is a book that really does improve on extra readings
I urge you all to read this book. You may think you know all there is to know about slavery. 'Beloved' will give you a completely different understanding and you will be changed by it.
BOOK DETAILS
Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (21 Aug 1997) Language English ISBN-10: 0099760118 ISBN-13: 978-0099760115 Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.4 cm
Advantages: Gripping, thought provoking read Disadvantages: Disturbing, with graphic descriptions involving a hacksaw
...her name is Beloved. Beloved takes up residence with Sethe, Denver and Paul (although she is immensely jealous of Paul, attempting to seduce him at one stage – possibly to drive a wedge between him and Sethe). Sethe and Beloved embark on a destructive, possessive relationship (and I don’t mean a sexual relationship).
The question hangs throughout the book whether Beloved is a real girl, or the ghost of the girl who died. Who will help ... ...Denver and Paul? Does Beloved need help? Can Sethe ever be forgiven, or indeed, forgive herself for what she did all those years ago in that shed with that saw?
That all makes it sound like a straightforward (if slightly horrific), ghost story. But besides the horror element, we are also presented with the fact that Sethe is not accepted even within her own community. That no-one in her home is happy. And that pride is a worse crime than murder.
...
mattygroves 13.12.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Beloved - Toni Morrison
For me, reading Beloved was extremely hard not least because of the complexity of the plot, the difficulty of the language and the fact that Morrison shifts time periiods without warning.
This is not to say that it wasn't worth it, or that I didn't enjoy it. The point I will make is that you should really read this book at least twice, for it takes a second reading to fully understand Morrison's subtelty when it comes to dealing with difficult and ... ...two different types of slavery, the first literal (in that the book is about a group of ex-slaves) and secondly metaphorical, as Sethe is in a way enslaved by her past; unable to let go of it and therefore unable to move on from it.
The subject matter is hard to read because of it's gruesome nature. The incident which enslaves Sethe (the protagonist) to her past is the fact that, once escaped form slavery she attempted to kill all four of her children ...
MentalKatie 26.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Beloved - Toni Morrison
Advantages: Beautiful, vivid detail Disadvantages: Storyline did not always flow
This is probably one of the most captivating books that I have ever read. not only was the story moving, but every sentence was written with grace that it took my breath away. The story took you into the life of Sethe, the main character, and her daughter Denver and their struggles with the past coming back to haunt them. The book is, however, slightly disturbing and is definitely not for the faint at heart, as it incorporates elements of the super ...
nellyd 17.04.2009 (16.04.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Beloved - Toni Morrison
Advantages: Beautifully written, gripping Disadvantages: Too surreal at times
This book requires full attention to detail in order for the beauty of the atmosphere to be touching, as well as a lack of skepticism in order to allow for a blurring of the boundaries between life and death, inherent to the culture evoked.
I had the amazing good fortune of being present at a literary salon where this book was discussed, during which I had my attention drawn to so many beautiful touches and linking ideas which I would have otherwise ... ...discussion series, so my appreciation of the ending was more shallow.
While reading the book, I felt like I was being lead on a journey which was emotionally draining at times, but ultimately fulfilling. The text is full of images and references to slavery and the plight of African Americans in the 19th Century which are best understood within the historical context. For this reason I think that one would get the most out of this book if it were ...
sparklya 06.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Beloved - Toni Morrison
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Advantages: Addictive reading,well written,adictive and thought provoking! Disadvantages: Opens the mind to the horrors of society!
the startled children and proclaim them baptized in a heavy rainfall. His desperate arrogance and audacity are as offensive to watch as if he were molesting them.
Over the year Ruth May dies and the family flee in their different directions to their different futures. Orleanna's guilt over her dead child resembles Seth's guilt for her daughter in ToniMorrison's Beloved. Indeed, like Seth, Orleanna's guilt brings her daughter back as the last chapter is narrated by Ruth May. We follow the daughters as they mature in the lives they have chosen for themselves. They fight their own battles with their past and strive to secure their own peace of mind. Their coming of age is mirrored by the violent progress of Africa in search of its own independence from the white man, so Nathan's daughters struggle to be free of him
Aside from the lives of the Price ...
It is the mid-1800s. At Sweet Home in Kentucky, an era is ending as slavery comes under attack from the abolitionists. The worlds of Halle and Paul D. are to be destroyed in a cataclysm of torment and agony. The world of Sethe, however, is to turn from one of love to one of violence and death - the death of Sethe's baby daughter, Beloved, whose name is the single word on the tombstone, who died at her mother's hands, and who will return to claim retribution. From the PublisherThe novel powerfully portrays the meanings of what it means to be owned by another and the difficulty of owning oneself. Mythic in scope, Beloved is an attempt to grapple with the legacy of slavery.With a new introduction by A S Byatt See all Product Description
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