Advantages: great story
Disadvantages: some uncomfortable revelations

...Toni Morrison is another of my favourite authors. She has taken on the unenviable role of being the voice of an oppressed generation of Black America. Her writing is bewitching and deals with many complex and sensitive issues and themes. In 'The Bluest Eye', one of her shorter books, Morrison takes on cultural perceptions of beauty and worth, and by writing the story from the viewpoint of a child who longs for something that she will never have, she hints at the dark destructiveness of widely popularised stereotypes. She uses flashbacks to document the loss of innocence and dysfunctional family relations accompanying Pecola's spiral into madness. The book also confronts uncomfortable issues of child abuse, religion and racism. Morrison well deserves her elevated literary standing. Her books always provide a fantastic story... Read review

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Advantages: Moving, Morrison's beautiful writing
Disadvantages: Harrowing

...Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Ohio in 1931. She studied at Howard and Cornell universities, where she got her Masters degree in 1955. She went on to work at Texas Southern University, Howard University, Yale, and Princeton University. Toni married Harold Morrison in 1958 but they were divorced just 6 years later. She has worked as an editor and critic as well as a writer. Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970 and in 1988 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved. Other books by Morrison include Song of Solomon RELIGION: In 'The Bluest Eye', Pecola resorts to magic when God fails to provide her with the blue eyes she has prayed for. Like in Christianity, belief is 'the single most important factor in conjuration.' Pecola's belief in her blue eyes is no more a sign... Read review

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Advantages: Much of it is wonderful writing
Disadvantages: some structure issues

...Out of all of Toni Morrison's influences, some obvious (Ellison, Garcia Marquez), some not so obvious (Woolf, James) and some all too transparent (Faulkner), the one that has hung over her head the most has been that of James Baldwin. Both were the forbears of postmodernism in African American Literature, creating a new fiction by telling their stories about the interior of African American life in clear and human terms. At their best, both left an indelible mark on the modern written word as we know it; Baldwin by redefining the American Language by fusing the prose of James and Proust with the language of the African American church; Morrison by shifting the paradigm of American literature by fusing African American American woman's narratives, magical realism and African American folklore with one of the most beautiful and unique... Read review

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Advantages: Great prose
Disadvantages: Slightly weak storyline

...to understand why Pecola’s life as been so tragic. The novel is structured in such a way that it is difficult to give an overview of the story as it deals in distinct parts with different aspects of tale. We are introduced to an array of different characters apart form the tow main families such as Soaphead a self appointed minister of the church with and interest in ‘clean little girls’ and China, Poland and Miss Marie, three prostitutes that befriend Pecola and treat her with kindness and respect something which the majority of her own black community fails to do. This was Toni Morrison's first book. I think it suffers a little from the author's inexperience as a prose writer. It seems that Toni Morrison approached this novel not with a story in mind, but with a mission to confront people with her often stark and brutal visions of racism... Read review

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Advantages: see op
Disadvantages: see op

...Although I take English literature and language at college we don’t actually do a lot of reading. The college was concerned about this and through the six weeks holiday we had to read a respectable book. The book I chose was Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. I have to admit I hadn’t read a book for many years before this one. Now I have started to read again it has really got me hooked on books!! **ABOUT THE AUTHOR** Toni Morrison was born in Ohio in 1931 but now lives in New York and New Jersey. She is the writer of five other novels, The bluest eye, Sula I have never read any Toni Morrison books before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect., Song of Solomon and two others that have won prizes she also won the 1993 Nobel prize for Literature. **TAR BABY** Imagine six people all living under a Caribbean... Read review

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Advantages: Gripping, thought provoking read
Disadvantages: Disturbing, with graphic descriptions involving a hacksaw

...How far would you go to protect your children? And in what form would that protection take? Could you live with the consequences of your actions? Beloved, by Tony Morrison, is often considered an ‘ethnic’ book. Indeed, I studied it in a course entitled ‘Ethnicity in American Literature’. But to me, the book is about motherhood, family, community and pride. But let me back up a little. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a VERY complex book, with very complex themes. But the plot is not amazingly difficult to summarise. Morrison got the idea for this book from a newspaper clipping she saw, about an escaping slave who killed her child rather than let the child be recaptured into slavery. Sethe, mother to a couple of boys and two girls, has... Read review

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Advantages: Very engaging and creative novel in the magical realism genre
Disadvantages: None

...As with all fiction that employs Magical Realism, the "magical" element brings Reality to the fore. Toni Morrison has written a fascinating story about the African American experience where people are torn between their cultural roots and making a life for themselves in the US (or staying on their island, the Isle de Chevalier). As so often, one seems to preclude the other. The different characters make different choices. Nobel Prize winner Morrison doesn't sugarcoat any of her characters; they are human beings with flaws, who make mistakes and are faced with tough decisions. "Being torn" could be a good subtitle for this novel. The novel offers the most interesting and creative analogies and metaphors that I've come across thus far (and I came across quite a few, having studied Literature). At the center of the story is a young black... Read review

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Advantages: Still save points if you forget card, no personal information collected, no expiry date
Disadvantages: No way of combining cards, no change given, points lost forever if card is lost

...Morrisons' catchphrase is "The very best for less". Now that's highly debateable. I've no doubt that they're cheap when it comes to many things, but I take offence at the "very best" bit. I don't think so, myself. Still, they bellow it out to all who'll listen - and to those who are really trying not to. As well as an obviously dim-witted lady who I once caught screeching "Morrisons: The very less for less" into the tannoy system (her voice was enough to turn your milk, but she made me chuckle), you might also hear "Another reason to shop at Morrisons" and the latest one "Morrisons: Miles better" as you fill your trolley with goodies (or baddies if you like your food fresh). Not that they're trying to brainwash you at Morrisons, though. This, of course, begs the question: Miles better than what? It sure as heck ain't Tesco, Sainsbury... Read review

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Advantages: clean, cheaper, good range
Disadvantages: -

...As a rule I do most of my shopping at Tesco as it it closer to my home, however earlier last week, I took a trip to my Morrisons which is closer to where I work and was amazed to see that it had been through a great refurbishment. I have always liked Morrisons but always found there stores to be a little bit dull. The produce I have always found to be good but just the stores in general just put me off a little. I have been to others across the country too and they were somewhat the same, so I'm not sure whether they have all gone through this refurbishment too. In addition, I don't think it is just refurbishment, although I haven't seen anything as such in the media but I think our Morrisons has actually rebranded giving themselves this whle new look to portray excellence. They have also had a new logo, which I think is slightly... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap prices, fresh produce, clean and airy store, well stocked shelves
Disadvantages: The cafe staff need a swift kick up their collective backsides...

...Some of you may remember an op I posted here a few weeks ago, well it was more of a rant really, about Safeway. In that I declared “never again” and I was off to Morrisons. And off to Morrisons I sure did go and have been several times now. So, sat here pondering what to write about next, I thought it was about time I put fingers to keyboard and tell the world what my local store is like… ~ But first…A Brief History and Facts ~ William Morrison founded the company as an egg and butter merchants in 1899. Over time it progressed through market stalls and then into counter service. The first small shop was opened in Bradford in 1958 and the first ‘supermarket’, again in Bradford in 1961. Today William’s son Ken runs Morrisons. They have 118 stores mainly across the north, the Midlands and into Wales. 97 of these have petrol filling... Read review

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