Toni Morrison - Beloved

Pros: Fascinating tale based on an true story, interesting characters
Cons: Hard to read at times, very detailed and disturbing

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Ah, the 25th review on Beloved. Why should you read this review? Because you like me! Um, I’m sure you aren’t buying that one. Well, I’m going to try to give you a different perspective...

Pros: Great works by great female authors...
Cons: Wish there were more like it...

In the 70's, the multimedia industry formulated an innovative concept in videotape presentations. By superimposing a soundtrack over a film sequence, they came up with a novel approach from which MTV was born. If we follow this train of thought, we can...

Pros: Compelling story that is destined to be a classic.
Cons: It takes awhile to get into the rhythm of the book...don't give up!

So many Epinions writers are making lists (favorite albums, favorite movies, gifts they'd like to receive) and I've enjoyed reading them. Lists are fun to make, and of course, it made me think about the ones I'd make, like of my favorite books (if that...

Pros: Great works by great female authors...
Cons: Wish there were more like it...

Both Toni Morrison's Beloved and Doris Lessing's The Summer Before The Dark have provided insightful commentaries on social standards from a feminine perspective for the benefit of fans and scholars alike. Yet their viewpoints in the two...

Pros: Haunting story, well written and compelling
Cons: Emotionally draining, a hard read

Beloved , by Toni Morrison, is a hard book to read if you are a parent. The concept behind the plot almost guarantees you will never be able to forget Morrison’s protagonist Sethe, much less her fateful choice.

Typically, I...

Pros: Compelling narrative images
Cons: Hard to follow on first reading

Several months ago, I found myself stranded in a small out of the way southern airport with nothing to read. The newsstand did not appear promising. I decided to look out of sheer boredom. The selection was pretty much what I expected consisting of how...

Pros: The best
Cons: Not for fools

Beloved is, as far as I know, the very first novel (published in 1988) by a major American writer to take on the subject of slavery! This is incredible. Only Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous propaganda novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written before...

Pros: Gripping vivid word pictures
Cons: can be depressing, at times confusing

While searchin in our library for something to read, I came across a copy of BELOVED. I knew it is one of Oprah's selections and that she liked it well enough to make it into a movie. I had not seen the movie, being somewhat turned off by...

Pros: Beautifully written
Cons: Could be hard to follow

Beloved is a very well written book about a Black woman, Sethe, her child Denver, and the hardships that they overcome. The book's focus surrounds the spirit of Sethe's (the heroine) dead baby Beloved. When Sethe and her living daughter, Denver are...

Pros: Thought provoking, moving book - a touching read for any parent
Cons: A bit 'issue' Based

'What she want to go and do that for?'(2) To a parent, Sethe commits the worst possible or imaginable crime, that of infanticide. Yet in Beloved Sethe murders her 'already crawling' daughter in a particularly horrific manner, yet is still a...

Pros: complex, structure, consistent characters, historical context
Cons: complex, the characters themselves, ghosts, graphic

this was the third Morrison book I've read and I can probably say it was my least favorite. I should note that I have only read it once, and many of the more positive reviewers here seem to recommend multiple readings.

In short, Beloved tells...

Pros: beautifully told
Cons: lyricism makes it a difficult read

I was standing in the Cornell bookstore looking for a light read to take onto the plane with me when I spotted someone picking up a copy of Beloved. I asked the lady whether or not she had heard the book was good and she responded that someone had...

Pros: Great book, great movie too, this author has a wonderful sense of history.
Cons: Racism in all its various forms stinks

Beloved by Toni Morrison is pregnant with infanticide. The story takes place in post-Civil War Ohio. The main character is Sethe, a runaway from her owner, a schoolmaster from Kentucky. She escapes, giving birth to her fourth child on a boat....

Pros: beautiful imagery, intense exploration of relevant issues, masterful plot structure
Cons: too inaccessible for the average reader

I can understand why so many other reviewers gave this book a poor rating. It was extremely confusing and probably one of Morrison's more inaccessible books - although all her books are so layered with meaning that they tend to bewilder.

Do...

Pros: Very well written, vivid imagery, multiple levels of understanding, full characters
Cons: Complex plot, much thought required.

If you are looking for an easy read, this is not it...but...

This book is outstanding. In fact, most of Morrison's books are. She is an exceptional author who chronicles the black experience with a richness, flavor and solidity to which...