Toni Morrison: Beloved

[thebookcrosser]

Has anyone else read this book. Just journaled it over on BookCrossing. Here's my entry (below). How did everyone else find it?

Very disturbing, dark book. I found it a bit overwhelming. The imagery was too demonic and uncomfortable. The writing was powerful, but the subject matter resonated too highly with pain. I put the book down once, picked it up a few months later (recently) but still ending up skimming more than reading. Just when I put it down again, deciding not to fight my way through this one, I turned on cable and there was the film version (starring Oprah Winfrey. My perception of the story is now a blend of the book and the film. Even in my over-active imagination, the images in my head would not have done justice to the story. The film version captured the pathos and the horror of Beloved in a way, I think, Morrison's words alone just can't manage.
The story takes place just after the Civil War, but the roots of this tale run deep into the last, unspeakable years of the terror of being owed by another human being. Seth, an ex-slave, escaped across the river to Ohio and is living as a free woman; however, in this case, free is a paradoxical term. Seth may own her home, but her life is owned by the violent and vengeful spirit of a dead child (Beloved), who dominates life at house #124. Most of Seth’s children have either died (some under unspeakable circumstances) or have fled this house, unable to live under the same roof as this rancorous, metaphysical presence. The lives of Seth and her remaining daughter are under siege until an old friend, Paul, takes control and banishes the disturbing energy – or so they thought. What transpires next is as much horror as it is historical fiction.
(As I said... the film actually brings this book to life more vividly -- which didn't bode well for sleeping last night -- than Morrison's words. It's unusual for me to find the film version richer than the book.)

 

[lionsroar13]

Yes, I remember reading this book years ago, well before the film. It was quite disturbing! It stayed with me for a long time, I believe, because it was fiction but could be reality?! I believe the "haunting" was all in her head and the only way she could deal with the absolute horror of what she had done. Its an unsettling look inside her thoughts and fears, very real fears.

 

[GERBAM]

Beloved

HI
Toni Morrison's BELOVED is a long book about pain and redemption and love.
All of Morrison's fiction, to date, addresses some aspect of slavery and its impact upon women ... she wrote only one book with a male protagonist. But that one, too was rooted in the collective unconscienceness of the African roots of American slaves even in a more contemporary time.

The story of Beloved, the dead infant is heartbreaking and painful to read. What Sethe had to do in order to 'save' her children is so unthinkable to us that the image of the act is forever imprinted on the readers' brain. We understand that Sethe did what she had to do in order to save her baby girl and the book unfolds as the ramifications of her action is woven in an other worldly manner.

I've read all of Morrison's fiction and one of her non-fiction books and I am always amazed at her plotting, characterizations, settings, dialogue, and
depth charge of her messages. Her humanity is so clear despite the headiness of her prose and storytelling. She is the first African American woman to win the NObel Prize for LIterature which speaks volumes in and of itself about her writing and its impact on the world.

She is one of my five favorite writers. She is also a lovely woman. I went to two of her readings and found her voice mesmerizing. She is also very gracious and answered everyone's questions and she has a wonderful, full laugh. She is really a special person.

Has anyone read any of her other books?

GERBAM

 

[thebookcrosser]

Reply to lionsroar13 -
Where the movie differs, and what made the imagery so difficult for me, is in the fact that it gives "Beloved" a body - the body of a young girl, a drowning victim. Beloved settles into the family unit (Seth and Denver) as a zombie. I still can't get it all out of my head. The actress was outstanding in her ability to realistically portray a spirit trying to re-animate an unfamiliar body (have no clue who she was). Just not my cup of tea though (zombies I mean). Seth's memories of the traumas she endured were also portrayed with painful realism... It think its rare that a film can go beyond the depth of the written word. I think, in this case, my mind would have stopped short of the horrors presented in the film. The film forces you to see them.

 

[thebookcrosser]

Gerbam -
from what you have written, I would think you would enjoy Alice Walker's work. She writes mainly about women, mainly women of color. One of her most powerful books, Possessing the Secret of Joy, which is set in Africa, delves very deeply into the subject of female circumcision. It is tough to read and tougher to shake. Very gritty writing.

 

[GERBAM]

Purple And Garaden

THEBOOKCROSSER

Yes, Alice Walker is also an extraordinary writer. In addition to THE COLOR PURPLE which is a contemporary classic, her IN MY MOTHER'S GARDEN is very moving.

gmta
GERBAM

 

[GERBAM]

Sorry Title Error

The Book I Was Referring To Is

In Search Of Our Mothers' Garden: Womanist Prose

Sorry 'bout That.

I Also Recommend One Of Her Earliest Books Titled Meridien

 

[AEK]

I was recommended this book my sophomore year in high school (by my teacher), now that I look back I realize that that book should not be recommended to someone at that age. But is there any age where you can prepare yourself for a book like that. I would have to agree and say that I had to put down this book a few times, then I finally got through it. Although this book was hard to get through, I just couldn't help but read more. I read "The Bluest Eye", "Tarbaby" and "Sula". Out of those I would have to say "The Bluest Eye" is her best work. Morrison creates a sense of reality that many other authors don't offer and that's a major reason why I enjoy her works. Anybody have any other favorites from her?

 

[GERBAM]

Toni Morrison Icon

I was recommended this book my sophomore year in high school (by my teacher), now that I look back I realize that that book should not be recommended to someone at that age. But is there any age where you can prepare yourself for a book like that. I would have to agree and say that I had to put down this book a few times, then I finally got through it. Although this book was hard to get through, I just couldn't help but read more. I read "The Bluest Eye", "Tarbaby" and "Sula". Out of those I would have to say "The Bluest Eye" is her best work. Morrison creates a sense of reality that many other authors don't offer and that's a major reason why I enjoy her works. Anybody have any other favorites from her?

HI
I agree with you BELOVED is not a book that sophmores in HS are ready to digest, especially when Morrison herself said that only after 3 readings do people really 'get it.' But now that you have it under your belt and chose to read 3 more of her books I presume you have become a fan.

I am devoted to her and have read all of her books, therefore I recommend that you go thru the list. BLUEST EYE AND SULA were my introduction to Morrison and paved the way in a sense to the longer masterpiece. I would encourage you to go on with her books: JAZZ; PARADISE; LOVE; ETC.

I'd love to hear your comments on them as you move thru her body of work. A very worthwhile endeavor.

ENJOY
GERBAM

 

[Pboo583]

I understand the how difficult it is to read Beloved for the first time. Many time I had to re-read statements and look things up just to know what was going on. I love the book and I agree that it is kind of a dark piece of work, however, it is the best book that I have ever read. Once I understood what was going on. Also when you really understand the book depending on how you look at it, the book is not so much of a dark book at all. Most readers, especially people who first read the book, do not understand that the charater Beloved is not just the child of Sethe, but she is a representation of how slavery was. Her presence brought an familar but unfortunate feeling towards everyone she came in contact with. The community was not just at resentment for Sethe did to her own daughter, but the attitudes that she had in the aftermath. One of the women actually understood why she had done that to her child because she had did the same but just not in that way. It is clear why Sethe did what she did but it is not clear to readers who or what Beloved represented. To Sethe, Beloved represented her nameless daughter that was apart of her, to Denver she represented what it was like to have something other than not leaving her house, and to male of the story (sorry I forgot his name, no disrespect just been awhile) she represented slavery within its self, that is to say the memories. I love the book much more than the movie because I believed things were portrayed different for example, I didn't know that Beloved wasn't able to speak or walk and had to learn how to eat. She was like someone else on here put it a "zombie".

 

[Pboo583]

Yes, I remember reading this book years ago, well before the film. It was quite disturbing! It stayed with me for a long time, I believe, because it was fiction but could be reality?! I believe the "haunting" was all in her head and the only way she could deal with the absolute horror of what she had done. Its an unsettling look inside her thoughts and fears, very real fears.

That is true its a horrible thought about what she did, but she thought of it as saving her child from what she would have to go through and what would become of her when or if she got caught. It may seem to the extreme now, but it was common during that time. The book itself actually was a real case about a woman really taking her child and doing something like that. Just to inmagine your child of what is apart of you going through horrible things such as getting your breast milk taken away from you and to Sethe that was one of the few things she valued as giving to her children. To me the book itself was not terrifying but the thought of getting caught once you know freedom for the first time in your life, and having something of your body such as milk taken away from you was more scarey to me.