‘Beloved’ is the story of a woman haunted by the ghost of her baby. Set in post-Civil war Ohio it is the story of how former slaves, psychically and emotionally crippled by years of labour, attempt to deal with their past.
I found the first half of the book very slow. It was confusing, as it skipped around so much, and as I didn’t have a clue what was happening, it had no forward momentum. I found certain aspects of it the book very irritating. Why did there have to be 3 characters called Paul? Why was the Grandma also called a baby? And why did all the female characters seem to have male names? This all increasing my frustration with the book.
The second half was much better. I began to work out what was happening, and could cope with the changing of narrator/time period. As it neared the end I was totally hooked. Some scenes were very moving, and will stay with me for a long time.
Recommended, if you’re able to get past the first 100 pages.
3 replies on “Beloved – Toni Morrison”
[…] several times, in order to appreicate it’s many layers. In many ways it is very similar to Beloved – difficult to understand at first, complex, moving and full of […]
Oh I love the first 100 pages! but I love it all. I think what I loved was how I HAD to figure it out as I went along. I didn’t know why things were as they were but as I read it began to make sense. And the names thing makes it real. The Paul’s were named by their “owner” so they didn’t have much choice, and I loved reading Baby’s explanation for why her name was Baby: that was all her husband called her.
I just reread it after five years and it was all rather new to me: even though I knew what was coming, it was so amazing to watch it unfold once again.
I know you don’t reread books and some books are not for some people, but since I love this book so much, I thought I’d come and try to convince you how great it is…
Rebecca, This was one of my first reviews on my blog – please forgive it! I really need to re-write this review, as I now realise how amazing this book is. I was so disappointed after reading it for the first time, but have since gone on to read the study guide for it and have had a lot more time to think about it.
This is a book that needs to be re-read and I’m sure that if I picked it up again I would love it even more. Even without the re-read I have grown to love this book. It is so powerful and deserves a much higher rating than I gave it initially. Thank you for trying to persuade me of it’s beauty – I am now aware of it!