Monday, September 7, 2015

“A Pulitzer Prize Winning Book” 2015 Challenge; BELOVED by Toni Morrison


I was originally looking for a banned book, and that was when I found this one.  However, I saw that it had also won a Pulitzer and quickly jumped at the chance to cross that one off my list.  Well, after reading it, I can definitely see why it was both. Keep reading to see why…

 BELOVED by Toni Morrison
 
BOOK DESCRIPTION

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

 

MY REVIEW
3.5 out of 5 *Stars*

“The only grace you can have is the grace you can imagine.” – Baby Suggs

This was a book that I will not soon forget.  It started out as me, grudgingly reading this book to get it over with.  The way the characters talked was hard to follow.  I had to constantly go back and re-read things to read between the lines and somewhat understand what was going on.  Except, the story was compelling.  The characters had sustenance, the plot was firm, and the storyline was constant, not to mention the powerful topic. It sucked me in, and wouldn’t let me go until the very end.  This is where I see how it won a Pulitzer.

Half the time while reading, I didn’t know whether I liked something about the book, or not.  For example… The storyline kept jumping back in time.  It was interesting to find out what exactly had happened to the characters, and by spontaneously going back in time, the book gave different tidbits of information each time, which turned the book into one giant puzzle. On the other hand, the transition was so vague, it was hard to tell when they had jumped back to the present.

At times, the book was unsettling.  There was the time when the spirit picked up their dog and slammed him against the wall.  The purpose was to show how strong Sethe was, and it went on to tell how she took a hammer and knocked the dog unconscious before wiping away the blood, popping his eye back in the socket, and resetting his leg bone.  Just the picture was a little too morbid for me.  Of course there was also the reference to bestiality.  At first, it took me by surprise, but once Paul D thought to himself that sex with Sethe wasn’t much different that sex with a calf, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.  After that, it was nothing more than a stated fact of an event that had happened.  With the graphic violence, and talk of bestiality… This is where I see how it had been banned from schools.  Is the message and topic one the kids need to grasp?  Heck yeah, but as a parent, I can see why it was taken out of schools.   

Which brings me to the subject.  I knew slavery was bad.  I knew the things that had been done to them were bad, but when you read a book that pulls you in, it’s like living as their shadow and being right there with everyone.  Some of the things that were said just put a knife into my heart. 

“You protected yourself and loved small.  Picked the tiniest stars out of the sky to own;” Because everyone you loved either ended up dead or sold away from you.  How mothers were considered breeders and prevented themselves from loving their own children because they knew they would just be sold like cattle. Then there is the drastic lengths that a woman would go, just to protect her own children from that life.  That’s what this book was centered around.  Healing, growing, and surviving.

“Anything dead coming back to life hurts.”

So now we have this book.  After writing this review and going back through all my notes, I can honestly say that I liked the book.  Yes, it was written in a way that took a lot of getting used to, and even now, I don’t understand it all.  However, I keep thinking about this book, and my thoughts aren’t negative.  So yeah, I’m recommending this book to you.  It’s one of the more powerful books I’ve read, and I never would have without this challenge.  Now, I’m curious to see how the movie can hold up to it.  Stay tuned for that review at a later date.  Till next time…    

“To get to a place where you could love anything you choose – not need permission for desire – well now, that was freedom.”

    



27 books down, 25 more to go!
Happy Reading, Everyone!!

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