Beloved - Vintage Classics

This is an extremely powerful and, at times, troubling book. At the heart of the story is the returning spirit of a young woman who was murdered by her black slave mother in order to prevent her from ending up in the clutches of a slave owner. The relationship between mother and child is extremely conflicted; power rests with the returning child, I felt, because of the mother's guilt. Around this central theme are a number of close family members and slaves with common histories. All of the characters are portrayed with powerfully emotional lives that really made me, a white male in his 60s, get some sense of the tortured lives imposed on such individuals. I can only imagine the impact of this book on those with an African American heritage. The book is not an easy read as the story is told in a non-linear fashion and through the eyes of multiple characters. This keeps the reader of their toes, but makes the story ultimately a more involving read. I can understand why this is considered a classic.

I feel changed after reading this book. So complex, so painful, so painfully beautiful, such life in the telling of this story. As a Black queer womyn, I have grown tired of the handling slavery narrative. Of the laziness of its use and overuse as a point of reference. But what Morrison does so well is bring life to the complexities of Black life and love in the face of the worst part of American history. I would even go as far to say, it goes beyond the political. It circles down to the smallest particles of her characters' lives and inner self-talk/workings. I don't even know if this review will capture all that I think and feel and see after reading this book.

I purchased this book to increase my number of books read from the PBS Great American Read. I felt that I needed a better score than 33% of the books on the Great 100 list. It is beautiful. I had purchased it previously but was not able to get into if for some reason. I think a better goal instead of increasing my total on the list of the Great American read would just be to read all of Toni Morrison. I'm now two to the good. Absolutely beautiful prose, characters, plot, etc. i did need a break from reading this book it was sometimes too heavy to read straight through.

I picked up this book because I wanted to get some perspective after the recent killings of unarmed black men by police officers. As a middle aged white guy, it was hard for me to put wrap my head around the pain and the anger felt by the residents of Ferguson, by the residents of New York. I have friends that are cops. My Facebook wall filled with persuasive arguments in defense of the police actions. But I saw the video of Eric Garner. I followed the news about Michael Brown. Still, I sympathized with the officers, which I knew in my heart was wrong. I wanted to understand how black people in this country experience life, and starting with the shameful history of slavery seemed like a good start. Beloved is a truly great book that lives up to the hype. Hard to put down. The writing is excellent. The story is not one of suffering, but one of persevering through the insufferable. It's often hard to read, with the unflinching descriptions of torture and degradation. However, I'm a tiny bit closer to understanding.

First of all, major trigger warnings for animal abuse and graphic human abuse as well. These two are the main reasons that I am giving this book a lower rating. I do think that it does have literary merit that makes it an important read. But there was some points in this book that made it SO hard to get through. I enjoyed some parts of this book but it was overall so depressing and sad that I just couldn't enjoy it and the writing style was kinda confusing to follow as well...I would not recommend this book.