Thursday, May 17, 2007

Beloved

I just finished reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I am not sure if there is a more haunting and disturbing book in existence. I really liked the book, but not the subject matter. It is a finely crafted book. There are so many layers. The story jumps around from one person to the next, is told from many points of view, and moves around in time. It could be hard to understand at times. Sometimes I would read the same paragraph 3-4 times trying to understand what it was telling me. Other things I gave up on and either understood them later in the book, or never did at all. I would like to read it again now that I know the full story because I think things earlier in the book would be clearer. It's definitely the kind of book you can get more out of with each reading. It's also the kind of book that stays in your mind. I've been chewing on it for a couple of days now. I recommend it. But, I have to say it's a hard book to read emotionally and also because of the author's style.

2 comments:

Quad Squad! said...

I agree! And don't bother seeing the movie. You'll just be disappointed!

Unknown said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it, if not the subject matter! I think that some of the greatest books are those that deal with the ugly parts of life that no one likes to think about - and then they make us think about them. Now I need to get busy reading Snow Flower!