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Toni Morrison


bree

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Toni-Morrison-9415590-1-402_zpsaa1d6d5b.jpg

(I find her  face very striking - so I had to include a picture!)

 

About (from biography.com):

 

 

Born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved. Morrison has won nearly every book prize possible. She has also been awarded honorary degrees.
 
Novels written (from wiki):
 
The Bluest Eye (1970)
Sula (1974)
Song of Solomon (1977)
Tar Baby (1981)
Beloved (1987)
Jazz (1992)
Paradise (1997)
Love (2003)
A Mercy (2008)
Home (2012)
 
 

I completed my first of her books : Sula : a couple of days ago - and it has made me want to read her other novels

 

Would love to know others thoughts on her work. :)

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Bree

I only ever tried one of her books .I think it was Beloved .Many years ago ... anyhow, I had a really difficult time getting into the story . It was kinda like the characters in the story were all doing their own thing, and you got there late to the party.The story just started for ME when I opened the book,and everyone else was already proceeding through the story .

Hard to explain, but it was very confusing ,so I gave up on it.

I know she is a highly respected author here and I *think* she read something at President Obama's Inauguration ,at least his first one, not sure about the second .

I've also seen her interviewed on Oprah and she sounds like a lovely person . Maybe I just picked a hard book to get into and her others might not be that way . Maybe someday I'll try another one .

I'm glad you liked her though  :)

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julie,

 

I must confess I know next to nothing about her - I just observed that five of her books appeared on the 1001 List - and were available in the one store I buy from.

So I gave Sula a shot.

 

I think I know what you're saying - it took me a while to get into Sula too - as things seemed very disjointed in the beginning.

It was also a very disturbing book - and was wondering if that's a theme in all her books.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Beloved :) - I think I'll try it or another of her books this month.

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I've only read The Bluest Eye by her. This was easily at least 5 years ago, so I don't remember all that much about it, and I think my own thoughts on it are a bit muddled because I read it for a literature class and now I can't remember what is what the others thought about the book and what are my own actual thoughts/feelings about the book. I do remember it was readable, and that it dealt with a difficult subject matter. I've long thought I should re-read it and have acquired my own copy since, but have never got to re-reading it.

 

I've tried reading a few of her other novels, Jazz and Beloved, but I couldn't get into them at all. I don't know if it's because it just wasn't the right time and I wasn't in the right mood, or whether it was because the copies were in Finnish. I would like to like Morrison, because I had no problems with The Bluest Eye, but unfortunately I've come to think that she might not be fore me... =/

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frankie, I have a feeling all her books are rather disturbing. 

I can't imagine finding them interesting or even easy-to-get-into unless you're seeking them.

So, I think you're right when you say it wasn't the right time.

 

I guess Sula got me in the right frame of mind - and I hope I can get into her other books while I'm here.

I should be getting a copy of Beloved soon, so I'll find out!

 

(I tried looking for The Bluest Eye - which is also her first novel - but couldn't find a copy. But one should turn up sooner or later)

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I guess it would work out better if I knew what her books were about, if I read the blurbs of all her books and let them stew in my mind. Maybe then some day I'll get an itch to read some particular book by her and will be in the right mindset.

 

I hope you find a copy of The Bluest Eye soon :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read Beloved and thought it was excellent but as others have said it can be heavy going at times. The style is very abstract and fragmented at times which as an effect is very clever but doesn't make for easy reading. I enjoyed her work enough to want more though and I have Sula on my to read pile near the top.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had to read Jazz for a contemporary fiction module I did last year. Whilst I can appreciate how she questions the hybridity and mixed identity of the African American, I just really hated the book. It's far too difficult for easy reading, and for that reason I'm never going to pick up another book by Morrison again.

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  • 2 months later...

i love her, i love her, i love her.  yes she can be very difficult sometimes or most of the time but reading her is absolutely rewarding, albeit not without a degree of hurt. i did my thesis on the bluest eye. looking back i didn't do it any justice at all. a mere mortal could only do so much.  i read paradise, beloved, and jazz and i feel like i have to read them again. one should take his time when reading morrison. 

 

has anybody read her first and only short story? i read about that somewhere. 

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I've read Beloved and The Bluest Eye and thought they were both excellent and very moving .. Beloved especially. Not easy reads but well worth the effort .. it takes a while to get used to the rhythm of her writing. I saw her interviewed recently and she was just so interesting plus, as you say Bree, she has the most marvellous and expressive face :)

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I was sure I'd posted in this thread after I'd finished Beloved but apparently not. *shrugs*

 

I've only read the one of her books, but I thought it was excellent. It's a struggle, yes, but by giving the attention that I think her writing deserves, I found that I eventually settled in - if that's the right word to use. I studied it for class and found it particularly moving, striking and thought-provoking. She's certainly a very talented writer and I've no doubt I'll get around to some of her other novels sooner rather than later.

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  • 1 month later...

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