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bree

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    Toni Morrison

    in General Fiction

    Posted

    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.

    Toni Morrison

    in General Fiction

    Posted

    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. :)

    bree's log : 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Wow, what a fantastic summary, bree - it looks gorgeous! :wub:  It sounds like a pretty good reading month to me too.   :smile2:

     

     

    Great summary, Bree, and very pretty! I love the effect around the book covers (part curved). :)

     

    Thanks you two - it was a good reading month.  :friends3:

    Kylie, I just created a collage using this site :)

    bree's log : 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted · Edited by bree

    January Reading Summary:

     

    Just trying to see I have fulfilled in January, what I'd planned for this year's reading (can you tell that I have a lot of time on my hands today?  :D )

     

    January2013_original_zps340bdda9.jpg

     

    Books read : 7 (The Tenderness of Wolves, The Moonstone, I Capture The Castle, Lajja, The Upstairs Room, White Fang, Sula)

                                                          Classics read : 1 (The Moonstone)

                                      Children/YA Classics read : 1 (White Fang)

                                               Newbury books read : 1 (The Upstairs Room)

                     Books read from the 1001 Books List : 2 (The Moonstone, Sula) = 31/1001

              Books read from the Ultimate Teen Guide : 2 (The Moonstone, I Capture The Castle) = 41/736

    Books read from the 100 Books for Children List : 1 (I Capture The Castle) = 21/100

                                      Reading Circle book read? : Yes : The Tenderness of Wolves

     

                                                          Books bought : 19

                                      Unread books on the shelf : 11

     

                                                     ★★★ books read : 2 (White Fang, Sula)

                                                        ★★ books read : 4 (The Tenderness of Wolves, The Moonstone, I Capture The Castle, The Upstairs Room)

                                                           ★ books read : 1 (Lajja)

    bree's log : 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    7. 

    Sula_ToniMorrison_zps2e14d0ab.jpg

     

    Sula

    Toni Morrison

     

     

    First published: 1973
    Awards: None for the book, but Morrison is the 1992 Nobel-prize winner for Literature

    Setting: 1919 - 1965, in a Black neighbourhood in Ohio

    Synopsis (from behind the book):


    This rich and moving novel traces the lives of two black heroines from their close knit childhood in a small Ohio town, through their sharply divergent paths of womanhood, to their ultimate confrontation and reconciliation. 
    Nel Wright has chosen to stay in the place where she was born, to marry, raise a family, and become a pillar of the black community. Sula Peace has rejected the life Nel has embraced, escaping to college, and submerging herself in the city life. When she returns to her roots, it is as a rebel and a wanton seductress. Eventually, both women must face the consequences of their choices. Together they create an unforgettable portrait of what it means and costs to be a black woman in America.

     

    Thoughts:

    This one took a little time for me to get into. It started to pick up slowly, and I was completely into it after I was about half-way.

    The book explores the relationship between two women who grow up together - who are seemingly as different from each other as could be - against the background of the trials, emotions and ethics of a Black community.

    I deals with complexities of judging what is right, wrong, (and how relative those terms could be), with friendship, with individuality, with the truth about relationships, with the queerness and twistedness(?) of people who've been through more than should have...

    I'm not really expressing it well - and I don't I think I know really how to. It was a disturbing novel. A questioning one. Even depressing. And most certainly a bold and powerful one. It challenges - you dares - to try and pigeon-hole the characters - and will leave you to re-think about the injustice, (impossibility even) of labelling and judging others. Not so much because it is wrong to judge, but simply because there's so much to a person than can meet your eye - one is never only this OR only that.

     

    I completed reading it two night ago - and I thought then that "I liked it". It has grown on, in my mind, and I actually think "I love it" - and it is one I want to re-read.

    And I most definitely want to read Morrison's other novels.

     

    Rating: ★★★ : I loved it

    What's for Dinner?

    in Food, Cooking & Recipes

    Posted · Edited by bree

    Curried mussels would be delicious! I'm quite happy to eat them steamed, straight out of the shell but these ones I battered and deep fried. In winter I often make mussel chowder (I'll give you the recipe if you like, but I don't imagine shell-fish features much on your menu anymore, bree :D I bet you miss all the fish in Goa)

    I do - I do!

    We'll be going there only in November though - so that's a long wait!

    I'll ask you for your sea-food recipes then (deep-fried mussels sound delicious!) - I'll probably weep if I see them now.

    I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

    in Previous Reading Circle Books

    Posted · Edited by bree

    ...I'm guessing you haven't seen the adaptation? It's not bad actually, it's worth seeing if you get the chance.

    Rose (played by Rose Byrne) with her creme de menthe and Cassandra (played by Romola Garai) in the background :) Bill Nighy plays their father.

    And don't forget Tara Fitzgerald as Topaz :)

    I don't know any of those actors :blush2: - but I'd love to watch it - will check if I can find a DVD of it.

    Thank you letting me know poppy and poppyshake

    (That sounds a bit like Thomson & Thompson from Tintin :giggle: )

    bree's log : 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Hi Bree, I enjoyed all your latest reviews . Glad that you did like I Capture The Castle so much after all the trouble you went to to get hold of your copy.

    Thank you vodkafan - I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it on the Reading Circle thread :smile:

     

    I use prettyful a lot! :D Have you read Call of the Wild by Jack London too?

    prettyful has a lovely happy ring to it! (I often wish beautiful was spelt beautyful :) )

     

    Great review of White Fang. I've heard of it of course, but didn't know anything about the story. Bought it for my Kindle - well, downloaded it as it was free.

    I hope you like it too bobblybear :friends3:

     

    Have you read Call of the Wild by Jack London too?

    Glad to see you liked White Fang, have you read Call of the Wild by the same author? That's definitely on my list!

    This is my first book by Jack London - I would like to read Call of the Wild - should try and get it.

     

    I didn't read much of your White Fang review Bree, I'll pop back once I've read it myself, I should be getting to it over the next week or so, I'm hoping I'll like it as much as you did, I'm just worried its going to be too sad!!

    :friends0: I so sorry it left you so sad chaliepud

     

     

    If it helps it all comes together very nicely for White Fang towards the end - the last third of the book he meets a lovely man who treats him love, care and dignity. And White Fang dedicates his soul to him. He even goes with him to live in his house in US, and the book ends with him fathering a frisky litter :)

    (Though before all this - he goes through worse things than what you read - so it was a good thing that you stopped reading when you did)

     

     

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