124. The Bluest Eye


The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison


Pages: 216
Finished: Dec. 2, 2007
Reason for Reading: Seconds challenge, From the Stacks Challenge
First Published: 1970
Genre: fiction
Rating: 3.5/5

First Sentence:

Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941.



Comments: This is a brutal, sad story. On the surface it is the story of being black and poor in the forties. It is also a story of rape, incest, racism, and self-loathing. I found the writing beautiful and the style very intriguing. This book is written in several voices switching from the main narrator to different character points of view. The tale is also not told in a linear fashion but jumps back and forth from one incident to another and at times stopped to tell a character's life story from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this format which gave us insight into all the major players. There were a few parts that were extremely difficult to read including a few pages of a pedophile's point of view. These are graphic scenes and will make this book not for everyone. I don't know if 'enjoy' would be the proper term but I did experience this book and do recommend it with the above reservation noted.

Comments

  1. It has been years since I read this book, but it still stays with me. It is definitely a very powerful book. Great review!

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  2. I read Beloved this year and I had similar feelings. It's a difficult and uncomfortable book, but beautiful and necessary. It looks like that might be a pattern with Morrison's work. I'm going to look for this one.

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  3. Thanks literary feline. Yes, powerful indeed.

    nymeth, I think Beloved will be my next with her.

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