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Beloved
Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
"An extraordinary novel." -The New York Times — Toni Morrison's magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel brings the unimaginable experience of slavery into our comprehension. Set in rural Ohio several years after the Civil War, it is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave, who has risked her life in order to wrench herself from living death; who ha...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780452264465
ISBN-10: 0452264464
Publication Date: 9/1/1988
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 239

3.6 stars, based on 239 ratings
Publisher: Plume Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Beloved on + 80 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
Reading Toni Morrison's books is not something for the faint of heart. Her literature requires the reader to work for it, to struggle through sometimes uncomfortable prose or through gut-wrenching scenarios within the larger story. But, at the end, you have earned that story...you have achieved something. And, I've found that people either can't stand her books, or they love her books. There isn't any real middle-ground. I am part of the latter group. And especially for this book. I re-read it every year, and it is still new and gripping and passionate and brilliant every time.
Page5 avatar reviewed Beloved on
Helpful Score: 6
I didn't care for this book and I couldn't summon up the desire to even finish reading it. Heavy use of symbolism. Incoherent and unrealistic at times. Perhaps the author did not intend for the book to be realistic but I believe it is important when you are representing an historical time period and the treatment of slaves. Completely turned me off reading anything else by Morrison.
reviewed Beloved on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
This book recently was rated the best book of American Fiction written in the past 25 years. It is not light reading, and I honestly found some of the parts hard to follow. Not for the squeemish reader either-there are themes of rape and violence that are truthful, yet horrid.
On the other side, it's a provocotive look at life for slaves after the emancipation and the way that grief and pain manifest themselves for one mother.
sari-lynn avatar reviewed Beloved on + 207 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Not the easiest read. In the beginning, I would have to keep going back to reread the previous page, to try to figure out what the author was trying to say. There's a lot to think about in this book. It was recently named the best American novel of the last 25 years. I'd say it's good, but not *that* good.
reviewed Beloved on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
A complicated and painful book to read. I saw the movie before reading the book and think it might have been better the other way around.

It is a view of slavery that most whitefolk (of which I am one) don't want to remember and surely do not understand the depths of the depravity that the black people suffered at the white hands of our ancestors. I think that it would be a good book for high schoolers to read, even in class for discussion...this is information about an era in our country that people tend to gloss over. This book is not glossy.

A good read but be prepared to do the work of staying with the author and the characters...it's a bit of a challenge.
Read All 81 Book Reviews of "Beloved"

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SuzanneB avatar reviewed Beloved on
Haunting, well-written (and spoken!) story about the strength and limitations of a mother's love.
reviewed Beloved on + 118 more book reviews
very strange story
CharleneY avatar reviewed Beloved on + 80 more book reviews
Really good writing but somehow hard to get through. But I really do think it's a great story.
reviewed Beloved on + 16 more book reviews
sethe. proud and beautiful she escaped from slavery but is haunted by its heritage
nana23 avatar reviewed Beloved on + 243 more book reviews
A beautiful and horrile story that is both difficult and wonderful to read. Makes you think of it for a long time...
katethegreat avatar reviewed Beloved on + 69 more book reviews
I really like this book a lot. The technique Morrison uses to develop each character is terrific.
reviewed Beloved on + 285 more book reviews
**** One of Oprah's most beloved authors.
reviewed Beloved on + 2 more book reviews
It is very written and full of touching and sad surprises.
SciFiFan avatar reviewed Beloved on + 69 more book reviews
An unbelievable book...it is mesmerizing, intense and deeply disturbing. It takes you into the world of slavery and beyond...into the minds of people enslaved and the results of that. Even beyond that. This is a must read book...never easy...but must read!
reviewed Beloved on + 5 more book reviews
I love this book! Beautiful, rich and compelling.
reviewed Beloved on + 2 more book reviews
While the story could have been compelling, I found the unattributed changes in first-person speaker difficult, as well as the unannounced time shifts. I agree that the content has historical significance, but this story was too hard for me to read to truly enjoy it.
Joynessdotcom avatar reviewed Beloved on + 53 more book reviews
I heartwrenching novel which gave insight to places I would never see, and a portrait of a time that has always been ignored or dismissed in American History. Toni Morrison's most praised novel has its position for a reason.
mywoodybird avatar reviewed Beloved on + 28 more book reviews
well written and plot was well thought out.
shooky avatar reviewed Beloved on + 138 more book reviews
Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 - a major motion picture about slavery and a mesmorizing apparition called Beloved.
reviewed Beloved on + 42 more book reviews
Hauntingly poetic novel.

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