Toni Morrison - Beloved

Pros: Fascinating tale based on an true story, interesting characters

Cons: Hard to read at times, very detailed and disturbing

The Bottom Line: Beloved takes you on a journey, helping you learn about slavery from a completely different perspective... I would recommend this book to everyone!

Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Ah, the 25th review on Beloved. Why should you read this review? Because you like me! Um, I’m sure you aren’t buying that one. Well, I’m going to try to give you a different perspective...

Pros: Compelling story that is destined to be a classic.

Cons: It takes awhile to get into the rhythm of the book...don't give up!

The Bottom Line: Whether they want to learn something about a slave's life or just want a good story, everyone should read this book.

Review: So many Epinions writers are making lists (favorite albums, favorite movies, gifts they'd like to receive) and I've enjoyed reading them. Lists are fun to make, and of course, it made me think about the ones I'd make, like of my favorite books (if that...

Pros: Haunting story, well written and compelling

Cons: Emotionally draining, a hard read

Review: Beloved , by Toni Morrison, is a hard book to read if you are a parent. The concept behind the plot almost guarantees you will never be able to forget Morrison’s protagonist Sethe, much less her fateful choice.

Typically, I...

Pros: Compelling narrative images

Cons: Hard to follow on first reading

Review: Several months ago, I found myself stranded in a small out of the way southern airport with nothing to read. The newsstand did not appear promising. I decided to look out of sheer boredom. The selection was pretty much what I expected consisting of how...

Pros: Great works by great female authors...

Cons: Wish there were more like it...

Review: In the 70's, the multimedia industry formulated an innovative concept in videotape presentations. By superimposing a soundtrack over a film sequence, they came up with a novel approach from which MTV was born. If we follow this train of thought, we can...

Pros: Great works by great female authors...

Cons: Wish there were more like it...

Review: Both Toni Morrison's Beloved and Doris Lessing's The Summer Before The Dark have provided insightful commentaries on social standards from a feminine perspective for the benefit of fans and scholars alike. Yet their viewpoints in the two...

Pros: The best

Cons: Not for fools

The Bottom Line: One of the finest American novels of the Twentieth Century. Great, grand, moving, compelling.

Review: Beloved is, as far as I know, the very first novel (published in 1988) by a major American writer to take on the subject of slavery! This is incredible. Only Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous propaganda novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written before...

Pros: Breathtaking prose

Cons: Not a quick, light read by any means

Review: I am on my FOURTH, yes FOURTH read of this awesome, brilliant work of art. I first read Beloved in my mid-twenties, and frankly found it to be confusing, murky and nearly impossible to finish.

Around thirty, I tried again, realizing that...

Pros: Brilliant use of magical realism, gothic elements, language

Cons: May seem disjointed and choppy for some readers

The Bottom Line: Emily Dickinson once said, "When I read something and it makes me feel like the top of my head has popped off, I know it's greatness." Beloved is that!

Review: Perhaps one of the best fifty books written in the 20th century, Beloved immediately presents itself as a great work with its richness of language.

From the dedication, "Sixty Million and more," which is the figure of the Africans who died on...

Pros: beautiful imagery, intense exploration of relevant issues, masterful plot structure

Cons: too inaccessible for the average reader

Review: I can understand why so many other reviewers gave this book a poor rating. It was extremely confusing and probably one of Morrison's more inaccessible books - although all her books are so layered with meaning that they tend to bewilder.

Do...