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Beloved
by Toni Morrison
- From 500
Great Books by Women; review by Erica
Bauermeister
When slavery has torn apart one's heritage, when the past
is more real than the present, when the rage of a dead
baby can literally rock a house, then the traditional
novel is no longer an adequate instrument. And so
Pulitzer Prize-winner Beloved is written in bits
and images, smashed like a mirror on the floor and left
for the reader to put together. In a novel that is
hypnotic, beautiful, and elusive, Toni Morrison portrays
the lives of Sethe, an escaped slave and mother, and
those around her. There is Sixo, who "stopped
speaking English because there was no future in it,"
and Mister, the overseer who defines slaves in terms of
"human" and "animal" characteristics.
There is Baby Suggs, who makes her living with her heart
because slavery "had busted her legs, back, head,
eyes, hands, kidneys, womb and tongue;" and Paul D,
a man with a rusted metal box for a heart and a presence
that allows women to cry. At the center is Sethe, whose
story makes us think and think again about what we mean
when we say we love our children or freedom. The stories
circle, swim dreamily to the surface, and are suddenly
clear and horrifying. Because of the extraordinary,
experimental style as well as the intensity of the
subject matter, what we learn from them touches at a
level deeper than understanding. -- For great reviews
of books for girls, check out
Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers
2-14.
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