Friday, March 21, 2014

Reaction to Beloved

I'd say Beloved is one of my top five favorite works we've read this year. I think the quality of Morrison's writing is enough to carry the novel alone. So many times when reading or during our dicussions I would just think "genius." Honestly, I feel like I'll need to read it at least 200 more times to pick up on all (or at least most) of the countless symbols, themes, and motifs. For me, every part of the novel told from Paul D's prospective or about Paul D's past were the most memorable. I still don't quite understand Paul D, or where he is I mean. I know his heart is a "tin can", but his actions say otherwise.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I also thoroughly enjoyed Beloved. I thought it was fascinating how Morrison weaves in so many symbols to emphasize the theme of the novel. There's so many, I could honestly spend days rereading the novel to understand them all.

Kincy GIbson said...

Beloved and One Hundred Years of Solitude are a close tie for first place as my favorite book we have read so far this year. I must admit that while reading One Hundred Years the magical realism is the novel drove me crazy. I didn't understand how people could just believe that a girl just disappeared because she floated off into the sky. After all the books we read with magical realism, I am definetely more comfortable with it now. I liked beloved as a ghost and I never once screamed to myself " NO STOP! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" like I did in every chapter of One Hundred Years. I really enjoyed both books!

Amy Clement said...

I also really enjoyed reading Beloved. I would even say that it's my favorite thing I've read this year. I always had a hard time putting the book down, and each discussion in class made me want to go home and read more. Even though it was hard to adjust to the flashbacks at first, I found the slave narritive style very interesting. The integration of supernatural elements with the realistic stories of slavery was captivating.

Unknown said...

Beloved and One Hundred Years of Solitude have been my favorite reads this year. I think I'm attracted to magical realism. Also, I find both books beautiful even though they possess such horrific tragedies. In fact, I think the way in which both authors describe the sad events in their books is what makes it so beautiful and enlightening. Their oral illustrations turn what should be grotesque into something admirable. For example, the "tree" on Sethe's back and the description of the blood trickling through the village when one of the characters die in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Unknown said...

Along with "One Hundred Years of Solitude," "Beloved" was one of my favorite novels we read this year. This year, I felt like I was exposed to much more magical realism than I was in the past. I've grown to really appreciate and enjoy the genre.