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katiemw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
chronicacademia's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation
gllnmk's review against another edition
5.0
easily the greatest book I've ever read, if not of all time
jperlmutter's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
blueberry31's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great book, and I mean a real masterpiece. It was poetic and told an important and tragic part of history that we all have a duty to remember, but was also funny, tragic, hopeful... I don't know how to describe this book, it feels like no review can truly do it justice. I can only recommend reading it. Toni Morrison is a master of storytelling, and all of her words translated to very vivid and very real images in my mind. I could taste Pilate's perfect soft-boiled eggs, feel Hagar's heartbreak, hear the children singing Solomon's song, smell the berries in Pilate's wine. Reading this book is like going on a crazy adventure, as we accompany Milkman on his journey to find himself, his people, in an attempt to lift the mysteries and secrets that surround his true identity, but also in some sense find purpose in his life. I loved it, can't wait to read more of Toni Morrison's work.
I'll end this review with my favorite extract of the book, which is a lecture that Magdalene called Lena gives her brother Milkman:
"Who are you to approve or disapprove anybody or anything? I was breathing air in the world thirteen years before your lungs were even formed. Corinthians, twelve. You don’t know a single thing about either one of us—we made roses; that’s all you knew—but now you know what’s best for the very woman who wiped the dribble from your chin because you were too young to know how to spit. Our girlhood was spent like a found nickel on you. When you slept, we were quiet; when you were hungry, we cooked; when you wanted to play, we entertained you; and when you got grown enough to know the difference between a woman and a two-toned Ford, everything in this house stopped for you. You have yet to wash your own underwear, spread a bed, wipe the ring
from your tub, or move a fleck of your dirt from one place to another. And to this day, you have never asked one of us if we were tired, or sad, or wanted a cup of coffee. You’ve never picked up anything heavier than your own feet, or solved a problem harder than fourth-grade arithmetic. Where do you get the right to decide our lives?”
Ironically this is probably Lena's one and only spoken intervention in the entire book, but I found it to be one of the most powerful. Or as Milkman would put it: "[...] a sobering conversation with [...] Magdalene called Lena, to whom he had not said more than four consecutive sentences since he was in the ninth grade."
I'll end this review with my favorite extract of the book, which is a lecture that Magdalene called Lena gives her brother Milkman:
"Who are you to approve or disapprove anybody or anything? I was breathing air in the world thirteen years before your lungs were even formed. Corinthians, twelve. You don’t know a single thing about either one of us—we made roses; that’s all you knew—but now you know what’s best for the very woman who wiped the dribble from your chin because you were too young to know how to spit. Our girlhood was spent like a found nickel on you. When you slept, we were quiet; when you were hungry, we cooked; when you wanted to play, we entertained you; and when you got grown enough to know the difference between a woman and a two-toned Ford, everything in this house stopped for you. You have yet to wash your own underwear, spread a bed, wipe the ring
from your tub, or move a fleck of your dirt from one place to another. And to this day, you have never asked one of us if we were tired, or sad, or wanted a cup of coffee. You’ve never picked up anything heavier than your own feet, or solved a problem harder than fourth-grade arithmetic. Where do you get the right to decide our lives?”
Ironically this is probably Lena's one and only spoken intervention in the entire book, but I found it to be one of the most powerful. Or as Milkman would put it: "[...] a sobering conversation with [...] Magdalene called Lena, to whom he had not said more than four consecutive sentences since he was in the ninth grade."
thaurisil's review against another edition
4.0
The book starts off elusively. An insurance salesman jumping from a building believing he can fly. Below, a pregnant lady, Ruth Dead, daughter of the first black doctor in the area, who is standing with her daughters Magdalene and First Corinthians Dead, goes into labour, and becomes the first black woman accepted into Mercy Hospital (nicknamed No Mercy Hospital). A white nurse orders a six-year-old boy, Guitar, to get a security guard, and he corrects a mistake in her spelling. Ruth's sister-in-law, Pilate, sings, "O Sugarman done fly away". Over the year, Ruth indulges in breastfeeding her son, Macon Dead III, long past his infancy, to escape the boredom of her marriage, and when discovered by the janitor Freddie, the boy is nicknamed Milkman. Milkman's father, Macon Dead II, is a greedy and dictatorial father and landlord, and bans Milkman from contact with Pilate. One day, Macon walks past Pilate's house, and hides in the shadows listening to her singing with her daughter Reba and granddaughter Hagar.
This mysterious start is more important than it appears, and introduces the key elements of the book. These are the themes of race, gender and class, the motifs of flight and singing, and the importance of names.
In the first half of the book, Milkman is selfish, living in the luxury granted by his father's wealth, uncaring towards his parents, sisters and the other characters. His only friend is Guitar. Guitar turns into a black fundamentalist, angry about the injustice done towards the blacks and joining a secret gang known as the Seven Days that kills a white person for every black person murdered, regardless of who the killer is. On the other hand, Milkman, living in his comfort, separates himself from others of his race, refusing to care about the sufferings of the blacks. As Guitar turns increasingly extremist, the two friends split apart, and ironically it is at this time that Milkman, in his search for freedom, travels to his father's hometown and starts to take an interest in his ancestors. Milkman's heritage is not easy to discover, because the historical illiteracy of the blacks has resulted in stories being passed down in oral tradition, with names contorted and legends taking on the aspect of truth. Discovering his historical heritage requires Milkman to interact and form friendships. As he discovers his ancestors, he finds his own identity, and assimilates into African American culture.
The legends of African American culture are magnified by the use of magical realism. Pilate, the only purely good character in the book, is guided by her father, whom she saw shot off a fence as a child while he tried to protect his land, and appears as a ghost guiding her through life. At the same time, the motifs of flight and song augment the magical feeling. Several characters dream of flying. Their flight or attempted flight is a symbol of their hope and the soaring of their ambitions, and when Milkman, at a young age, discovers he cannot fly, he becomes spiritually dead. His spiritual rebirth is marked by a renewed interest in flight. Singing, particularly by Pilate, is a hope that glows in moments of darkness, and the lyrics of a song that a group of children sing are a key tool through which Milkman discovers the story of his ancestors. All this culminates in an ending where the motifs of flight and song grow, passages become increasingly lyrical, and at the end, Milkman flies, resembling the insurance salesman at the start of the book.
The unusual names of the characters are symbolic. The first Macon Dead, Milkman's grandfather, derived his name through a clerk's mistakes that the illiterate Macon Dead did not notice. Pilate is named by Macon randomly pointing at a word in the bible. Many other names are slave names or nicknames that are at times derogatory. Yet the names, strange and unusual as they are, highlight the person's original and history. As Milkman embraces his own name and the history of black names, he embraces a key part of African American culture.
Morrison's writing is rhythmical and, at appropriate times, musical. Her words are carefully chosen. The themes and motifs repeat themselves at surprising moments, building a cohesive whole. It is a book of faith, culture, love and beauty.
This mysterious start is more important than it appears, and introduces the key elements of the book. These are the themes of race, gender and class, the motifs of flight and singing, and the importance of names.
In the first half of the book, Milkman is selfish, living in the luxury granted by his father's wealth, uncaring towards his parents, sisters and the other characters. His only friend is Guitar. Guitar turns into a black fundamentalist, angry about the injustice done towards the blacks and joining a secret gang known as the Seven Days that kills a white person for every black person murdered, regardless of who the killer is. On the other hand, Milkman, living in his comfort, separates himself from others of his race, refusing to care about the sufferings of the blacks. As Guitar turns increasingly extremist, the two friends split apart, and ironically it is at this time that Milkman, in his search for freedom, travels to his father's hometown and starts to take an interest in his ancestors. Milkman's heritage is not easy to discover, because the historical illiteracy of the blacks has resulted in stories being passed down in oral tradition, with names contorted and legends taking on the aspect of truth. Discovering his historical heritage requires Milkman to interact and form friendships. As he discovers his ancestors, he finds his own identity, and assimilates into African American culture.
The legends of African American culture are magnified by the use of magical realism. Pilate, the only purely good character in the book, is guided by her father, whom she saw shot off a fence as a child while he tried to protect his land, and appears as a ghost guiding her through life. At the same time, the motifs of flight and song augment the magical feeling. Several characters dream of flying. Their flight or attempted flight is a symbol of their hope and the soaring of their ambitions, and when Milkman, at a young age, discovers he cannot fly, he becomes spiritually dead. His spiritual rebirth is marked by a renewed interest in flight. Singing, particularly by Pilate, is a hope that glows in moments of darkness, and the lyrics of a song that a group of children sing are a key tool through which Milkman discovers the story of his ancestors. All this culminates in an ending where the motifs of flight and song grow, passages become increasingly lyrical, and at the end, Milkman flies, resembling the insurance salesman at the start of the book.
The unusual names of the characters are symbolic. The first Macon Dead, Milkman's grandfather, derived his name through a clerk's mistakes that the illiterate Macon Dead did not notice. Pilate is named by Macon randomly pointing at a word in the bible. Many other names are slave names or nicknames that are at times derogatory. Yet the names, strange and unusual as they are, highlight the person's original and history. As Milkman embraces his own name and the history of black names, he embraces a key part of African American culture.
Morrison's writing is rhythmical and, at appropriate times, musical. Her words are carefully chosen. The themes and motifs repeat themselves at surprising moments, building a cohesive whole. It is a book of faith, culture, love and beauty.
lizziaha's review against another edition
4.0
In my journey to read all of Toni Morrison’s books in publication order, this has been my favorite to read so far. Oddly, it’s the one that I’ve enjoyed the language itself the least, but the plot felt tighter-knit. I think this book had a lot to say about who you’re in community with and how that affects your actions, and it was compelling to see Milkman finding his people after a life of relative isolation. And the way that isolation was woven into the story from the very beginning goes a long way to show how we can bring it upon ourselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
mozbolt's review against another edition
3.0
I'm honestly growing tired of Toni Morrison's novels. I completely appreciate her as a goddess/author, but my Reading Morrison seminar is causing me to read a lot more of her work than I would normally choose to do in a very short period of time. Very heavy and exhausting to read and process, so yeah I'm at the point where I'm just trying to get them over with.
stress0espress0's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shannon987's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0