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A review by okiecozyreader
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The audiobook with Morrison narrating is amazing - her voice is so soft and beautiful with writing that sounds pleasant, but when you think about what she is saying, it is so deeply sad. I read most of the physical book and only listened to the first couple of chapters to have her voice more in my head, but it would be wonderful to listen to the whole thing.
It’s taken me a long time to pick up THE BLUEST EYE, namely because two of my Bookclubs chose it to discuss, and I am so glad I did. I heard a clip of Morrison saying how she wants everyone to read her books and that she wrote them because writing and having children were the two things she felt most called to do.
This is the sad story of Pecola Breedlove, who we learn early on is not beautiful by the world’s standards - but was destroyed by the rape of her father (which we learn on the page before Autumn begins). In that section, Morrison writes,
“There is really nothing more to say - except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”
Through Morrison’s beautiful poetic language we get the story of how all of this came to be, even though it is a tragedy. But it is still the story of our world 50 years later - the story of what is beautiful and how a young Black girl wanted to have blue eyes to be part of the beauty.
“If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy.” P16
“You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious all-knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had each accepted it without question.” P39
“In these violent breaks in routine that were themselves routine, she could display the style and imagination of what she believed to be her own true self.” P41
“Thrown, in this way, into the binding conviction that only a miracle could relieve her, she would never know her beauty. She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.” P46-47
It’s taken me a long time to pick up THE BLUEST EYE, namely because two of my Bookclubs chose it to discuss, and I am so glad I did. I heard a clip of Morrison saying how she wants everyone to read her books and that she wrote them because writing and having children were the two things she felt most called to do.
This is the sad story of Pecola Breedlove, who we learn early on is not beautiful by the world’s standards - but was destroyed by the rape of her father (which we learn on the page before Autumn begins). In that section, Morrison writes,
“There is really nothing more to say - except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”
Through Morrison’s beautiful poetic language we get the story of how all of this came to be, even though it is a tragedy. But it is still the story of our world 50 years later - the story of what is beautiful and how a young Black girl wanted to have blue eyes to be part of the beauty.
“If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy.” P16
“You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious all-knowing master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had each accepted it without question.” P39
“In these violent breaks in routine that were themselves routine, she could display the style and imagination of what she believed to be her own true self.” P41
“Thrown, in this way, into the binding conviction that only a miracle could relieve her, she would never know her beauty. She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.” P46-47
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Incest, Rape, and Violence