In the award-winning novel by Toni Morrison, BELOVED was one of the many books that I enjoyed reading with a heart-warming passion. It lead me by the hands through the struggling story of Sethe, a runaway slave, trying to let go of her past. As her and her family move to a farm in a house called #124, Sethe realizes that she hasn't left all the torment she has been haunted by behind. She's lost so many along her life, that she's not even sure she can survive on her own, so she leans on Paul D. to help her along the way. Even though it was tough to follow through the book, with the different scenes being mentioned to help readers understand the many struggles Sethe has gone through, but you learn that Sethe has been through a lot in her life.
For eighteen years, Sethe and her daughter Denver, have lived in #124 in Ohio, secluding their selves from the people around them, she meets a man by the name of Paul D., her long-missing husband's friend, and they begin to reveal the stories from their great escape of slavery. As her young daughter Beloved haunts her, a ghostly figure who calls herself Beloved moves in and gradually takes over the household and begins to demand and take over Sethe's soul, which breaks her soul.
This book is a marvelous book that taught me the meaning of struggle and letting go of your past.

This is a FIVE STAR book. It's fantastic... but it's beyond that. It's the greatest American novel since Huck Finn. No kidding. It's an American Classic. I can't believe there are people that would give this less than FOUR or FIVE stars. It's obvious that they didn't read or understand the book on any level.

This is one of the greatest books I've ever read. It will change you and open your mind. It's absolutely haunting and beautiful. If you're looking for brilliance give this book your attention.

Toni's Morrison's Beloved is a hard, frustrating, and emotionally draining piece of literary art. Saying this, her prose is written like something I've never read. She throws you in the middle of the narrative and does not tell you why her characters are saying or acting like they are. It is a finely written detective story that is heartbreaking. Everyone needs to read this Nobel Prize novel. If you believe yourself to know about slavery and how slaves "survived" on plantations and farms, Morrison will open your eyes to the reality of that life. Set between 1855 and 1873, Morrison weaves a raw tale about Sethe, a former slave, and her daughter Denver living in a house haunted by the ghost of Sethe's third child who was murdered. The book is hard to read because of the graphic images burnt into one's mind as one reads it, but also, because you have to be patient; Morrison will reveal to the reader what has just happened in a scene a few pages or chapters later. This is the beauty and genius of Morrison's writing. You will never be the same after reading this book.

Well I'd like to start off by saying that the prose in this novel is absolutely stunning. Morrison writes with beautiful and poetic language. That aside, I struggled through this book despite the magnificent writing. Firstly, I just want to note that DO NOT ATTEMPT to read this book if you have never read the Bible. Literally every other page is a literary picture of a Bibical image; whether it be the Four Horsemen, Snakes, Sword and Shield, or the Flood. This imagery was very vivid but it becomes so bogged down in symbolism and imagery that it is impossible to evade confusion. One chapter (not labeled chapters although) in particular has a conversation at the end without quotations or names and takes you about 5 rereads to understand it. I read this for International Baccalaureate Advanced Lit Studies (Higher level lit) and even my teacher noted that it will take several rereads to understand the novel. I can see how this is ok for a Lit class but not someone who is reading it for fun; it is definitely not a casual, "hey I need something to read!" book. No casual reader should struggle to basically read a rewritten version of the Bible; avoid this book unless you are planning to attack it, ripping out every little sentence with an image or motif and noting the mood and tone.

Having read the book as one of many for my American Literature studies, it left me absolutely confused and caught in the cobwebs of a shadowy, almost unfathomable plot. It simply made NO SENSE for me at all. How much ability of clairvoyance and anticipation does Morrison expect? How much can an author expect a reader at all? More, than an intermediate reader like me can take, I'd like to state.
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Of course, as a Pulitzer winning book, it must have been a feast for critics, but it was an agony for me.
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There might be readers who are apt to shed light beyond the ever-so-tightly-woven interactions of the characters, but me, as a not-so-profound knower of Morrisons works, her intention to make people think and act doesn't work out, as BELOVED, rather than makes one act, leaves one bedazzled and confused.