This is the first book I've completed by the Pulitzer Prize winning and Nobel Prize for Literature winning author. I had started one of her other novels (Beloved) a couple of years ago, and never finished it and didn't bother renewing it from the library.
I wanted to love this novel. But I didn't. It is an important one and deep. But way too sad and dark for me. Yet I understand its importance in American culture.
STORY SUMMARY
The story takes place in the town where the author grew up. That town is Lorain, Ohio. It is the story of a little black girl named Pecola Breedlove. Pecola is 11 years old and has an older brother Samuel.
Pecola prays every day for God to make her eyes turn blue. She wants to be a beautiful and beloved little girl like all the blond, blue-eyed children in America.
The story starts out in the Autumn of 1941. The marigolds are not blooming this year and Pecola's life is about to change.....drastically, and in painful ways.
She has a couple of friends.....sisters named Claudia and Frieda.
Other than that, Pecola is alone.
Her father rapes her and gets her pregnant.
Pecola ends up losing her mind......she becomes what we would call today, "mentally ill".
MY THOUGHTS
This book is rich in language. It really brings out the feelings of fear, loneliness and yearning in the little girl's life.
But it is dark.
Themes running throughout this book are: pedophilia, incest, poverty, infidelity, pregnancy, racism, addictions such as alcoholism and prostitution. Yet at the same time: friendship, love, curiosity, innocence, childhood wonder. The black characters believe that being white equals being beautiful. This just made me so sad. And a bit angry!
This book has been called a "significant work of American fiction" and I can definitely see why. But it was a a difficult read.
The subject matter: abject poverty, isolation, unfit mothers and fathers, the various class levels of the black folk (racism among the blacks!) and of course the meanness and hatred of the white folk.
The book also shows how the women are at the mercy of men.....how their lives are filled with violence and they are subject to being made to feel inferior.
The book takes place in each season of the year and is told in a child's voice. The voice of Claudia.
The book also shows how the women are at the mercy of men.....how their lives are filled with violence and they are subject to being made to feel inferior.
The book takes place in each season of the year and is told in a child's voice. The voice of Claudia.
The author is excellent at portraying these characters in such a way that makes you want to reach out to them and help them. You can smell the scents she describes and visualize the surroundings. Her descriptive prose is just excellent.
It almost reads like an essay and a poem all at the same time.
The writing is superb. But the themes are just so dark.
I'm glad I read it. She is a brilliant voice for the African American population for sure.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to subject matter).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
1 comment:
I've never read Toni Morrison and in all honesty have not really been drawn to any of her books. I don't know why...maybe they aren't described well on the covers?
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