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Ben MarcusBen Marcus's books The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women were considered "experimental" fiction because of his unconventional use of... Continue »
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Beloved

by Toni Morrison

Beloved Cover

ISBN13: 9780452280625
ISBN10: 0452280621
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

At the center of Toni Morrison's fifth novel, which earned her the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is an almost unspeakable act of horror and heroism: a woman brutally kills her infant daughter rather than allow her to be enslaved. The woman is Sethe, and the novel traces her journey from slavery to freedom during and immediately following the Civil War. Woven into this circular, mesmerizing narrative are the horrible truths of Sethe's past: the incredible cruelties she endured as a slave, and the hardships she suffered in her journey north to freedom. Just as Sethe finds the past too painful to remember, and the future just "a matter of keeping the past at bay," her story is almost too painful to read. Yet Morrison manages to imbue the wreckage of her characters' lives with compassion, humanity, and humor. Part ghost story, part history lesson, part folk tale, Beloved finds beauty in the unbearable, and lets us all see the enduring promise of hope that lies in anyone's future.

Review:

"An extraordinary novel." The New York Times

Review:

"Another triumph.... Ms. Morrison's versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds... If you can believe page one — and Ms. Morrison's verbal authority compels belief — you're hooked on the rest of the book." Margaret Atwood, New York Times Book Review
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About the Author

Toni Morrison was born in Ohio and is a graduate of Howard University and Cornell University. She has worked in publishing and taught at various colleges and universities, including Yale, Rutgers, and SUNY Albany as the Schweitzer Chair. She is currently Robert F. Goheen Professor at Princeton. She was the recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
emmejo, October 11, 2010 (view all comments by emmejo)
Sethe escaped slavery, but it left heavy scars on her body and mind. All the evils that she thought she had put from her mind come back with the arrival of a man from her past and the sudden appearance of a young woman named Beloved. Sethe struggles to figure out what to do with herself and those around her, without succumbing to the madness she has experienced before.

This book felt very fragmented and scattered, perhaps this is an attempt to show Sethe's confused state of mind, but it makes it hard for the reader to follow what is going on. The characters felt inconsistent and I was often confused by what the relationships were between them. The writing is solid, if occasionally sliding t'wards purple prose.

I admire what the author was trying to do, and she wrote something that is very powerful at points, but the scattered feeling of the overall book detracts from her message.
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Becker, January 5, 2010 (view all comments by Becker)
I don't know if this is the best book I've read in the past ten years, but I do know that it is the one that has stuck with me the longest. It is probably the most powerful and painful book I've ever read.
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Stephanie Y., March 8, 2009 (view all comments by Stephanie Y.)
This book was great. It gives a narrative of life during and after enslavement and speaks beautifully about the strain on relationships and basic human dignity.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780452280625
Author:
Morrison, Toni
Publisher:
Plume
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Historical
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Afro-americans
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
Ohio
Subject:
Historical fiction
Subject:
Women slaves
Subject:
African Americans
Subject:
Infanticide
Subject:
American fiction (fictional works by one auth
Subject:
African-American women
Subject:
General Fiction
Copyright:
1987
Edition Description:
Mass Market
Series Volume:
6240
Publication Date:
1998
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
512
Dimensions:
8.08x5.40x.60 in. .55 lbs.
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Beloved Used Trade Paper
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Product details 512 pages PENGUIN PUTNAM TRADE - English 9780452280625 Reviews:
"Review" by , "An extraordinary novel."
"Review" by , "Another triumph.... Ms. Morrison's versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds... If you can believe page one — and Ms. Morrison's verbal authority compels belief — you're hooked on the rest of the book."
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