Today I finished reading Beloved and while the book is well written and you learn a lot about the atrocities that happened in those times, something felt very off with the book that I am unable to put my finger on. It could be that sometimes I had to flip pages back and forth to make sense of things, but I almost wanted to not finish the book multiple times while reading it. Last time it happened, I was reading 'Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern. I wonder if it is the genre of these books- magic realism that I am not really a fan of. 🤔
I also felt that no character was particularly likeable. I don't expect to read completely black or white characters but there has to be some redeeming factor which for me was amiss.
Have you read the book? What is your opinion on it?
by Waste_Project_7864
3 Comments
I haven’t read that book, but I just finished my first Toni Morrison book “Sula” and it was similarly tough to get through. I didn’t like the time jumps and I had to go back and reread a lot. I couldn’t get into any of the characters either. I wanted to love it, but it didn’t click.
I didn’t enjoy it when I first read it in AP Lit. I actually felt very similarly to you and struggled with being grounded enough to engage with the text.
Years later, when I taught Beloved in AP Lit, I adored it. Not sure if it was a right time, right place thing, or if I had just become a better reader, or both and more than that. Regardless, I found its acclaim to be warranted in how it argues that the worst worldly evils can lead to the greatest, cruelest acts of love.
Not sure l’ll ever read it again, though!
What made Beloved a challenge for me is that the book explores past and present at the same time, sometimes switching for just a paragraph, and in a disjointed manner.
Otherwise great book, loved it, perhaps mixed feelings on the resolution.