Reader Response

While scrolling through Goodreads.com it was obvious that many people didn’t think of Beloved in the same ways—which is bound to happen because everyone has their own opinion. The ratings went between five stars and one star. This kind of fit what our class decided on because the book had a love/hate relationship as we asked each other. One of the responses on Goodreads.com was as follows:

“I hate this book. But I guess I should say why. Some might say that I was too young to read this book since I read it when I was 15 but I'm a few years older now and I still hate it with seething anger. I heard that Toni Morrison was a good writer so when we had to pick a book from this long list I decided to read it. BIG MISTAKE! 

I didn't like any of the character -at all-or the plot. I know the book is supposed to give you a view on the cruel treatment of slaves but after I finished I actually less sympathetic for them. How exactly am I supposed to feel sympathetic to people who screw cows -that is just disturbing on so many levels- and kill their own babies. Paul D even admitted that the male slaves usually rape the girls. Beloved (the character) is supposed to give the book more depth but she was just confusing and quite annoying, so is the mom by the way.

The writing of the book was good and believe me its painful for me to give any praise whatsoever to this book. There are metaphors, similes, symbols, personification, and basically everything that is an English teachers dream. But that does not mean it was a good book in the least. I like a decent metaphor as much as the next person but that is not what I think makes a good book. You know how your supposed to feel all deep and intelligent after you read classic book. Nope didn't happen.”

Since I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 starts I have to disagree with this person. For one, just because it really wasn’t that horrible of a book; yes, some of the things that were written were hard to understand, but that built the characters to who they are. It was hard to understand Beloved because she was a baby when she died, so naturally when she came back, she wasn’t going to be as wise as a 80 year old.

Overall the ratings on Amazon were 4.1 out of 5 stars. The majority of the ones that I read were five stars. The one that I mostly agreed with is as follows:

“I found that I needed to understand the genuine horrors of slavery before I could understand this book. You have to know why Sethe does what she does before you can grasp her actions. Toni Morrison makes that difficult to do . . . maybe she doesn't want anyone to read it who isn't prepared to give their souls to it. So be prepared not to read in your usual way. They aren't just words to be taken in at your normal pace. You'll read, and re-read, and break it down, accept it, then go back and read it again. We all should be changed by this book.”

With this book review I agree almost 100%. I did a lot of rereading to understand what was happening and asked thousands of questions to classmates. There was very few comments that I read and they either were right on and shared positive responses to the reviews or they were just the opposite with nasty comments following how the author of the comments opinions were wrong. I don’t find this right to do, but if you disagree you could clearly just state, “I disagree” and continue on with what you interpreted it as instead of telling the other person they are wrong.

Barnes and Noble’s website was interesting to read through because a majority of the reviews were just like Goodreads. I found many of the reviews to be true because the book definitely has to grow on you and you have to be able to put yourself in Sethe’s situation. On Barnes and Noble the average reviews were four stars. The one that I found that was interesting is as follows:

“A child is a gift which cannot be compared to any in the world, but when a child is murdered for the mother's survival, its spirit lingers on in the thoughts and nightmares of the family. Beloved by Toni Morrison is a haunting novel of a mother and daughter, their struggles to survive the shadows of their past, and the secrets that hold them back in irrefutable ways. The deeply troubled main characters and bone chilling plot takes place in a haunting setting which keeps the pages turning and the reader wanting more, even after the novel has ended. Morrison wrote this novel with spell bounding emotion that can hardly be compared to any work of fiction I have ever read. Morrison's brilliant masterpiece transposes the mind of the reader into the time of the Civil War, where escaped slaves are continuously disturbed by their precedent.”

This one pretty much speaks for itself, I agree with this on so many levels. I like how it comes out and says that it’s a mother and daughter’s story of what has happened because my theme is motherhood. When I read books that’s usually the one thing that I really look at because of the relationship that I have with my mother and it’s always interesting to see what other people make their character’s relationship to be. On this website they don’t have comments, just a share button with a thumb up or down. This reviewer rated the book four stars and I believe supports that very well.