Love 
asked by caramel on November 15, 2006 6:38 AM
The first page of Toni Morrison's novel Love is a soft introduction to a narrator who pulls you in with her version of a tale of the ocean-side community of Up Beach, a once popular ocean resort. Morrison introduces an enclave of people who react to one man--Bill Cosey--and to each other as they tell of his affect on generations of characters living in the seaside community. One clear truth here, told time and again, is how folks love and hate each other and the myriad ways it's manifested; these versions of humanity are seen in almost every line. Monsters and ghosts creep into young girls' dreams and around corners and then return to staid ladies' lives as they age and remember friendships and cold battles. Men and women--Heed, Romen, Junior, Christine, Celestial, and the rest of Morrison's cast--cry and sing out their weaknesses and strengths in rotating perspectives. Sandler, a Cosey employee, is a brilliant agent of Morrison's descriptions of human behavior, "Then, in a sudden shift of subject that children and heavy drinkers enjoy, 'My son, Billy was about your age. When he died, I mean.'" And Romen is allowed to play hero by saving a young girl from a brutal gang rape, while at the same time, he battles disgust like no superhuman would be caught dead feeling.
Though slim in pages, Morrison constructs Love with a precision and elegance that shows her characters' flaws and fears with brutal accuracy. Love may be less complex than others in the grand Morrison oeuvre, but not because Morrison performs literary hand-holding. Readers will experience in this smooth, sharp-eyed gem another instance of the Toni Morrison craftsmanship: she enters your mind, hangs a tale or two there, and leaves just as quietly as she came. --E. Brooke Gilbert
Reviews
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This book was somewhat confusing at times. I read to re-read passages to try to get the understanding of what was happening and then after re reading I still did not know what was going on. Her transtions from point of views leave you wondering who is speaking because there is no transition. One minute one character is speaking then the next someone else is speaking and you wouldn't know this happened untill you finished a paragraph or two. ALthough at first I was falling asleep while reading this book. Towards the end I found myself compelled to read what would happen next. All in all this is a good read.
reviewed by steelers on November 18, 2006 2:00 AM
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This book is not about love, it's about the worst side of human nature. I wrote a review that was censored by Amazon because I listed the disgusting human behavior carried out in this book. It's horrifying that we are censored if we list the things that happen in a book that Amazon is happy to sell to you. So, heads up, maybe a lot of people who didn't like it are being censored. I wouldn't trust the reviews. The people in the book have no heart or affection for one another. Granted we all may have different definitions of love, but Morrison's is totally awful (quit reading if you don't want info on the end of the book): two women who were friends until age 11 spend the rest of their lives hating each other. As old women, one is fatally injured trying to hurt the other at which point they realize they loved each other all along. Yeah, I guess Morrison can call that love but it's a pretty sick idea of love if you ask me. Morrison is a good writer but the characters are really obnoxious people - she should be ashamed for writing such a cold, mean-spirited novel when she has such talent.
reviewed by alec on November 22, 2006 6:45 AM
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This book is a good read. You have to really pay attention to this book because you really won't know what's going on .There are so many different views and characters you'll be asking yourself" Who is this?" . Anyway I think this is a really good read since the last book of her's I read was a big disappointment.Although I really would like to know what happened between Junior and Romen.
reviewed by ragtop on November 25, 2006 4:24 AM
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I am never disappointed when I pick up a Morrison novel. Love is a telling novel, one that, at first, is a little hard to get a hold of because Morrison doesn't spell everything out for you. Her chapters each consist of recursive narration, where we travel backwards in time to get the necessary explanation for the present point in the novel. With this being said, each chapter is a dynamic story in and of itself, full of life.
In Love it is hard to find the love that the title indicates. This in and of itself is a Morrison trademark. For certainly Paradise was not a paradise, Beloved was not beloved, and the little black girl in Bluest Eye would never get her blue eyes. So the irony is in the title. At first you think it is the love of Mr. Cosey, which is certainly there in a form, but you soon come to realize that Mr. Cosey isn't that nice or good of a character. In the end it is a tale of Love, although thorned and warped, between two women as we watch how it affects their lives.
Read and savor every chapter. Take in Morrison's ability to form the words in such a melodic fashion that the image is firmly placed in your head. I adore Morrison's writing and cannot wait for her next novel. I would most certainly recommend this her latest novel, as well as anything that she has written.
In Love it is hard to find the love that the title indicates. This in and of itself is a Morrison trademark. For certainly Paradise was not a paradise, Beloved was not beloved, and the little black girl in Bluest Eye would never get her blue eyes. So the irony is in the title. At first you think it is the love of Mr. Cosey, which is certainly there in a form, but you soon come to realize that Mr. Cosey isn't that nice or good of a character. In the end it is a tale of Love, although thorned and warped, between two women as we watch how it affects their lives.
Read and savor every chapter. Take in Morrison's ability to form the words in such a melodic fashion that the image is firmly placed in your head. I adore Morrison's writing and cannot wait for her next novel. I would most certainly recommend this her latest novel, as well as anything that she has written.
reviewed by anton584 on November 28, 2006 7:22 AM