Well, it seems like I have been away from here forever! We spent Thanksgiving weekend weekend in Mexico with our family (kids, spouses and grandkids) and I am still recovering (in terms of laundry, cleaning, etc.) on top of getting the house ready for Christmas!
While in Mexico, I read Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, written in 1977. At my book group last month we voted to read The Bluest Eye for January and I remarked on how much I loved Beloved. One of the group members asked if I had read Song of Solomon and thought that I would really like it. I did! He was right!
It is the story of Macon "Milkman" Dead searching for who his family was and, ultimately, who he is, struggling to understand his family history. It is a story about love, loss, family, grief, and history, especially slavery.
Ms. Morrison's characterization of the people in the book is fantastic. You get such a vivid portrait of each character...so well-developed. Even their names are amazing....Pilate, Hagar, Guitar...great characters.
I do have to admit that the first half of the book was a bit slow-moving. Not enough to have lost me, but the second half of the book really begins to pull you in as Milkman begins to learn about his family's past.
I am anxious to read The Bluest Eye to see if it is as good as the others that I have read by Ms. Morrison.
1 comment:
The Bluest Eye is a bit of a tearjerker, and I don't cry easily when I read.
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