Book review

“A Monster calls”

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Bijay moktan Mr. Rajiv Niraula
Student id no:
Section: ‘F

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 Book review

Name of the book: BELOVED

Author: Toni morrison
Genre: Realistic fiction
Targeted reader: teenager, young to higher (11+)
Publish date: September, 1987
Publication: Alfred A. Knopf Inc.
Pages: 180
Price: $8.49

Rating: ★★★★☆

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 Background of the Author and the Book

I’ve been holding off on reviewing Toni Morrison’s Beloved because how can you really critique
such a book? It won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and its author Toni Morrison won the
1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. All I can really do is tell how I felt about what is considered to
be one of the world’s greatest novels that was ground-breaking when written and remains
extraordinary.
Set in the mid-1800s, Beloved centers on a woman named Sethe who has escaped, with her
children, from slavery in Kentucky. For one month, she experiences the big and small joys of
freedom, before she sees her owner coming to reclaim her, forcing her to make the most awful of
decisions – to kill her children rather than allow them to endure the pain and shame of slavery.
While three of her children survive, one does not. That child, a toddler at the time, continues to
haunt Halle and her household. Morrison’s writing is lyrical and offers many lines of truth and
beauty, and she masterfully captures the place, time and people of which she writes. Her
dialogue is incomparable. She captures the ambiguity of individuals’ behavior, ranging from the
cruelly punishing someone who they believes are too proud, to risking their lives and
unquestioningly opening their doors to those in need. She also writes of the love of a mother for
her children, and the terrible choice that Seethe makes for her own, and as a mother, I found the
way Morrison wrote of love to be deeply moving. There were many times when I had to put the
book down to check on my children in their beds.

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 Brief synopsis/Content of book

Mixed with the lyric beauty of the writing, the fury in Morrison's (Song of Solomon) latest book
is almost palpable. Set in rural Ohio several years after the Civil War, this haunting chronicle of
slavery and its aftermath traces the life of a young woman, Sethe, who has kept a terrible
memory at bay only by shutting down part of her mind. Juxtaposed with searing descriptions of
brutality, gradually revealed in flashbacks, are equally harrowing scenes in which fantasy takes
flesh, a device Morrison handles with consummate skill. The narrative concerns Sethe's former
life as a slave on Sweet Home Farm, her escape with her children to what seems a safe haven and
the tragic events that ensue. The death of Sethe's infant daughter Beloved is the incident on
which the plot hinges, and it is obvious to the reader that the sensuous young woman who
mysteriously appears one day is Beloved's spirit, come back to claim Sethe's love. Sethe's
surviving daughter, Denver, immediately grasps the significance of Beloved's return and so does
Paul Dno period after D, another escapee from Sweet Home; but Sethe herself resists
comprehension, and, as a result, a certain loss of tension affects the latter part of the narrative.
But this is a small flaw in a novel full of insights, both piercing and tender, with distinctive,
memorable characters, flowing prose that conveys speech patterns with musical intensity and a
brilliantly conceived story. As a record of white brutality mitigated by rare acts of decency and
compassion, and as a testament to the courageous lives of a tormented people, this novel is a
milestone in the chronicling of the black experience in America. It is Morrison writing at the
height of her considerable powers, and it should not be missed. BOMC main selection.
(September 16)

Critical evaluation
Beloved  is bleakly beautiful, unflinchingly honest and utterly compelling. The choice of word is
faultless, full of wisdom, beauty and philosophy. I totally loved it. This book is heartrending and
will make grief and loss real even for those who have never lost someone in their life. The
inevitable ending is always at the back of readers' minds but when it comes it is sadder than ever.
This poignant and moving story will make readers sad long after they have read the final page. I
think this book appeals to everyone because we all have dreams and sometimes we just want to
tell us that they may come true.

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Recommendation to the readers
The book is relatively short having around 214 pages only. the book encourages us to fight with
the struggles of life. The amazing book of fairy tales adventurous story full of mysterious and
wisdom can be bought from amazon.com at Rs.849 which I think is a worthy investment. “A
Monster Call” is a very exciting realistic fiction novel and it really deserve a space at everyone’s
bookshelf.

Favorite quotes from the book

a) “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved
b) “Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved
c) “She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and
give them back to me in all the right order.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

d) “Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings

more thrilling than understanding could ever be.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

e) “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”

― Toni Morrison, Beloved

f) “You are your best thing”

― Toni Morrison, Beloved
g) “There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up, holding,
holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside
kind--wrapped tight like skin. Then there is the loneliness that roams. No rocking can
hold it down. It is alive. On its own. A dry and spreading thing that makes the sound of
one's own feet going seem to come from a far-off place.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

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Conclusion
Combining mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of pain and self-struggle. A
Beloved has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world. A flim
named “beloved” has also made on the base of this novel.