Liked, but not beloved

It don't really have a lot to say about my next read, so I will keep it brief. Here are the stats:

Title: Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
My start date: 9/6/10
My finish date: 9/10/10
Book count: 48/100

Apparently I go a little against the grain in my tastes in classics. Having just come off a reading of Wuthering Heights, which I had absolutely loved contrary to my expectations, I was not immediately drawn to Morrison's famous novel, Beloved. The early pages were confusing and a little hard to get into. So I happened to post my positive feelings for Bronte's work and rather lackluster early appraisel of Morrison's work on facebook. I was immediately inundated with surprised responses from people who had exactly the opposite feelings. Clearly, Beloved was much beloved! I assured them I would suspend any further doubts until I had made more progress.

As the story continued I did indeed begin to like it and, in fact, even quite enjoy it. I won't say that it is my favorite read ever. Not by a very long shot. But Morrison is a powerful writer. Once the reader gets solid footing in the story, Morrison's imagery will take over. It has the admirable quality of simultaneously feeling so very real and yet also entirely fairy tale-esque. Granted, don't be fooled by my use of fairy tale. I am not speaking of the Disney-fied fairy tale most of us recognize today, but rather the more grisly versions found in the pages of days long gone. Morrison's subject matter, the psychological effects of slavery on those recently freed, is extremely heavy. But it would be hard to find one more important.

So, don't worry all of you out in facebook world! You were right and I did appreciate the text in the end. It might not be beloved by me, but at the very least I liked it.

Onward in my reading! As you can see, I am still way behind in my goal and beginning to question its feasability, but I am not done trying yet! Keep checking back to see how far I get!

Keep Reading!
Sarah