Customer Reviews

Paradise (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(67)

 

 

Toni Morrison is one of the best authors living today, and has firmly placed herself as an author that will be read years down the road. Paradise is perhaps one of her best novels, and is one of my all time favorites (I have read it three times).

It does pose a difficult read for those looking for a casual book, because it is a deep and complexly interwoven book meant to stir emotions and one's mind. I am amazed at the spotlight reviews who seem confused by her style of writing and could not become involved with the characters. Morrison uses a recursive approach, one that breathes new life into each chapter (as a new character is introduced Morrison takes the time to back track to explain that person's past before joining the character with the present time of the book; Morrison's Master's Thesis was on Faulkner, who used the recursive style heavily). Although this could create confusion if you aren't aware of it, I think it makes for an altogether complete and compelling story.

The Convent itself and the women that reside within are compelling, and sad, stories ready to be told, and as they unfold with their interactions with Ruby it creates a book that is absolutely amazing.

This book is not for those looking for a quick easy read, or something that goes from point A to point B with no stops in between. This book will test your mind and emotions as the tale unfolds through complex chapters, leaving you with a much more fulfilling book than one that does not make you think about what you are reading. If I could give this a six star rating, I wouldn't hesitate.

Should fiction be easy? Depending on how you answer this rather basic question, you will either love or hate this book (and the rest of Morrison's catalogue, for that matter). In other words, is reading merely another hobby for you, or is it an obsession? Morrison caters to those of us who are obsessed. We may not have all read James Joyce's Ulysses, but we plan to one day. Paradise takes a rather complex story and tells it in a complex way. If you expect to have your hand held as you saunter through this novel, go read something else. Morrison challenges her reader at every turn, forcing us to exercise our intelligence. Do you draw character maps while you read books? Perhaps you should. I diagrammed the town of Ruby to the best of my ability.

The reason why so many people struggle to get through a book as difficult as Paradise (which Morrison originally planned to title "War," by the way) is because they are afraid of being confused. Morrison, however, uses confusion as a means of bringing us deeper into her world. The act of reading is not so much a discovery of answers, but of more questions. Paradise is first and foremost a mystery novel: who are the nine men with guns in the first chapter? Who is the white girl? What has provoked this violence? etc etc. Every answer that Morrison gives us comes at a price: more questions. Personally, I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

Toni Morrison made a grave error while writing Paradise-she left too much of the translation (and trust me, there's A LOT) to the reader. To the causal reader, the novel is almost completely indiscernible due to the very complex and very confusing plot structure and lack of an active narrative voice.

So did I understand Paradise? Yes, but only after carefully picking it apart chapter by chapter in one of my English seminars. Even now, I'm not so sure that I truly comprehend all of the book's themes. And do I understand the ending? Yes, but only after wading through hours of various interviews with Morrison in which she discussed her book to great length. Most importantly, was the book worth the read? I believe so, but I devoted a lot of work to Paradise before arriving at this conclusion. Morrison's writing style is not to be taken lightly; words and themes often contain several, and sometimes seemingly infinitesimal, levels of meaning. The bottom line is that what you take away from Paradise, if anything, is up to you. If you want to walk away from this novel with any sort of satisfaction, be prepared to commit a lot though and research to the undertaking.

Now, I'm not going to discuss the novel's meanings here for those who don't have the time or the will to put in the sort of work I'm talking about because doing so would far exceed the 1,000 word limit that amazon.com allows for these reviews. (I wrote 10 pages alone for my seminar on the theme of sexuality as a form of female submission and still had plenty of material left over to work with.) Whether Morrison has overextended her literary license with Paradise is debatable, but I would encourage you, the reader, to devote some effort to the reading. Who knows, you might find something worth keeping. I sure did.

Yes, it is a confusing text to some extent. I highly recommend getting the book on tape, read by Morrison herself. Her nuances and changes in intonation really bring the characters and story to life. At the heart of the story is the question of whether God exists within each of us, or whether God is an external force acting on our lives. "Beware the furrow fo his brow" OR "Be the furrow of his brow". Why does Paradise necessarily have to mean exclusion? It is a thoughtful book that has a reward for those who take the time to unravel the intersecting personal stories. But I am also a Faulkner fan, and this, like Faulkner, is not an easy afternoon read. But I don't think Morrison intended it to be that way. Life, which this book reflects, is not easily understood.

I must preface my review by admitting I've only read Paradise once.
The writing is the same brilliant and disorienting/nonlinear style as the rest of Morrison's oeuvre. What seemed most aberrant in her first post-Nobel Prize novel was, though it was highly intellectually stimulating, for me "Paradise" lacked the connection to the heart that is inseparable from her previous books. It seemed to try to meet expectations the public would have of a Nobel Prize Laureate. (Who can blame her? She remains a wonder.) But to me it was a bit forced, especially with an (overly?) dramatic opening line "They shoot the white girl first."
I will read any novel Morrison writes, they are all worth reading, including Paradise, but if you are new to her, you would be best off starting with Song of Solomon, Sula, and then Beloved.

Morrison's novel Paradise is a literary jigsaw puzzle of time, place and space. Personally, I enjoyed the complexities of keeping track of the novel's time and was not confused by the "jumping around." Morrison has carefully placed many "clues" in her novel and if the reader pays close attention to the book they will be able to follow the plot without any pain! I found it helpful to jot down certain dates now and then for quick reference. A demanding but worthwile read!

the goddess Toni Morrison. An earth goddess, yes, but nevertheless a goddess of literature and wisdom, symbolic for women the world over as One Who Has Made It, One Who Has Expressed It, One Who Teaches, etc. She is among my favorite writers. I don't love each work equally, but she's an artist, so she's entitled to irritate or bore on occasion. I notice from previous reviews that, like all artists, she touches some and leaves others cold. What I got from Paradise is her ongoing teaching that not all African American people were raised in the south; not all were directly effected by slavery; in other words, there are myriad Black stories just as there are myriad White stories. This one was particularly odd. I just got the unabridged audio version to find out what I missed in a first reading, and I'm sure there will be much. To dissatisfied reviewers: some literature is not a quick read. It takes a bit of thought, study, review, and if it's a nonlinear book you might have to re-read it in a nonlinear way, even keeping a journal of what baffles you until the pieces of the puzzle fit. In that way, Ms. Morrison is not unlike Faulkner, whose great book The Sound And the Fury has bedeviled readers for years. I feel this novel is a box of (Pandora's) secrets, or a puzzle. Thanks again to the goddess and the Goddess for another fascinating collaboration.

e-mail me if you're a Toni Morrison fan and want to share: femmesage@earthlink.net

The first half of this book was difficult to understand and difficult to "get into". BUT by the time I was halfway through the book the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together and from then on I couldn't put it down. This was an excellent, complex story with beautifully descriptive wording that makes you look at the ordinary in a whole new way. The characters are not always likeable, but you really understand (by the end of the book) where they are coming from and what their motives are. After I finished this book I re-read the first few chapters. It was alot like having to see a smart movie twice.... the second time around everything makes sense. This is a wonderful book, and it's well worth sticking with it even though it's tough to do initially. I've also read Ms. Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and "The Bluest Eye". Ms. Morrison is a one-of-a-kind author and I really love her books. I am definately going to read the ones I haven't yet.

This book sat on my "to read" stack for over a year. I kept hearing that it was rough sledding, but I finally picked it up and was completely enthralled. In fact, I'd say it was a page-turner. The book is something of a jigsaw puzzle, so it's important not to get frustrated when you don't know exactly who is who. After about 100 pages the pieces start falling into place and that makes it especially satisfying to read. (I recommend keeping a pencil and paper handy to jot down relationships on a family tree as they become clear.) Don't be put off by this, it's one of the great pleasures of Morrison's writing--in addition to her wonderful language and vast imagination.

Morrison has truly lived up to her potential as a writer in her most recent novel Paradise. I found the complexity of her lyrical writing to be both intriguing and moving. The novel fits in well with the trilogy comprised of Beloved and Jazz. The feature that stands out the most to me as a reader, a student of literature, and as an author is not just the beauty in the formation of her words on the page but the questions they ask people to consider. Morrison is able to make the reader ask why do people act violently, why do they choice to exclude those people and notions so central to constructions of self and paradise. For anyone looking for a deep thought provoking and beautifully written novel that won't leave you unchanged, I strongly recommend considering Paradise. If you liked Beloved your bound to love Paradise, or if you simply a true Morrison fan, you must add this to your library.