Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.

  • List Price: $24.95
  • Save: $5.37 (22%)
Free Shipping for Prime Members | Fast, FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime
Only 3 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
The Bluest Eye has been added to your Cart
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comment: Great buy on a reading copy that has significant exterior wear and/or excessive internal markings.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 3 images

The Bluest Eye Hardcover – Deckle Edge, December 28, 1993

3.9 out of 5 stars 1,346 customer reviews

See all 77 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
Hardcover, Deckle Edge
"Please retry"
$19.58
$5.55 $0.01

2016 Book Awards
Browse award-winning titles. See all 2016 winners
$19.58 Free Shipping for Prime Members | Fast, FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 3 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
click to open popover

Frequently Bought Together

  • The Bluest Eye
  • +
  • Sula (Oprah's Book Club)
  • +
  • Song of Solomon (Everyman's Library)
Total price: $62.52
Buy the selected items together

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

This Book Is Bound with "Deckle Edge" Paper
You may have noticed that some of our books are identified as "deckle edge" in the title. Deckle edge books are bound with pages that are made to resemble handmade paper by applying a frayed texture to the edges. Deckle edge is an ornamental feature designed to set certain titles apart from books with machine-cut pages. See a larger image.

Product Details

  • Series: Oprah's Book Club
  • Hardcover: 215 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (December 28, 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375411550
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375411557
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 7.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,346 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

Format: Hardcover
The Bluest Eye, the story of a young girl's tortured life, is not a story you can "like". It reads like your worst nightmares, very disturbing and very graphic. It takes a strong stomach to get through this novel. But, this is just what makes the book a masterpiece, that Ms Morrison can draw such powerful feelings from readers. Toni Morrison has grown as a writer. But this book, her first, takes you to a world most didn't know existed and evokes almost unbearably strong emotions. A must read for lovers of great literature. This is not a book you read for pleasure. It's a book you read for the power of the written word.
5 Comments 265 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Paperback
I will admit to some apprehension prior to picking up this book. I had heard that Toni Morrison, although a brilliant author, is a little hard to understand. And there's nothing I hate more than wading through a book full of abstract poetic descriptions and thick symbolism that goes right over my head. Despite all this, I pulled up my bootstraps and dived right in. What was to follow was quite a surprise.
The Bluest Eye tell the story of the Breedloves, a poor black family living in Lorain, Ohio in the early 1940s. Each chapter tells something different -- the journey of the dad, Cholly, from curious young boy to a drunk and unloving father; the history of the mother, Pauline, and her dreams of movie stars and romance; and the childhood of the children, Sammy and Pecola, and how they deal with life as they've been given. Full of hardships and unfairness, the Breedloves have been through tough times most of their lives. And young Pecola's wishes of blue eyes and blonde hair in order to be loved and respected by others is a testament to the unjust world they lived in.
My fear is that this review won't do the book justice. There is so much written here that left me with feelings of sadness and horror, but also of hope -- hope that our world now has moved on from the racism of the past and will eventually surpass it. The Bluest Eye is highly moving and sensitive, and written in an addictive easy and lyrical style. I may have missed an important part of the book, any underlying symbolism or meaning that Toni Morrison was trying to convey -- I don't know. All I do know is The Bluest Eye is a darn good story, and I'm extremely glad I read it.
2 Comments 172 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Paperback
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.
Comment 70 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Hardcover
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.
Comment 45 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

The Bluest Eye
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: The Bluest Eye