This was the first work by Toni Morrison that I read.

One thing that Morrison did really well, in my opinion, was how she depicted the characters experience with slavery. Not only did they speak some of the horrors they witnessed, what they didn't say spoke volumes as well. Like a painting that uses negative space.

I did have trouble understanding what was happening at some points. And because of the forward in the particular version that I read, the big twist of what Sethe had done was spoiled for me. It also made it easier to pick up on who Beloved was, so that revalation wasn't as shocking either.

This is not the kind of book you can read fast. I had to pause and re-read and re-re-read quite often. But it's an intriguing book that makes you want to get to the end, no matter how long it might take you to get there.

Beloved is not my favorite book. But I value having read it. ( )

Moving, beautiful writing, but I didn’t understand a lot of it. I read the Wikipedia plot summary after I finished the book, and realized I had managed to comprehend the basic plot outline ok - but there was so much in the book that whizzed past me. Powerful lovely sentences, whole paragraphs, even pages where I just didn’t understand what they meant. I love reading books when there’s a little I don’t understand - but past a certain point it just makes me feel stupid and that’s no fun. Well I suppose this book wasn’t intended to be fun to read anyway... but surely it wasn’t intended to make people feel stupid?

Final conclusion: not my kinda book.

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Addendum, after discussing Beloved at my book club: I think the truth may be that this is a book that simply requires a lot of work, slow, careful reading, study maybe, rereading maybe. And truthfully, I’m just not up to it.

Beloved se convirtió en un clásico instantáneo cuando se publicó en 1987. El crítico John Leonard escribió en Los Angeles Times: "No puedo imaginar la literatura americana sin ella". Casi dos décadas después, The New York Times la eligió como la mejor novela americana de los últimos cincuenta años. Para escribir esta magnífica historia, Toni Morrison se inspiró en la vida real de una esclava afroamericana, Margaret Garner, que en 1856 escapó de una plantación en Kentucky y consiguió llegar al estado libre de Ohio. A punto de ser recapturada, Margaret tomó la trágica decisión de sacrificar a su hija para salvarla de una vida en cautiverio. En la novela, Sethe es la esclava prófuga que, muchos años después, vive en Ohio con Denver, su hija adolescente, y Paul D., un viejo amigo que también fue esclavo. Todos tratan de vivir en calma, olvidando el pasado, hasta que un día aparece una joven que dice llamarse Beloved. Tiene la edad que tendría su hija si viviese, y sabe ciertas cosas que sugieren que podría serlo.

Set in 1873, Sethe, an emancipated slave, is living with her mother, Baby Suggs, and daughter, Denver. Her deceased baby girl, known as Beloved, becomes the embodiment of her tormented past. The story flashes back to Sethe’s time as a slave, the traumas she endured, and the resulting inability to feel a mother’s love for her children. It is a story of identity, class, and oppression.

Morrison examines both physical and psychological suffering, particularly in women, and the role that shared stories can perform in healing. It is dark and sad. It explores the concept that death is better than a life in slavery. As expected in this type of narrative, it contains a great deal of violence and brutality, which are disturbing and difficult to read. It is written in Morrison’s poetic writing style and offers a glimmer of hope at the end. I can see why it is considered a modern classic. ( )

I understand why this is highly regarded. If you break down the prose or stylistic language it becomes interesting BUT not to me. I don't want to work this hard to read a book. I will never appreciate this novel. I am not going to rate this.