I'm No English Major, And This Was Great

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	• Paradise Toni Morrison Knopf, 1997 - 318 pages average customer review:based on 325 reviews view larger image
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beautifully written but confusing story

I considered myself a fan of Toni Morrison but I had a
really hard time with this one. The stream of consciousness
that made her a star with her other highly-elevated novels,
for example Beloved, doesn't quite come together correctly
in this book. The book has too many characters, which is
fine but all of them are given equal importance, making
it extremely difficult for the reader to understand what
to grasp onto. I think Morrison may be trying to too hard
with this one and should instead just let the story unfold.

It's still a great story though and I honestly couldn't give
it below four stars.

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Divisive and Fantastic

I find it disturbing that many reviews, some of which are listed on this site, devalue this book because it doesn't deliver "a point"; but I would find this, or any devaluation, disturbing since this is one of my favorite books by Morrison. There is something to be said for subjectivity in the enjoyment of any work; often this is what separates a fine or noteworthy novel from a disappointing or lackluster one. I would, however, question the validity of those who look for a conspicuous or conclusive "point" in a work of literature. It's not an expository essay, people; it's a novel, one that seeks to question your conceptions of class, race, and gender.

Clearly, I'm a defender of this novel. I found it poetic and affecting. I did not find that it plodded on or lacked description or injudiciously pointed fingers. I found that Morrison's tale of an all black town's xenophobia provided an engaging backdrop for issues of identity, intra-racial color politics, and misogyny. I felt the characters' pain and triumphs and hatred and cared enough about them to be disappointed and overjoyed. Perhaps I brought so much of my baggage to the party, I simply had to show up to enjoy myself. After all, I am black ... and a woman; but I don't feel you have to be a black woman to appreciate this tale. I suppose you just have to be okay with not having "the point" served to you on a platter. Great works of art are often inconclusive, but they've done their part when they've triggered both emotional and intellectual responses that force one to question his or her stance on traditional issues.

Again, these things are subjective; however, I love this book. Some of you will also love it. Others of you will not. Pick your poison.

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Worth the Effort

This complex cluster of stories will keep you guessing and trying to figure it all out. It can be a difficult read, but it's well worth it.

I'm No English Major, And This Was Great

Seems to be a lot of disagreement on this book. While I can understand a lot of people not liking it (not a conventional plot driven novel), what I can't understand is how so many people found it "confusing". I'm a handyman, not some english major grad student, and I didn't have any problem following along, though the ending was NOT straight forward. I loved it. It was one of the best books I've read in years. Another reviewer called it "Faulkner light"; they were right. Actually they could have called it "Absalom, Absalom!" light. It's like Faulkner with a GREAT editor. This book was MUCH better than "Beloved". If you love great language and writing, it's hard to go wrong with Toni Morrison.

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About as near perfection as you can get!

After reading Paradise, I found myself going back and rereading parts of the text. Toni Morrison is a breathtaking, experienced writer who proves why she won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. This book really talks about two cultures, the male-dominated Ruby, Oklahoma and a Convent run by Catholic nuns who also take in women seeking refuge. The first chapter named Ruby explains the circumstances surrounding the possible massacre at the Convent caused by the angry men of Ruby who sees the Convent as a threat to their community. The women are described as weird for leaving their abusive husbands and families for the convent. Their minister preaches that the place is a coven rather than a convent. In actuality, the place is a refuge or sanctuary for the women of the convent. Not all are nuns, the other women in the convent don't take vows but they do respect the lives of the nuns and they become an unorthodox, non-traditional community and support group for each other. For them, this Convent has become paradise since it's a haven from the abusive world of men. Morrison doesn't imply or suggest that the women are actually lovers but there are hints of lesbianism among them. It's not like they don't have their share of problems. The women are viewed by the locales as weirdoes and outsiders. The men don't understand why the women live there alone by choice. It's because the men's behavior of constant abuse whether they have been beaten or raped is what draws the women there. Morrison writes on each female character after Ruby like Mavis, Grace, Divine, Colosanta, and others. The chapters help explain what motivates women to go there seeking a non-threatening and non-abusive environment. In a sense, that is what Paradise is about for these women. In actuality, women's choices were few which included either entering the Convent or marrying and producing. Women who did not enter the convent or marry and become mothers became an object of scorn and curiousity. The unmarried women are the subject of rumors but even more so over the centuries. The Convent where the Sisters of any order live is a sanctuary and there are healthy relationships and unhealthy relationships as in all families. The sisterhood whether it's ordained by the Catholic Church or by a group of women comes together to support each other in a man's world. I was very impressed by Morrison's book. I think she gets better with each one over time.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

"Rumors had been whispered for more than a year. Outrages that had been accumulating all along took shape as evidence. A mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their honeymoons. Two brothers shot each other on New Year's Day. Trips to Demby for VD shots common. And what went on at the Oven these days was not to be believed . . . The proof they had been collecting since the terrible discovery in the spring could not be denied: the one thing that connected all these catastrophes was in the Convent. And in the Convent were those women."

In Paradise--her first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature--Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain," assault the nearby Convent and the women in it. From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void "Out There . . . where random and organized evil erupted when and where it chose." Richly imagined and elegantly composed, Paradise weaves a powerful mystery.

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