Dearly Beloved...

March 16, 2018 3:20 AM

I just finished Beloved by Toni Morrison and it was astonishing. It gave me, upon almost every page, the sort of palpable literary rush I received when reading Wolf Hall for the first time or Gilead or The Hare with Amber Eyes. I am unclear why I neglected Morrison for so long but I am hungry to rectify this immediately. So: where next? Continue with the loose Beloved trilogy (Jazz and Paradise), start at the beginning with The Bluest Eye, jump into the middle with better known books like Song of Solomon, go for some essays...?
posted by giraffeneckbattle to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: The Bluest Eye blew me away.
posted by lunasol at 4:45 AM on March 16, 2018 [5 favorites]

I have yet to read anything sub-par from her. So the good news is that it really doesn't matter what order you read her in.

The bad news is that you probably read faster than she writes.
posted by flabdablet at 5:32 AM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: My first Toni Morrison was Song of Solomon - just a few weeks ago. I kept saying "Whoa. Whoa. Wow" the whole time.
posted by kimberussell at 5:45 AM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If I were making a playlist, I think after Beloved, I'd read Song of Solomon and then The Bluest Eye.
posted by pazazygeek at 7:57 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

My favorites are Jazz and Paradise, in that order, so I say keep going with the trilogy. I really liked Home, too, of her newer works.
posted by TwoStride at 9:02 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Everything she writes has parts where I literally have to put the book down often and think about a particular phrase or sentence or paragraph. Read anything of hers, in any order. You will be pleased.

Other writers who've given me the same experience: Simone Schwartz-Bart (The Bridge of Beyond particularly), Sandra Cisneros (Woman Hollering Creek particularly), anything by Isabel Allende, and Tree of Smoke and Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson.
posted by erst at 11:56 AM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

A vote for The Bluest Eye.
posted by cnidaria at 1:01 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Song of Solomon is wonderful and, while certainly serious, has lighter and funnier moment than others of hers I’ve read. It’s got some gut punches but not as many/much as Beloved or The Bluest Eye. (I didn’t really like Jazz.)
posted by vunder at 2:42 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]