Song of solomon which book

Next About Song of Solomon. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List. Song of Solomon Toni Morrison.

The overall effect is a kaleidoscope of many gorgeous colours and patterns, evocative of memory and history, and actualised through the compelling figure of Macon Dead, one of the great characters of contemporary American fiction. We are not one indistinguishable block of people who always behave the same way… I try to give some credibility to all sorts of voices, each of which is profoundly different.

Because what strikes me about African-American culture is its variety. The Bluest Eye ; Beloved ; Jazz It was later chosen as a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, which had not selected a novel written by a black author since Richard Wright's Native Son in Well over half a million copies are now in print, and translation rights have been sold in more than ten countries.

Since Morrison is known primarily for her "womanist" writings that portray the challenges of growing up black and female in a white, male-dominated culture, the phenomenal success of Song of Solomon , which features a black male protagonist, is especially remarkable.

Morrison, asked why she chose a male protagonist for Song of Solomon , responded, "Because I thought he had more to learn than a woman would have. Song of Solomon is often classified as an impressionistic coming-of-age novel, or bildungsroman, that merges elements of fantasy and reality. According to Morrison, the novel is about a man who "learns to fly and all that that means.

The main plot of this novel is a search to understand one's heritage, but the joy I found whilst reading this came from the succinct, yet poetical writing style and those unique characters. This makes me consider reading all of her novels in and so eager to read the two other Morrisons I have on my shelves this year.

Now in his thirties, he discovers a truth about his family history and embarks on a road trip that will change everything he knows about himself. Song of Solomon is Toni Morrison's first attempt to write from a male protagonist's point of view.

Though Milkman is our main character, which becomes more apparent in the second half of the novel, the joy of SOS is learning about the lives of Milkman's family. There are many strong, flawed female characters to connect with and fascinate the reader. This delving into the lives of all the characters is why I love SOS.

Pilate, First Corinthians, Ruth, Hagar Throughout this novel is the image of flight, beginning with a scene in which a man wearing blue silk wings jumps from the roof of a building to his death. Hearkening back to the legend of Africans who literally fly away to escape slavery, this is just one element of magical realism that permeates to story of the Dead family.

SOS remains my favorite Morrison, and I look forward to rereading it again and again. View all 5 comments. This book is great. The characters. The plot. This was my first experience with Toni Morrison's writing and it was probably not the usual entry point, most people seeming to start with Beloved or The Bluest Eye.

However, for me it ended up being an enjoyable if slightly perplexing introduction. I found Song of Solomon more accessible than I had anticipated and I had a cracking good time reading it for the most part. The characters and dialogue really sing ; and there are some startlingly good set pieces that are emblazoned in my memo This was my first experience with Toni Morrison's writing and it was probably not the usual entry point, most people seeming to start with Beloved or The Bluest Eye.

The characters and dialogue really sing ; and there are some startlingly good set pieces that are emblazoned in my memory. The section in which Milkman approaches the abandoned Butler house and subsequently meets with Circe is a standout. Four graceful columns supported the portico, and the huge double door featured a heavy, brass knocker. He lifted it and let it fall; the sound was soaked up like a single raindrop in cotton.

Nothing stirred. He looked back down the path and saw the green maw out of which he had come, a greenish-black tunnel, the end of which was nowhere in sight She was old.

So old she was colorless. So old only her mouth and eyes were distinguishable features in her face. Nose, chin, cheekbones, forehead, neck all had surrendered their identity to the pleats and crochetwork of skin committed to constant change Marvellous.

I am on more tenuous ground however when it comes to plot, the first section seemed to be laying out a complex set of characters and story arcs but this very suddenly narrows to what feels like a different book in the last third.

Unfortunately, for me this part read more as fable or allegory and I am never a good reader of those. However, I am convinced that I would gain a much deeper appreciation of this novel upon a second closer reading and with the added benefit of some critical analysis.

As it stands I don't regret a moment of the time I spent reading and trying to puzzle out this novel. I now need to explore the rest of this this Nobel laureate's work. View all 9 comments. This book takes me back to my college English classes, when I read so many books that were rich in beautiful language but poor in plot and action.

There's no doubt that Morrison is a gifted writer, especially when it comes to down-to-earth, authentic dialogue. Her writing is poetic and lyrical without being abstract or fussy -- she describes real things, disgusting things, sadness and passion with an intense energy and verbal power. But the plot of this book didn't grab me. I remember enjoying T This book takes me back to my college English classes, when I read so many books that were rich in beautiful language but poor in plot and action.

I remember enjoying The Bluest Eye more and feel like that book had more direction and focus. Song of Solomon , on the other hand, didn't move very much, or very fast. I didn't connect with any of the characters in the book, so all of their actions seemed hollow and arbitrary; I didn't feel that familiar emotional tug when good or bad things happened to them. It read to me more like a vignette of black life in s America rather than a full-fledged novel, with all the moving parts and psychological complexity that a novel entails.

I always feel a bit guilty and apprehensive when I don't like a major classic as much as other readers do, or as much as I've been led to believe I should, because it makes me wonder if I missed something or wasn't being fair to the book. But I can only honestly report what I felt while reading, which in this case is: lovely language; boring story.

I tried this once and couldn't get past the first chapter. I stopped for 2 weeks and decided that I had to read it so I can get rid of it faster. Not a good reason to read anything right? But it slowly started to get better after that second chapter. It was a coming to age story but not really.

It was about family and how you get a nickname in the North hood and how it sticks in the community hence the main character, Milkman.

Someone saw him suckling his mother's teat at an age where he was s I tried this once and couldn't get past the first chapter. Someone saw him suckling his mother's teat at an age where he was seemingly too big for it but too small to understand the embarrassment of it. The novel goes through Milkman's family dynamics and his feelings towards it all. His father is Macon Dead and has made it as an arrogant successful black landowner. Milkman doesn't understand how hard it is to be a black successful anything so has no ambition in his life.

His mother is an unhappy wife that his father takes for granted. He has no real relationships with his older sisters, First Corinthians and Magdalene, and sees them and their problems as annoying and not worth his time.

The story takes us back and forth to before Milkman was born to his mid thirties. At this point in his life he learns about some hidden gold his aunt and father fought over long ago.

This gold hunt takes him to Virginia where he learns about his families past. And he learns a lot about himself in the process.

This ended up being a great surprise. It is very Southern and the reader should be aware of black history and the black and white tensions of the United States to better understand a thick story like this.

View all 12 comments. Sep 11, Cheryl rated it really liked it Recommends it for: discoverers. Shelves: fav-authors , afro-american , nobels , fiction. Wings take one out of unfortunate circumstances. Wings take one to unseen heights.

Careful, wings also take one to unforeseen places. Fly little bird, fly away, like Solomon, the slave who set generations free. In true Morrison style, the language is powerful and packs an emotional punch. There were moments of sheer delight while I read some phrases, moments when I stopped to ponder how Toni Morrision strings together words, how she elevates the language of the streets. Her dialogue dazzles and pulls me into the pockets of stories within stories.

And there are also moments when the stories grow strangely dark and mythical, when prose takes poetic shape and dialogue shifts into weird, secret spaces, like the dark cave of bones and gold that both eludes and follows Pilate and Milkman.

A Morrison book is like none other, this is for sure. Some silly, some woolly. Some just empty. Some like fingers. It moves and changes from one kind of black to another. Saying something is pitch black is like saying something is green.

What kind of green? Green like my bottles? Green like a grasshopper? Green like a cucumber, lettuce, or green like the sky is just before it breaks loose to storm? Well, night black is the same way. May as well be a rainbow. Later, the trajectory of mercy reveals itself in ungainly terms. Is there any mercy for these characters? There are certainly pleas for mercy, cries of help that are ignored for ages, rage which stems from ignored pleas. There are moments when mercy is badly needed to fix things, and yet, she too, takes flight.

Mercy, the perished cry. But Mercy has vanished. I love Toni Morrison , I really do, but this book reads like a standard lemon of a workshop story: every character has both an eccentric name and some striking characteristic. This one has no navel, and this one is supernaturally lucky, and this one jumps off of buildings.

And there is none of the assured economy of either Beloved or my personal favorite, Jazz. Here, we have to get every detail about every damned thing until I feel like I'm choking on the stuff of the book. Feb 23, Raul Bimenyimana rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , women-writers , african-african-diaspora. Words that would attempt to summarize the experience of reading this incredible book. Milkman, the protagonist of the story, is the son of an upper-class Black family.

Having lived in a state of privilege and generally well off "If you wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down. I first read this book some years ago, the first Morrison book I had read and at once with that unforgettable opening passage of Robert Smith's attempt to fly, I was gripped and thrust into an exciting and shuttering tale.

All the characters, fully fleshed, the life breathed into their nostrils, all seemed like familiar people I once knew re-reading this. There are certainly passages I could understand with greater clarity now that time passed and -I would like to think- having a better understanding of the world and life than I did with the first reading. Hagar's self-loathing refrain of "No wonder", the several characters' search for meaning, the desperation of and for love, the quest for independence, all rang truer and clearer reading this book this time round.

These words are all an attempt to condense what this wondrous book is, what it did, and I realize as I keep thinking and writing about it, I won't be able to grasp it enough, let alone all. The best I can do is highly recommend this to someone who hasn't read it yet. Feb 07, Barbara rated it it was amazing.

This beautifully written book about a black family living in Michigan has a little of everything - magic, ghosts, eccentrics, murderers, lovers, and more. Jumping back and forth in time. A fascinating story filled with wonderful interesting characters. Readers also enjoyed. Magical Realism. Literary Fiction. About Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison born Chloe Ardelia Wofford was an American author, editor, and professor who won the Nobel Prize in Literature for being an author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.

Books by Toni Morrison. Articles featuring this book. When Famous Writers Met U.