Song of Solomon

"He walked there now--strutted is the better word, for he had a high behind and an athlete' stride--thinking of names. Surely, he thought, he and his sister had some ancestor, some lithe young man with onyx skin and legs as straight as cane stalks, who had a name that was real. A name given to him at birth with love and seriousness. A name that was not a joke, nor a disguise, nor a brand name." - Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon There’s so much to say about this book. Someone described it as kal [...]

Almost four whole months into 2015 and I've finally read my first four-star book. You can always trust Toni Morrison to deliver even when you think all hope is lost. I think Song of Solomon is my favourite Morrison novel thus far. This novel just flows with greatness. I feel that I enjoyed this book more than let's say, Beloved, because the time period in which this is set (the 1930s through to the 60s) is an era with which I'm relatively familiar. She references the murder of Emmett Till and th [...]

Have you ever considered the historical heritage and the intrinsic meaning of your name and surname? What is a proper noun if not a word that carries concentrated quintessence to depict oneself? Aren’t people named after parents or grandparents paying homage to their own ancestry somehow?There is something miraculous about the past that the future lacks. All nations, maybe even the whole mankind, have managed to transform thousands and millions of particular fictions created by individual bein [...]

4.5/5There's something to be said for stories. Beyond all the talk of clichés, the bemoaning of stereotypes, the intricate and obsessive breakdown of the latest wave of hyped-up mass media extravaganza that has managed to aggressively worm its way into the mob conscience. Beyond the deep-seated resignation at puzzle-piece popularity.I don't have anything against the forthright advocates of analysis at all levels of fiction. Far from it. I simply believe that there is a time when one is able to [...]

my second toni morrison. and, again wow. song of solomon. kind of impossible to do an all-encompassing book report, so this: while reading i returned again and again to the recent genocide in the former yugoslavia. to the first time rape had been charged as a war crime; to rape as a means of ethnic cleansing. now think about this: to cast such shame on the women who were raped and the men who were powerless to act so as to prevent continuation of the family. to leave behind a legacy of tragedy a [...]

One of my absolute favorites, partly for the following:"You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why [...]

Toni Morrison is perhaps the most important writer living today and Song of Solomon is perhaps the best novel of the last 50 years of American life. Despite the high standing of both novel and author, there are many that chide both for delving too far into the world of African American mythology. The book, according to a reviewer on this very website, bitterly states that Song of Solomon is more fable than novel. Attempting to paint the novel as fable undercuts its central mission: to highlight [...]

Milkman's father, the man with the weird name and mysterious past, teaches his son to 'own things'. His sister is 'wild', she inhabits the opposite pole. Ownership does not occur to her. When a kind woman brings her cherry jam on white bread, she weeps because the fruit she loves for the taste of sun and earth exploding, the feel of stalk and stone and bark-scraped knees, has lost these elements that forge the relationships between self and world and being that have nothing to do with property, [...]

Retrospective for a Flying Man: My first reading of Toni Morrison was nothing short of amazing, this book does so much, so well, so easily. We learn about three to four generations of one family and, in-fact, one culture. I won't be beating around the bush in this review. Though Macon "Milkman" Dead III was the default protagonist, he was also my least favorite character. The natural woman/superwoman Pilate was my second favorite character because she knew how to navigate time and space in her o [...]

This is the first 5 star read of the year that wasn't a reread! I'm really surprised and relieved that my first Toni Morrison was a huge success. I had assumed that her books would be too dark for me (and I think some of them might be), but SOS turned out to be just the right book for me. This novel has a parcel of amazingly odd characters who you want to hear more and more about. I would classify this as magical realism because the idea of magic hovers all throughout this text. The main plot of [...]

I would like to have given a lower rating because I simply did not enjoy the read, but there is a value to this book that I cannot deny. Powerfully written, and has great cultural insight and thought. But really, I couldn't relate very well -- perhaps that is the point in many cases. I can't explain it much better without spending more time looking at it again than I'd like to, so I'll leave it at this:I felt enlightened. I felt like shit. All without feeling very invested.

**In these brief moments I have of electricity and internet, through this Irma craze, I present my reading thoughts**“Fly and mercy,” Toni Morrison writes in the foreword of this book. “Both terms are central to the narrative: flight as escape or confrontation; mercy the unspoken wish of the novel’s population.” Flight as a theme was abundantly clear to me at first read: Pilate, the shunned woman without a navel, who uses flight as a means of survival; Macon Dead, her money-conscious b [...]

For years I have heard Morrison's name float around, all the praises of how she approaches important social issues through a historical lens and I was so excited when I finally got my hands on this book.Following a black middle-class family through a pivotal moment in America history, we zoom in and explore the complex interactions with each other and the community. Through the last born's perspective, the reader uncovers some dark unsettling secrets that have haunted the family for generations [...]

Магическото число в литературата (и другаде, но най-вече там) е три. Три вещици, три призрака – на миналата, настоящата и бъдната Коледа, в приказките предупрежденията се пренебрегват първите два пъти, така че третият път е сполучливият (според Проп и неговата „Морфология н� [...]

Toni Morrison is an absolute master of prose rhythms and this book is beautifully written. It reads like great literature and one can see why she's deserving of her nobel prize. But I had a serious problem with this book (which I read over ten years ago so forgive me if my memory of it is vague). The first three quarters of the book are terrific. Written in a realistic style and capturing the modern lives of its characters. The final section of the book suddenly turns into a fable, and the main [...]

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.

Toni Morrison can do no wrong. I love her writing. Reading her work is such an ethereal experience. The words sing to me, they lift me up, transport me to another plane. Her writing is music to my ears. Oh how I loved Solomon's Song. Intoxicating. She tells stories like none other.

The fathers may soarAnd the children may know their namesWhat a book! What an incredible journey! I cannot possibly review this book; it has me completely speechless! What a pleasure to partake in Milkman's journey, to be introduced to characters like Pilate, and to be reminded that one can fly if only one tries enough! This is my first African American and Morrison novel, and I'm so glad we'll be doing her next semester! Ecstatic and eager to fish out gems from this novel! Only hope the instruc [...]

الرواية هى من نوعية الروايات التى يطلق عليها اسمMasterpieceملحمة بديعةتدخل عالم من الاغانى والفولكلور والسحر والغموضعالم اسطورى من ميثولوجيا تصنعها تونى موريسونهى وسيلة للحفاظ على وصلة لتاريخ العائلة المنسية. في مجتمع حيث معظم الأجيال السابقة كانوا أميين، والأغاني بدلا من كتب [...]

Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is an interesting read in magical realism. Through its protagonist, Macon Dead III aka Milkman, and three generations of the Dead family (I know that's a strange name to have), the reader is introduced to the life of African-Americans and how centuries of racism, oppression and subjugation has affected the psyche of these people. Milkman is on a quest to find hidden gold when he accidentally stumbles upon his family's past. It not only helps him understand his p [...]

I have read a couple of Toni Morrison's other novels, but this is the by far the best I have read. This is a stunning tale of self-discovery that follows the lives of a black family living in Michigan. The majority of the narrative revolves around Milkman, the first black child born at Mercy Hospital, and the son of a prominant and wealthy businessman. To escape the town and threat of death by the hand of his scorned lover and cousin, Hagar, he goes on a quest for treasure. He may not find what [...]

The fathers may soarAnd the children may know their namesWhen I learned that school would be forcing me to read Song of Solomon I whined and groaned and cursed the name of Toni Morrison to the high heavens. I had already entered the strange and mysteriously poetic world of Toni Morrison to no avail, and I didn't believe that this book would be any better. However, I was WRONG, and now that I have finished the novel I find myself forced to bite my tongue and retract all previous negative statemen [...]

A great book. One of a kind. A time it seems strange, how it's jumping to different time and in and out of people's thought. But asI read on I began to see and appreciate the style of writing.

I'd just finished reading this and was sitting in my bed, pondering the story, when I picked up my phone and opened twitter. First thing I saw was the name Till, which seemed so familiar until I realized I'd read it in the book I'd just finished.First I thought it was a bizarre coincidence that twitter would be talking about another murdered black boy with the name Till, but it's the same one from 1955. Turns out the woman, who told the court that Emmett Till had verbally and physically threaten [...]

Morrison’s novel gripped me. Not only is it written creatively and eloquently in terms of language, it is also compelling in terms of plot and, underlying that, sociology. The picture provided into particular black history and culture is riveting. Morrison’s technique of using current family and family dynamics to unearth and explore background issues both historical and psychological is effective, and the narrative unrolls in ways unexpected yet persuasive. Having just read Faulkner’s Lig [...]

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 [...]

HOLY FUCK ! THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE BOOK NOW AND I DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANY OTHER BOOK!!!! Wow . Wow . So many different emotions and I can't even sift through them enough to even emerge coherent . This book is ingenuity in its purest form and I do not think any words of mine could completely encapsulate how perfect it was .Flawless Victory Toni Morrison .

When you finish a book and all you can say is 'wow' because it completely blew you away.

‘Song of Solomon’ is a coalescement of a variety of different literary styles; a pinch of magic realism with a dash of Faulkner, synthesised with African folklore and the Western narrative form, leaves us with a style which is both a synthesis of various influences and wholly original. ‘Song of Solomon’ follows the story of Milkman Dead, an insouciant and at times conceited young man, whose birth coincides with the suicidal attempt of flight by the lachrymose salesman, Mr. Smith, whose a [...]

Macon "Milkman" Dead (III.) isn't the most lovable main character one could encounter once he has grown into an adult, to say the least. Most of the other characters around him aren't, either, though, which Milkman feels keenly but never is interested in the why until very late in the book.His only real friend Guitar is the one to get him into contact with his ousted aunt, his father's younger sister, and her daughter and granddaughter. And only there does he first hear about the history of his [...]