The Bluest Eye

Rating:
Summary: The Bluest Eye: Soul Mover
Review: Like many of you, I to read Toni Morrison's Song of Solomn first. After reading this one I wanted to find out more about her. So my boss gave me The Bluest Eye. I'm not an avid reader, but I read it in a couple of days.

It's a very sad and hauting story of the destruction of a little black girls spirit and soul. She longed to have blue eyes or anything that would bring about love and attention that she so desperately wanted. Yet society and even her mother could not love her unless she had these "Blue Eyes".

The theme of this book touches on so many social issues. From self loathing and hatred of being born black in a white world to the effects of child abuse from both parents. Many people may not aggree with me that the mother also abused her child, but she did. She allowed herself to become so wrapped up with taking care of a little blue eyed child that she has nothing left for her own family when she comes home. Her words are always harsh and scolding to Pecola. Never soothing and loving. She has left her poor Pecola to fend against the world for herself. And when Pecola needs her mother's help the most it's not there.

I think every mother should read this book. Step away from the characters and see the destruction of a child from lack of love and acceptance. You will remember Pecola's journey forever!

Rating:
Summary: A Raving Beauty
Review: The Bluest Eye is the second inspiring novel we have read by Toni Morrison. The first, Beloved, had a animated and charged plot. However, The Bluest Eye steered in a different direction. We were put inside the life of a struggling teenage girl striving to be a part of the "perfect society". The novel touched us because we are two teenage girls reading about the hardships of prejudism through the eyes of young women. There are not many novels that send a message through the lives of young women. That is what places this novel in a class of its own. We recommend this novel to all young women who are mature enough to handle the realities of prejudism and the sexual scenes. This book will be an eye-opener to all who read it. This was written by two students of Mercy High School.

Rating:
Summary: Endured rather than read
Review: Granted I am a guy, a white guy at that, but a relatively evolved and enlightened one (or so my wife says when not pummeling me with a rolling pin). However, when assigned to read this for a woman's literature class in art school, I began visualizing forms of torture I would rather endure than finish this book. Call me a simpleton, but bare minimum, a book has to have a PLOT! If there is a guy out there who can choke down this book without bleeding from the eyes, the first round of medicinal post-read bourbon is on me. Sorry...for what it's worth, though, I loved Fried Green Tomatoes and Joy Luck Club

Rating:
Summary: upsetting homophobia
Review: This book was ruined for me by it's intense homophobia. If you are gay, you will resent the hateful way you are portrayed in The Bluest Eye.

Rating:
Summary: Another Triumph for Morrison
Review: As a senior in high school, I read the Bluest Eye over spring break last year. Having read several of Morrison's novels, I expected nothing less than excellence. What I found exceeded all my hopes and wishes. The Bluest Eye is a novel that, much like Beloved and Song of Solomon, captures the spirit of its main character so tenderly and emotionally that one cannot put the book down. Any reader will empathize with young Pecola's ultimately unattainable want, eagerly devouring the pages of the supporting story. Morrison set the standard of high-quality, strong-character, delicately-drawn writing in this first novel, and does not disappoint in later offerings. A perfect book for a first time reader of Morrison or a long time fan. Obviously, anyone interested in the African American experience MUST read this novel--it depicts the emotional landscape of the soul better than any of its predecessors. Read The Bluest Eye and savour Toni Morrison's rich language and emotional commentary!

Rating:
Summary: A masterful work
Review: This is, perhaps, the less difficult reads from Toni Morrison--but by no means less superior. In fact this may be Morrison at her rawest and most poignant. The voice of Pecola is so haunting that you'll have images of dandelions, run-down apartments, and that simple wish for blue eyes in your mind for ages. Although at times the structure seems jaunting (Morrison admits this in her afterword), the simplicity of the situation & its deep connnections to bigotry & ethics weaves its way as one of the finest works of our time. Definately the most absorbing & affecting Oprah pick ever.

Rating:
Summary: One of Toni Morrison's best!
Review: This was the second Morrison book I read, after first reading Song of Solomon. Not only did I read it but also listened to the audio version. As with most of her work, it is a mix of the normal with the mystical, natural and the supernatural. But at the heart of the tale, is a little girl who wants to be accepted, who wants to be seen or noticed. I, growing up, sometimes wished I was White, thinking that life must be better in a different skin color. That concept is wonderfully fleshed out the narrative of the story. And the revelatory narrative in the last chapter is quite moving. If you enjoyed Song of Solomon or even Sula, you will enjoy The Bluest Eye!

Rating:
Summary: This is a very sad book, but a very good book
Review: I had to read this book in High School and it moved me so much, that I have since become a fan of Toni Morrison and bought two copies of this book. The book tell the tale of a poor young black girl and issues with whites during the 1950s. I don't want to give away what happens, but be ready to cry. This is a very good book and you will enjoy reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Lyrical grace beginning to shine.
Review: The Bluest Eye has a plot which is profound today as it was in the book's 1940's setting. Beauty is still being dictated by those who are narrow minded. The story flows with lyrical grace. Miss Morrison writing style in this book shows the beginnings of the style she has so very much mastered in Beloved and Paradise. Pecola Breedlove's melancholy, and the way it is portrayed shows the situation a lot of people who feel rejected are going through today. The saddest thing about the The Bluest Eye is the idea of resigning yourself to what destiny has planned for you even though you can do something about it to make your life better. The best thing is you get to think about what happens to people if you keep on putting them down... so be kind!

Rating:
Summary: A wonder..
Review: Although many of her novels can be complicated, Toni Morrison's Bluest Novel is very simply put. However, your thought may be complicated relating to the story. Explaining the struggle a little black girl faces when she decides she wants her eyes to be blue, Toni depicts a struggle that everyone faces at some point in their lives, striving for the impossible against all odds, and then having to come to an compromise. We can be our own worst enemy and our most encouraging supporter all at the same time