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The Bluest eye

Morrison, Toni. Book - 2007 Fiction / Morrison, Toni, Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 1 On Shelf 1 request on 7 copies Community Rating: 4.6 out of 5

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Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Morrison, Toni, Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
4-week checkout
Fiction / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor
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Fiction / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout Due 04-19-2024
Traverwood Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout On Hold Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout Due 04-15-2024
Malletts Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout Due 04-20-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout Due 04-04-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Classic / Morrison, Toni 4-week checkout Due 04-22-2024

"Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., in 1970"--Title page verso
Pecola Breedlove, a young eleven-year-old black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dreams grow more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity.--From publisher's description.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

BEAUTIFULLY written submitted by christenbjohnson on June 10, 2008, 3:02pm It goes without saying that Toni Morrison can turn a phrase. I read this book as a little girl no more than 11 or 12 years old and remember trying to cut through the imagery and metaphors to get to the action. I couldn't really understand the need for multiple points of view. And once I found out the whole plot of the story was given in the first page, I was done with the book. But now, having a greater desire to understand the motivation behind human action, being able to appreciate that things are never what they appear at face value, developing a greater love of this device called language and being able to recognize pieces of myself in each of Morrison's characters, *The Bluest Eye* has become one of my favorites. Morrison de-villainizes her antagonists in a way that make the reader really consider the ingredients of the simple dichotomy of "good" and "bad." I was also pleasantly surprised to find some of my favorite quotes were pulled from this book. I am glad to be falling in love with Toni all over again.
:-)
Pleasant Pages.

A Literary Work of Art submitted by DBJC on June 13, 2014, 9:27am This is the first official book that I've read by Toni Morrison. I tried reading Beloved by her as well, but couldn't settle myself into the strange plot, but I didn't give up on her! So I read this one, and I was blown. Absolutely blown. There is such poetry in her words that makes you ache with both beauty and sadness. The way that she places images into your head, the way that she phrases her sentences so that tragedy and confusion is closely interlaced brings out more emotions that you know you head. This book as definitely risen to my favorite's list, especially since the main character, an 11 year old girl just wants to be beautiful. To have blue eyes. For the longest time when I was a child, I thought that having blue eyes was also beautiful and I also wished that I good and bad. I would recommend this book to everyone and I would recommend that others who have already read it to re-read it. If you get a chance, buy a copy.

Five Stars submitted by Avliss on July 20, 2018, 12:38am I read this book in about two hours, and it destroyed me. I literally re-read this book three times, back to back. And I cried and cringed every single time.

This book is hard. It deals with difficult, hugely uncomfortable topics, and there’s no justice or happy endings for anyone. But, kudos to Morrison for crafting some of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen. She goes out of her way to keep us from demonising any of these characters, or attempting to reduce them to straight up ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Yes, some of these characters do heinous, unforgivable things. But Morrison wants us to push past the initial revulsion and horror to try and figure out how everyone wound up where they did - circumstance and context leads to better understanding, and keeps us from “othering” each other.


Final Thoughts: Five stars. A vivid, painful text that, while not particularly enjoyable, needs to be read.

First TM novel submitted by crp on August 6, 2019, 6:55pm Hard to believe this was her first novel. Beautifully written.

Fifty years between readings submitted by ccrose on August 18, 2019, 3:38pm A friend and I have set out to reread The Bluest Eye. We saw the documentary of Morrison, Pieces of Me, last week, just days after she died. It’s s a bit scary to read something again, now from an older person’s perspective. A lot more life experiences that draw more meaning from another’s stories. I’m reading Bluest Eye this time to notice how she put all the pieces together so a coherent story falls in place. I know from experience that the voice in your head telling the story as a writer doesn’t come in sequence. The deeper parts come spilling out unexpectedly. I’ll come back to this review and add a bit when I finish it.

incredible writing submitted by zaraz on August 5, 2022, 3:59pm Toni Morrison's talent will live on forever. everyone should read this book.

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PUBLISHED
New York : Vintage International, Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2007.
Year Published: 2007
Description: 205 pages ; 21 cm
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780307278449

SUBJECTS
African Americans -- Fiction.
Girls -- Fiction.
African American girls -- Race identity -- Fiction.
Racism -- Fiction.
Child abuse -- Fiction.
Colorism -- Fiction.
African Americans.
Ohio -- Fiction.
Bildungsromans.