Originally posted at: A Girl that Likes Books on May 22, 2012
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Book Summary (from
Goodreads.com)
The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of
language and boldness of vision. Set in the author's girlhood hometown of
Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove.
Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and
beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America. In the autumn of 1941,
the year the marigolds in the Breedlove's garden do not bloom, Pecola's life
does change--in painful, devastating ways.
With it's vivid evocation of the fear and
loneliness at the heart of a child's yearning, and the tragedy of its
fulfillment, The Bluest Eye remains
one of Toni Morrison's most powerful, unforgettable novels--and a significant
work of American fiction.
My Review
This is the first novel I’ve ever read from
Toni Morrison. I decided to start form the beginning of her work, as
recommended by The Book Lady. I have to say, I loved the book, but it was a
hard one. Not because it was in French, the language is not complicated and the
story is so beautifully written, that even translated you are transported and
you read and read.
The story takes place in 1941; about 20 years
before the March on Washington African-Americans were emancipated, but oppression
is still there (did it ever leave?). On the other hand, the country is trying
to recover from the Great Depression, and the poor are even poorer. A poor
neighbourhood, full of worker families is the environment for the whole story’s
development. Claudia and Frieda MacTeer,
too young sisters start the telling of the story, as witnesses of events.
Pecola, another girl from a broken home, comes to stay with them, while her family
recovers from a burning home...incidentally it started burning because her
father set it on fire.
Pecola, as a lot of young girls, doesn’t feel
happy with her looks. Add to that the effect that all the “pretty” standards
are white, blond girls. See, this was the first time I had to put the book down,
fighting tears of rage, remembering how this hasn’t changed much. How the
standard of beauty that a lot of girls grow with is just hurtful for them. I
remembered my little cousin (by then 4 years old) feeling ugly because her hair
was not blond and straight...she has the most beautiful black hair, slightly
wavy and green eyes...but no, that’s not how Cinderella looks like is it? Anyway,
moving on, this just one of the hard topics in the book, how a tiny girl,
reaching puberty is so discontent with her looks, because she is convinced
NOBODY will ever love her unless she has blue eyes.
Little by little, we get to know the story
behind her drunken father Cholly, why is he in the position he is. Now, this
will make you understand his behaviour, but in no way condone it. A child from
problematic childhood grows into a man full of grudges, and unfortunately, he
takes it on others instead of trying to give a better childhood to his own kids.
Mrs Breedlove (Pauline), Pecola’s mother had a
nice childhood, up to a certain point. She fell in love with Cholly and
then...well, thing went downhill, and she has been building up bitterness, that
again falls over her kids and her household.
Around this family, there’s a gossipy community
that will talk about the problems, but sadly won’t help to solve them. Prostitutes
with a heart of gold, a con-artist with a conscience, a girl with slightly paler
skin that is looked up as “better” than the others because of her looks; all of
them secondary characters that little by little takes us to the resolution of
the story.
What do I think about the book? It was amazing, you feel every single bit of
pain, physical or emotional, and you want to cry quietly for half of the
characters. Is NOT a feel good book, but is a powerful one. The way the environment
is constructed, as I mentioned, transports you to every house in the community,
you feel the scents, the sun or the cold of winter. You want to take Pecola in
your arms and tell her that she is a beautiful human being, that nothing
happening around her is her fault. You want to slap her fathers and make them
snap out of their pain constructed reality.
The book touches different hard subjects. The
concept of beauty is just one of them. Morality, injustice all of them aggravated
by latent racism and a family that is just not there for a little girl. Because
of this, it is not a book to take with you to sleep, trust me; you will feel
sometimes so disgusted at situations or at the fact that some of those situations
are still common nowadays that you will need time to cool off. Personally I needed a couple of days to be
able to write this, without giving much away, particularly in the parts that
made me utterly emotional.
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