For me, Toni Morrison's prose has been more engaging than most of the other styles of writing we've read this semester. Morrison writes so vividly, with a lot of detail and dialogue that comes off the page. Her descriptions are pocketed with these perfect adjectives, and I love how she adds another dimension to her story by playing with the characters' names. Song of Solomon is the first novel I've read that's written by Morrison, and even though our nightly readings are relatively long, her prose demands my attention in a way that the other novels in this course haven't.
I know that some readers prefer a kind of orientation at the start of a novel, but I'm actually a huge fan of how Morrison tosses the reader straight into a really complex situation at the start of her novel; we don't have any concrete ideas about what's going on, and yet the atmosphere of the scene is so dense with clues. She drops all these minute details that color the overall tone with different shades of tension, so that we can feel a certain mood without necessarily being able to name it, and it's only when you go back to these sections that you pick up on the different threads that she's weaving together there. The opening scene of the novel is a great example of this. I think that Mr. Mitchell said in class that Pilate's song in that first section is later explained and brought to its full significance, and Morrison kind of foreshadows/describes the importance of the song when she writes "Others listened to it as though it were the helpful and defining piano music in a silent movie." First of all, that's a great sentence. Secondly, I completely missed that sentence on first reading (idk why I would pick it up on my first reading) and if that song becomes significant later, then what a small, telling, but pretty detail that is.
Some assorted favorite sentences/descriptions/details for you:
"One of the nurses, hoping to bring some efficiency into the disorder, searched the faces around her until she saw a stout woman who looked as though she might move the earth if she wanted to." (6)
"Like a lighthouse keeper drawn to his window to gaze once again at the sea, or a prisoner automatically searching out the sun as he steps into the yard for his hour of exercise, Ruth looked for the water mark several times during the day" (11)
"The bits of Sunday dresses that he saw did not fly; they hung in the air quietly, like the whole notes in the last measure of an Easter hymn." (173)
"It was empty of shoppers that morning -- nothing but the occasional sound of automobiles breaking the graveyard silence of the cars in the lots, lined up like tombstones." (176)
"From where he stood, the house looked as if it had been eaten by a galloping disease, the sores of which were dark and fluid." (220)
"High above the clouds, heavy yet light, caught in the stillness of speed ("Cruise," the pilot said), sitting in intricate metal become glistening bird, it was not possible to believe he had ever made a mistake, or could." (220)
"Sixteen years later he had one of the best farms in Montour County. A farm that colored their lives like a paintbrush and spoke to them like a sermon." (235)
I really loved Morrison's writing too! This novel is great because I really don't know what's going to happen. I mean, I liked the other books we read this quarter, but plot wise they are nowhere near Morrison. She pulls all these details that we read about along the way and makes them into something significant for the story. You never know what to expect, and a significant element in the story always seems to come from a place you least expect it to.
ReplyDeleteMorrison's style in this novel is even more "conventional storytellerish" than in some of her more demanding work, like _Beloved_ (which you may have heard mentioned in class). Talk about a book that drops you into a maelstrom and forces you to get oriented quickly! I love this "historical" structure of her narratives, where little, confusing details are dropped ("her fingers in the dead man's mouth") that are both totally striking and entirely confounding, and then the picture is filled in here and there throughout the story (which still, at the same time, moves forward--the story has to do with the filling-in, in fact).
ReplyDeleteAnd Sally's right--her plots are entirely unpredictable. No one can ever guess answers to quiz questions for this reason: it will usually be far more bizarre and unexpected than anyone could guess. It's always totally clear who has done the reading.