Rec'd via Paperbackswap.com.
Needed for Lit class.

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Review
"When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you die." And the scribbled no-name "Macon Dead," given to a newly freed black man by a drunken Union Army officer, has stained out a family's real name for three generations, and then we meet the third "Macon Dead," called "Milkman." Raised among the sour hatreds of the richest black family in a Michigan town, Milkman learns not to love or make commitments, learns to turn away from his father's hard, tight greed, his mother's unloved passivity, his sisters' sterile virginity. He stands apart from his outcast aunt Pilate (a figure reminiscent of Sula, living beyond all reason), a "raggedy bootlegger" who keeps her name in a box threaded to one ear. And he stands above the wild untidy adoration of his cousin Hagar, above the atrocities against blacks in the 1950s, even while his friend organizes a black execution squad. However, when Milkman's father opens the door to a family past of murder and flight, Milkman - in order to steal what he believes is gold - begins the cleansing Odyssean journey. His wanderings will take him through a wilderness of rich and wonderful landscapes murmuring with old tales, those real names becoming closer and more familiar. He beholds eerie appearances (an ancient Circe ringed with fight-eyed dogs) - and hears the electric singing of children, which holds within it the pulse of truth. Like other black Americans, Milkman's retrieval of identity from obliteration helps him to shake off the "Dead" no-name state of his forebears. And, like all people, his examination of the past gives him a perspective that liberates the capacity for love. Morrison's narration, accomplished with such patient delicacy, is both darkly tense and exuberant; fantastic events and symbolic embellishments simply extend and deepen the validity and grace of speech and character. The gut-soul of Roots, with which this will be recklessly, inevitably linked, and a handsome display of a major talent. (Kirkus Reviews)

'Milkman' - so called because his unhappily married mother's breast feeds him long after he can walk - meets his father's estranged sister, Pilate, a woman born without a navel, and discovers that there is treasure belonging to his family hidden in the Deep South. He sets off to find it, only to discover that the real treasure is the knowledge of who he is. Morrison's vision recovers both a personal and a national heritage. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



This is book no. 315 on the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list.

Started reading today for class.

While Song of Solomon will never rank as a top-10 book for me, I came away from it with a deep admiration for Toni Morrison's depth of writing. Granted, I did analyze this book much more than I normally would since we were practically dissecting it for my EWRT001B class with Anthony Delaney (kick-ass teacher, BTW) but still. Morrison's narrative is a classic hero quest, and she pulls inspiration and symbols from a vast ocean of sources. I wrote two or three papers on the book, and actually enjoyed doing so, which is a pretty unusual occurrence in itself.

One paper was on the symbolism of the names. Each character is named quite precisely, so you can figure out a lot about each person based on their name. Milkman is on a quest for his roots, which I paralleled to the Israelites' quest for the Promised Land, the "land of milk and honey." For Milkman, the milk is the knowledge of his identity. In his quest, he has guiding figures like Pilate, who is named for Christ's killer but is instead a "pilot" in Milkman's life.

Let's see...I also wrote a paper paralleling Milkman's journey to the journey of Oedipus in Oedipus Rex. That one was fun, written when I had only read Part I of SoS, so it wasn't quite 100% accurate.

At one point I also compared Milkman to the main character in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. That amused my teacher.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

sent to Elisabeth Lakavage of Tucson, AZ to fulfill a request on Bookmooch.com!