No, I think it was the sexual content, truly. My super was very conservative. But Native Son has rape, mutual male masturbation and graphic murders in it, so...
What? I'm not allowed to hit people? Wesley: Not people capable of genocide. Angel: Those are exactly the types of people I should be allowed to hit!
'Just Rewards (2)'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Strix - May 29, 2012 6:54:24 am PDT #19010 of 28336
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Burrell - May 29, 2012 7:01:38 am PDT #19011 of 28336
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
Erin, I taught Beloved to college students and yeah, some of the students were shocked by the sex in it. It's probably just me, but I find it disturbing that more people find sex upsetting than graphic murder.
§ ita § - May 29, 2012 7:01:57 am PDT #19012 of 28336
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Yeah, my sister says Morrison came up in her discussion with James. Unsurprisingly she's a big deal in my family (randomly, my mother is sometimes mistaken for her, and she never corrects the error. She's even been mistaken for her with a picture right there. I don't see it that much).
Last night I realised I didn't have my own copies of her books. I'm fixing that, starting with The Bluest Eye. That book freaked me out and upset me when I was little.
Strix - May 29, 2012 7:05:55 am PDT #19013 of 28336
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Burrell, I agree.
ita !, I have taught TBE, at a different school, and it was a very good book to teach. It IS very disturbing, and si impressive, on its own, yes, but especially as her first novel.
I saw Morrison speak once and it was fantastic. It was right when "Paradise" was released.
erikaj - May 29, 2012 7:07:27 am PDT #19014 of 28336
Always Anti-fascist!
I still think "The Bluest Eye" is the best one, but I admire a bunch of the others, too.
sj - May 29, 2012 7:11:07 am PDT #19015 of 28336
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
I don't even remember the sex in Beloved. However, there are plenty of very disturbing images in it that will be seared in my brain forever.
Consuela - May 29, 2012 7:13:33 am PDT #19016 of 28336
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
We read Sula for book club last month. It's gorgeously written, almost a parable in many ways, but there's so much horror in it, too.
Burrell - May 29, 2012 7:14:46 am PDT #19017 of 28336
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
I got a signed copy of Beloved for my mom, so now it's mine. I also have her hardback editions of Jazz and Song of Solomon, but now I'm realizing I'm not sure I've read Jazz. I should read it over the summer.
Sophia Brooks - May 29, 2012 7:16:30 am PDT #19018 of 28336
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
I don't even remember the sex in Beloved. However, there are plenty of very disturbing images in it that will be seared in my brain forever.
Me, too. For some reason the scar on the mans back that was in the shape of a tree (from the whippings) has stuck with me. And other things more disturbing to mention. I read it close to 20 years ago, and just once.
Strix - May 29, 2012 7:18:55 am PDT #19019 of 28336
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
I haven't read her last 3 books, but I've read everything else, and yes, she doesn't hesitate to write about brutality. But, IMO, it's never gratuitous; it's based on emotion, not "Ooh, I need something shocking."