toni morrison

I've only read one book by each.

"Gentlemen of the Road" by Chabon -- absolute trash.

"Beloved" by Morrison -- pretty great, actually.

Ask Chabon what it's like being an author but who's really a Jew. Ask Morrison what it's like being an author but who's really a black.

>>8396242
look up chabon's sexuality.

meant to read beloved before today but didnt get around to - will definitely check it out if she gives a good acceptance speech

She's genuinely good, it's not her fault she gets overhyped in academia like some messianic figure. And she's more of a good writer than a good artist.

I thought Beloved was dull but The Bluest Eye is very good. I'm curious if she thinks she's overhyped or not.

>>8396230
Chabon is the worse author. His only valuable books are Kavalier and Clay and Telegraph Ave. Morrison's only valuable books are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved.

Morrison has contributed to the canon (mostly through the virtue of being black). Chabon hasn't (and he has repeatedly proven he doesn't have much to say. I like his prose better, but that's because Morrison's can be reproduced by any real smart high schooler who reads To the Lighthouse and Absalom a few times.

>>8396230
A Hurston/Faulkner rip off and a half-rate Dickensian/Thackery Jew. What's the big deal?

>>8396230
she's a fantastic writer, i agree. i read her first several novels but haven't gotten around to reading anything after Jazz, which i may return to because i found it wanting. Song of Solomon, Beloved, and Sula [Shadrack is one of her greatest characters] are must reads for any consumer of literature.

how are her later novels? i've heard/read she lost steam with them, as if she had nothing else to say and continued repeating her handful of themes with diminished results.

if i were to ask her a question, i'd probably ask her about Faulkner and his influence on her work.

>>8396312
Consumer is the key word

>>8396304
>Morrison has contributed to the canon (mostly through the virtue of being a great writer who explores themes with insight, grace, and stellar prose)
*fixed

Chabon is shit. his prose is turgid, his stories comic book level, and is in dire need of a better editor.

>>8396321
hmm, maybe i should have written "lover of literature" instead.

>>8396230
chabons speech was trash - now someone is talking about how awesome BLM is

>>8396312
Song of Solomon was pretty underwhelming. It had brilliant moments (the last scene, holy shit), but I found 90% of it to be largely unimpressive. I've been meaning to read Beloved.

File: 1340405677779.jpg (30KB, 480x357px) Image search: [Google]

30KB, 480x357px

>>8396307

Morrison is Cervantes compared to Hurston.

>>8396304
I'd include Sula

song of Solomon is the worst book I've ever read, or at least the most overrated, and I've read a lot of books

basically a hack. also pure ideology

>>8396329
You call her drivel insight? Holy fuck you need new standards pleb bitch boy

>>8396705
well, since you put it so congenially, let's start with which of her novels you've read. it's okay to dislike her, everyone has different tastes in stories, but when someone refers to her work as drivel, it says more about the reader than the work. there is plenty of insight to be had about African-American culture, sense of self, and communities in her writing.

>>8396705
>>8396770
>Reading lit for insight
round up the plebs

>>8396962
>>8396705

Stop producing posts with zero content.

Would the world be better off if you died? The answer seems clear.

The Bluest Eye wasn't a great book because it offered some sort of worldly insight.

It just used language to create a sensation of trauma and a simultaneous sense of victimhood/culpability. Empathizing with the monstrous in a completely sensory fashion

>>8397033
indeed. i don't know why posters ran with the insight bit as i only provided it as an example, among others, as to why she's a great novelist. eh, it's 4chan, so i guess it comes with the territory. i'm simply content this thread hasn't been derailed with racist nonsense.

btw, great description. Bluest Eye wasn't my favorite of her novels. maybe i'll give it a reread soon. it's short enough to read in a day or two.

We read Beloved years ago in high school. It wasn't terrible but I wouldn't call it great either.

She gets a lot more praise than she really deserves.

>>8397143

Who are you to decide who deserves what?

>>8397185
Who are you to decide if I'm anyone to decide anything?

>>8397143
>reads one book from a nobel laureate while in high school
>she gets too much praise
sigh...

>>8397239
>being a Nobel laureate actually means something
K Y S

Y

S

>>8397245
>being a Nobel laureate actually means something
yes, it does. it means the author in question has composed exquisite literature or, as they put it, "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." to toss around imbecilic notions that prizes such as the Nobel, PEN/Faulkner, or Pulitzer do not matter is as imbecilic and inane a notion as reading one work from an author and proclaiming her overpraised.