It is sensational to read a book as a child and still enjoy it as an adult.
Sensational Saturdays throughout November have all been about sharing my favorite books. We started with the Bible, then The Bourne Identity, next came The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. This final Sensational Saturday for November is dedicated to Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I have shared my favorite books each Saturday and have encouraged you to do the same. I hope you have enjoyed the exercise, as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you.
Sensational Saturday, read, favorite book, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon was written by Toni Morrison in 1977 and is one of the reasons she was given a Nobel Prize in literature. To sum the story up in a few words, it is the story of a family who lives in a southern town before blacks were treated with equal rights in America. One of the things I liked most about the book was Not Doctor Street. When black men from the town went off to fight the World War, they wrote back to an address on Doctor Street which was were the only black doctor lived. The postal employees did not like this and marked the address with the actual name of the street and said it was “not doctor street.” As a result, the GIs started writing the letters addressed to “Not Doctor” Street. The post office stopped arguing and just delivered the mail to “Not Doctor” Street. I liked this because it affirmed to me, that people who band together in one voice can accomplish anything they set their minds to accomplish.
There are a great deal of twists and turns in the book and numerous plot twists, references to the Bible, and to American history. When I first read the book the end was unexpected, but as I learned to appreciate foreshadowing and predictive writing, the ending seemed more perfect with each reading. I like the book because after all this time, almost thirty years, I still laugh and cry at the same parts. I am still confused by the same passages and I can tell what is going on in the story just by judging where the page is in the book, without even looking at the words.
A book can be an old, comfortable friend if you let it. And just like friends in the real world, you can come back to a book after years apart and start up again as if you were never separated. So, the question for you this Sensational Saturday is, what book is an old friend to you?
I read the Bluest Eye and it just made me sad. I am a bookaholic. I have about 2,000 books in my office, about 1,000 at home and 3,000 on my Kindle. But some books I read over and over because they remind me of happy times and are comforting.
I have never read Song of Solomon. I think in high School have the class read that and my half read The Bluest Eye. The Bluest Eye did not make my favorite books list.
I like to read but I have never been one to re-read books. I think I like the myster of the book and discoverying what lies on the next page. After I’ve reached the end I’m ready for a new discovery.
I also love her writing, her way with words and the stories she tells. When you read her words you are moved, you feel, you experience.
I read Song of Solomon in high school and after dissecting it for weeks I fell in love with this book!
I love the way Toni Morrison writes, her characters and thisstory in particular.