I talked about this book in my August reading wrap-up video.

Another engaging, thought provoking read from Toni Morrison. It was just 200 pages, but took me a couple of days to get through because the subject matter was heavy and her writing is always dense and layered. I actually found the writing her a little more accessible here than in my first Morrison book, Beloved. I more often felt I knew what was happening, and that the action wasn't lost in the poetry.

The narrative style was a bit strange. It kind of bounced around in the story it was telling and in the style in which it was telling that story. At the very end, the whole took a turn into the very difficult and gross. It was never an easy read, but by the end, I felt my skin crawling. I think in parts it lacked a bit of cohesion.

Take that criticism with a grain of salt, however, because this felt important to read. I saw a few of my own identity struggles reflected in Pecola's wish to have blue eyes. It's easy to say that this story doesn't have the same weight it did 30 years ago because these conversations happen more frequently in some sections of our society. I can't speak for a whole, but on a personal level, I had experiences in my school years where people said things to me like, "he doesn't date black girls" or "you won't be cast in the play because you are dark." Society's notions of beauty haven't changed THAT much, and many of us who are still young, can probably relate to the way Pecola was meant to feel lesser.

The most amazing thing to me, though, was that the story of beauty was at the surface, but soon Morrison was discussing issues of racism, class, the cycle of poverty and abuse and disappointed hopes and lack of privilege. It spiraled from this one wish, for blue eyes, and soon encapsulated so many other struggles.

Definitely a worthwhile read.