Tar Baby

This is a great novel by a Noble Prize Winning Author. It is not necessarily a simple story. It is a romance novel, a romance between two very different individuals. But, as with other Toni Morrison novels, much, much more than that. It is often complicated, and full to overflowing with symbolism. The novel required my full attention all of the time. I recognize the greatness of the writing, but did not always enjoy it.I have been reading Toni Morrison novels in the order of publication. Hence this is my fourth Toni Morrison novel. I cannot say that I have a favorite. There are times I am completely enthralled with each of them. There are times I shutter with each of them. This is serious intellectual literature. Toni Morrison addresses many issues including race issues, domestic violence and child abuse. The intelligence level is very high. This is great writing, not fun writing.With every Toni Morrison novel that I have thus far read, I have purchased the accompanying audiobook. Every one has been superb. Until now my favorite audiobook was “The Bluest Eye” narrated by the author. I absolutely loved hearing the author reading to me, her own writing, in the manner she wanted it read. This audiobook is also really excellent. The performance, by Desiree Coleman, is extraordinary.In summary I am overwhelmed by both the writing of Toni Morrison generally and this novel in particular. The writing is intricate and requires my full attention. It is not always fun. Another review wrote that Toni Morrison is in a league of her own. I completely agree. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.

This is not on the level of Beloved, but it's very very good. It leaves me feeling I was in theis big round, full world. Versus most other literary fiction where I feel like I got various flat slices of a world. Morrison was impossibly good.

I read Toni Morrison for two reasons: 1. Delight in language. 2. A glimpse into a world I know little to nothing about, which is, in very important ways, part and parcel of my own world.Tar Baby is ripe with delightful language:"Only the champion daisy trees were serene. After all, they were part of a rain forest already two thousand years old and scheduled for eternity, so they ignored the men and continued to rock the diamondbacks that slept in their arms. It took the river to persuade them that indeed the world was altered. That never again would the rain be equal, and by the time they realized it and had run their roots deeper, clutching the earth like lost boys found, it was too late."Tar Baby, however, is a glimpse into a world I know nothing about. The idea of “race traitor” in my world means something entirely different because, as a white woman, my “race” means very little to me. Which statement can very likely stand alone as an example of “white privilege.”In the world of Jade and Son, “race traitor,” (although I don’t think the phrase is ever used), means denial in a way I have trouble imagining. Jade is a beautiful black woman, raised in a white household and educated to make her way in that world. Son is an escapee from the justice of a small Florida town that he still considers home, a place to which he brings Jade, hoping he can make it home for her as well. For Jade, it is:"Blacker and bleaker than Isle des Chevaliers, and loud. Loud with the presence of plants and field life. If she was wanting air, there wasn’t any. It’s not possible, she thought, for anything to be this black."The world that Jade wanted to introduce to Son is the world I call civilization. The world Son wants Jade to remember is something more primal, some rooted blackness, some remembrance of the world that lies beneath the world that both she and I call civilization.Tar Baby was a failure for me, in that it did not broaden my understanding of an alien world. Morrison, of course, could not care less. She did not write it for me. My Celtic and Nordic ancestors do not haunt my dreams the way that the night women haunt Jade.There is a superficial way in which I understood the novel. I know stories of hidden sins, of the heiress and the gardener’s boy. There are story-telling tropes here that, even buried under paragraphs of brilliant exposition and dialog that cuts to the heart of the matter, are recognizable. But there is something else here that’s deeper, that an old white lady like me will never quite get a handle on. Something that lies deep within a culture not my own. And that has to be okay.Sometimes, you just have to say to yourself, “I don’t understand.” And sometimes that’s all the understanding you will be able to get.

Morrison is such a masterful author. Her novels always have a force behind it that draws the reader in and makes sure that you understand the various points of view. We first see Valerian's point of view, and we agree with him. Then we see Margaret's point of view and we agree with her also, although Valerian and Margaret are arguing with each other. This is how Morrison brings a story to life, using recursive narration to move forward and back in time regardless of the time period that the novel is currently in. One minute we are looking at Valerian and his past, the next we are looking at Margaret until it catches up to the present storyline and then advances further, which allows us to understand how and why each character acts the way that they do. Simply masterful.What is even more masterful is Morrison's ability to articulate the struggle between races, but more importantly the struggle that black people go through. Should one embrace their past and their culture as Son does, even though it means living in squalor and primitive ways? Or should one educate themselves and try to make their lives better as Jadine does? The struggle is huge, and this is what adds the powerful flavor to the story. Ultimately, it is the side of Jadine that wins over, I believe, the side that no longer blames the white man and "his" culture, but rather embraces her culture and attempts to further herself, as a black woman, rather than let the past weigh her down and prevent her from bettering herself.A poignant novel, of which I would expect nothing less from Morrison. A definite recommend, not only the book but any of her books.5 stars.

I loved this book and did not want it to end. All characters are amazing, each build with complexity reflecting life where at the end it is not possible to judge who is good and who is bad it all depends ......Toni Morrison is one of those writers that is in league of her own 5 stars ratings is really not good enough

All Toni Morrison books are amazing.This one came in the mail quickly and no folds or creases.

In Tar Baby, Toni Morrison takes us to the heart of colonialism and weaves in a passionate love story. Son and Jadine, Valérien and Margaret, Sydney ans Ondine - all the characters are unforgettable. Truly literature at its highest mode of expression.

Toni Morrison ist einfach eine faszinierende Frau und Autorin, jedes Buch ist es wert gelesen zu werden. Daher klar 5 Sterne von mir.

nice and very easy to understand. i like it