Friday, April 14, 2017

                                                       Reader Response

Goodreads: The overall rating to Beloved on Goodreads was a 3.76, and had more good reviews then bad ones. Most of the good reviews said it was a great book to read, "Beloved was a great American horror novel. I got chills, physical chills-over and over while reading this book. It has the scary element to it" (Jessica 1). People that rated this book recommended it to anyone with 'human' emotions, if you have broken hearts that are in search of mending, and it make's a good mother's day gift. The few that gave it a bad review said they hated the book, they thought the characters like Beloved were annoying and confusing. People started to read half way through the book, and then stop reading and give up because they didn't like it to continue.

Barnes and Noble: The overall rating to Beloved on Barnes and Noble was a 4, a better rating then Goodreads. Again, had more good reviews then bad ones. Reviewers on Barnes and Noble said "It was like nothing I've ever read before"(Anonymous 1). I also seen another person talk about the idea of Toni Morrison's haunting novel, like on Goodreads someone thought it was a great American horror novel. Beloved was an amazing book and a must read. Some readers said they went into the book with a bad attitude and got half way through the book with a totally different mind and really got into it and loved the rest of the book. Another said it was the "most moving,soulful story of the slavery experience I have ever read"(Anonymous 1). There were also a few bad reviewers but only like two or three. They said they had a "hard time with the book, it was confusing and annoying, and you had to reread some parts and try to absorb what they were saying to better understand" (Karatepen 1). Which was also similar to Goodreads in the bad reviews on Beloved.

Amazon: The overall rating to Beloved on Amazon was a 3.9. About the same as Barnes and Noble. Amazon had more good reviews then bad ones. The good reviewers said Beloved it truly a great book, a must read, and hard to put it down. "The story is not one of suffering, but one of persevering through the insufferable" (Bennet 1). A few others said Beloved was a beautiful poetic Novel. Shows great emotions in the characters and such real feelings. Also connected to what people said in Goodreads and Barnes and Noble that idea of a classic, haunting story about slavery. The only bad reviews I saw said it was sometimes hard to read and understand and could be a complex novel at times. Which I also saw in the Goodreads and Barnes and Noble.

Positive reviews: I totally agree with the good reviewers comments. Beloved is a great book and a great read. It does show true feelings through the characters and has that haunting story because of the death of Baby Suggs and her haunting the past traumas.
Negative reviews: I also agree with some of the negative reviewers comments. Beloved at first when I started to read it was kind of boring, and I didn't know what to expect from the beginning. At parts of the book it was confusing and difficult to pick out where the characters were, or what they were talking about. But I tried to read the book out loud to better hear and get more of a feeling what was going on. But I disagree with the reviewers that said it was an awful book, and that no one should bother to pick it up and read it. The characters were not annoying at all, I think all the characters have there own special place in the book that is unique and fits them right. Everyone has there own opinions, but I think the people that started reading the Novel Beloved that quit in the middle and gave up, should go back and finish the book because it gets better after the beginning.


Sources:
Bennet, James S. "Beloved." Amazon. N.p., 8 June 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. <https://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Toni-Morrison/dp/1400033411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492221938&sr=8-1&keywords=beloved>.

Jessica. "Beloved." Goodreads. N.p., 26 Jan. 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6149.Beloved?from_search=true>.

Karatapen, and Anonymous. "Beloved." Barnes & Noble. N.p., 8 June 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. <http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beloved-toni-morrison/1001875673?ean=9781400033416>.

1 comment:

  1. When looking on each of the sites, I found similar information. Most of the good reviews did say something like it was amazing or that they loved the "scary element." All the bad reviews that I found though, mostly only mentioned it was too hard to follow along. This helped me realize that I wasn't the only person who struggled through reading the text.

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