A Mercy by Toni Morrison Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Mercy
Book Review: A Mercy
Summary: 2 Stars
This books starts out slow, but if you stick with it, it gets better about midway through.Book Review: A Mercy
Summary: 3 Stars
Toni Morrison is one of my favorite writers. Although I rate this book a 3 based on her style, I would have enjoyed more if some of her characters were more developed (such as the male characters in the book). I suggest that when you read, keep in mind the story line may be difficult to follow, but you should get the meaning by the end of the book (i.e page 141)Book Review: A Mercy
Summary: 4 Stars
'a mercy' writen by Toni Morrison is a moving and unusual book. Its artistic cover and presentation wets one's interest as to its contents. However, I feel the book needs to be read without too many breaks between. I do not have this luxury so at times found my self lost with the characters which necessitated re-reading many pages to refresh my memory. I shall read it again, hopefully without interruption, which is what I feel the book deserves. Beautifully written.Book Review: A Mercy
Summary: 5 Stars
As always Toni Morrison never diappoints. This is as wonderful as her previous works. I am and always will be a dedicated reader of her books.Book Review: A Mercy: Review
Summary: 3 Stars
A Mercy recalls the life of a young slave girl, Florens, and the journey surrounding her transplantation and search for a mother's affection. The novel begins as Jacob Vaark, a trader, makes his way to the D'Ortega's land to collect a debt. Upon arrival, Jacob quickly learns D'Ortega cannot repay the debt with financial means due to a failure in his shipping business. Instead, D'Ortega offers Florens as payment. Jacob despises slave trading, but takes Florens. He feels she can replace the children he has lost, and she can help his wife, Rebakkah around the house. When approached, Florens's mother willingly allows Jacob to take her daughter. Her abandonment will haunt Florens for the remainder of the novel.
Though she feels abandoned by her mother, it is actually her mother's sacrifice that ultimately saves her life. Florens's mother recognizes her daughter is different than most slave girls. It seems Florens is not capable of hard, manual labor. She has been taught to read and has the grace of a Portuguese woman. Morrison portrays this girl as an individual who has been born into the wrong beginnings. Florens, it seems, has the intellect and grace to be a woman of high society and position. However, being born into slavery has greatly reduced her chances of survival. What can a slave girl do with intellect and grace? Perhaps Florens does not realize her mother's sacrifice. Yet, it is rather impossible to cling onto and love someone who is seen as property. Human property can be bought and sold at any given moment. While Florens's mother wishes she could completely give herself to loving her daughter and being a proper mother, she realizes being a slave, unfortunately, comes first.
Though the reader is supposed to feel sympathy for the main character's lack of a parent and feel her desperation, Morrison's stream of consciousness detracts from the overall message. As the novel progresses, there are times when it becomes extremely difficult to follow who is speaking and what exactly the speaker talks about. Each time Morrison focuses on Florens, the writing becomes muddy. The reader cannot completely feel her pain if he or she cannot follow the meaning of the text. Stream of consciousness can be effective when executed properly. James Joyce used this technique in A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Yet, he made it clear it was just one speaker. Morrison fails to make a clear transition between each character's speech. If the reader is supposed to simply know which character is speaking based on text and type of dialect, Morrison fails again. Without the initial proper character development in the beginning, how does she expect the reader to distinguish a character from another?
I recommend this book if the reader has A) a great deal of time to devote to understanding the novel and B) feels like wading through murky passages to find sadness and despair.