1987's Pulitzer Prize winner Beloved delivers torment in a singular work

 

Here we go again: another book with which I am not familiar, excepting that I knew there was a movie version either starring or produced by Oprah, or maybe both. 

In one sense, it's a natural, spiritual sequel to The Color Purple, but the shared setting of continuing to expose the worst of the worst about the recent history of slavery in the U.S. is the only point where the two novels intersect. Beloved then ventures forth into horror, both spiritual and very human, through a poetic treatment of a story told by changing perspectives, allowing us to learn what's driving people in fits and spurts as details of the past emerge piece by piece.

It's tempting to dismiss the readability of such works as these as being important in a cultural and historical sense, while maybe not being a thrilling read in and of itself, but this book is much more than that. I've written before that I feel a bit silly heaping praise on an already revered novel, but what else can I do? It's not a comforting read, but it's so beautifully lyrical that it's well worth it. 

I forgot to take a picture of the copy that I had from the library, but that's the right cover above. The pages were thick and a little jaggedy, and that texture added an extra little something to the reading experience, too.