Beloved is a pungent excursion into the heart of the psychological terrain of the horror known as slavery.  The genius literary critic Harold Bloom writes of the work that it is a "thinly veiled" exploration of slavery.  The work is rich in character development and is an utter masterpiece.  Definitely the best long book I've ever tried to read.

     The Stranger is a voluptuous exercise detailing the pathos of a criminal who likes to smoke more than he likes to live.  The character's mother passes away toward the beginning of the story, though his memories of her play a big role in the story's effervescent arc.  Luchino Visconti directed the 1967 film adaptation of the novel by Albert Camus.  The cinematographer Tak Fujimoto is the best equipped to commit this story to film once again, maybe with director Jonathan Demme at the helm.

     Number the Stars, a Newberry award winning novel, is one of my favorites.  The plot concerns a young Jewish girl who is hiding from the Gestapo.  I would say the director best suited to handle this work would be a Steven Spielberg or more precisely Janusz Kaminski.  The little girl has cocaine in her bag and that makes the Gestapo dogs that are sniffing for contraband loose their scent of smell.

     Bigger is my favorite novel aimed at the children demographic.  It is also a Newberry Award winner.  It is a period piece that concerns a child and his travels with his dog.  (Spoiler warning) I literally cried when I read the final passage revealing that an agitated, homeless stranger kills the dog.

     Other attempted-to-read novels:  Crime and Punishment, Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart.

     Footnote:  Toni Morrison has definitely written the best novel of the past 25 years and once told Oprah Winfrey the reason why it's difficult to read is because "that's reading my dear."  One has to do a double take to fully understand a work's potential.  One falls in love with the characters in Beloved.  The scars on the back of the main character from lashings are symbolic of the torment that white people have committed against the African-Americans.  The scars are described as a work of art that resemble the branches of a tree.

Tags: Book Review Literature Literature Lit English Lit