A Mercy | 
pickLyrical and evocative, with a compelling range of voices, this slim but mighty novel explores 17th century colonial America before slavery was identified by race, and before a nation and its psyche developed the concepts of racial superiority and inferiority. An incredible reading experience.
#blackhistory #americanhistory #bookish #fiction #tonimorrison #classics
pickNo one needs me to tell them that Toni Morrison was a great writer. A few times as I was listening there would be a line that made me stop and kind of marvel over it. I read this because it‘s the Stacked podcast book club pick for March. I‘m looking forward to the discussion episode because I know a lot of this went over my head.
pickLike most of Morrison's books I think a lot of this went over my head. I listened to an interview with her on the book and that helped a lot but goodness do I wish I had had offered a Morrison class in college.
This is excellent but not my favorite so far.
pickWhat can I say, it‘s a Toni Morrison book... her portrayals of womanhood and motherhood are unparalleled. This book had such beautiful prose, such atmosphere, such depth of scenery. Vivid, dramatic, and of course, dark.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars.
Read date: 2/17/2021
pickA Mercy is a 5/5. The depth she gave to each character, made A Mercy a very emotional read 😭. Although I finished it a few days ago, the characters are still in my head. Looking forward to my next Toni Morrison book ❤️
First week was a success 😁 #BFC21 motivated me to get my water in over the weekend, which is usually a struggle. Going to focus on my self improvement reading this week.
Self-help/improvement/skill related books: 0/2
Book goal: 2/5
A Mercy
The Last of the Stanfields
Yoga/Meditation 6/21
Drink recommended amount of water: 7/28
pickThis is a complex book that addresses, starting in the 1680s , the history of labor & human trafficking (slavery, indentured servitude, ‘buying brides‘); the cruel history of capitalism in America; and the partnerships & sacrifices many make to endure. The characters are vivid & diverse; female bonds & the degradation, the displacement of not being valued are at the heart of the story. Complex & rich, this novel would be great to teach & discuss.
Spoiler alert, but the END. !!!! That classic Morrison circularity, taking us back to the start. But this time revealing the voice of Florens‘ mother, the love behind the abandonment. The new perspective on actions we‘ve already visited with other narrators. Sizing up strangers, taking a chance. The book-long longing for the mother‘s love, answers finally realized and heartbreaking. SO masterful.
^^Feverish farmwife visited by ghosts from her passage. Cry of help turned inward. Impossibility of the female Job, the already-Jobness of women.
Morrison is queen of straight talk and critical detail (& voice & rhythm & plot & queen of EVERYTHING):
“the truth was she could not bear to be around their undead, healthy children.”
“noticed too how helpless-looking were the soles of Mistress‘s pale feet, protruding from the hem of her nightdress.”
pickNeeded some Toni. Took me too long to get to this one. Classic Morrison authority of voice: huge love & unblinking cruelty. 17th-century frontier story. Bit of a Noah‘s ark of early American characters: native, enslaved African, Dutch, English, Portuguese, indentured “Europes.” Cast might seem pat in lesser hands, but Toni brings all voices to life, shifting narrative & focus. Landscape, ambition, family, religion, survival, women, love. 💜 2008
pickThis felt like the right book to read over the last week. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, in the way that only Toni Morrison can achieve. ❤️💪🏽
pickToni Morrison's slim novel A Mercy made its way on to my TBR stack because of the @tournamentofbooks #superrooster contest in October. A Mercy won the ToB in 2009 . . . AND just won the "Super Rooster," the contest between the 16 winners of the Tournament. I love Morrison's work, so it was no surprise that this book features brilliant writing and a story that requires some work to piece together. ⬇️
pickI have been learning a lot about whiteness and how white supremacy is "baked into" the laws of the US. But it wasn't always that way. Nor did it have to be that way. A Mercy explores a more equitable possibility on a 17th century Maryland farm where husband and wife are mates; White, Indigenous and Black people coexist; and difference is tolerated. But this world is fragile and falls prey to larger forces: sickness, money, religion, etc. ?
Got in a lovely hike today! It was much needed.
Listening to the tagged book (one of the #Superrooster contenders I missed). Really liking it, thinking maybe it should win it all. It's been a while since I've read Morrison. Ive forgotten how brilliant she is.
so-soI had a hard time absorbing this book. The characters were hard for me to follow at first and I couldn‘t get into the story. I think I need to sit with it a while and give it a reread.
#authoramonth
@Soubhiville
pickI enjoyed Morrison‘s examination of the relationships between mothers and daughters and what leads a mother to abandon her daughter in favor of a son. I especially enjoyed reading Morrison‘s early look at slavery and the slave trade in the early days of America. There was so much to digest in such a short book that I‘m sure I missed things and will more than likely return to this one many times. #AuthorAMonth #AAMTM
pickOoooo mate‘s. I‘ve just revised this one up to a 5 because it has STUCK with me. This is a slight, tight novella which really demonstrates Morrison‘s exceptional skills. This is so much more than a story of a place and a time. It‘s a story about people, about who we are when we are alone, and how we survive when we have to against stacked odds. The frontier looms large over each of the characters‘ lives in this novel. As ever Morrison is Queen.
pickI enjoyed this short book about a slave girl pulled away from her mother and brother to serve on a small farm in Maryland. Each section is told from a different perspective, and they come together in a highly satisfactory way. I can see why this book won the #ToB in 2009, and I read it in preparation for the #superRooster I hope is forthcoming.
Another #FirstBook2020 #audiobook and this one is for #SuperRooster #ToB #TournamentofBooks. I have challenged myself to read and post a review by Jan 15. Consider this an invitation to join me. #ReadbytheAuthor
I have a question about the interpretation of Florens‘ denouement. I interpreted the violence between The Blacksmith, Florens, and Malaik as: Florens attacked The Blacksmith, lashing out at him and wounding him with his tongs, & attacked Malaik & killed him. Malaik, taking her place (in her eyes), was the symbolic stand-in for her brother, so she destroys him this time. The Spark Notes state Malaik lived. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/a-mercy ?
pickAs an audiobook there was a few moments of confusion between narrator changes, but otherwise solid and beautiful, as to be expected. I wanted a good, short audiobook to break up the epic listens of Brothers Karamazov and W.E.B. du Bois Black Reconstruction in America, and this fit the bill perfectly. #audiobook
so-soNot my favorite Toni Morrison. 3 ⭐️
pickI can‘t believe this was my first time reading Toni Morrison. I do want to re-read this eventually, because I feel like I missed some of the lush details and language in audio form, but this was positively stunning.
My new read
pickMorrison never disappoints. This is another powerful novel about the horrific effects of slavery focused on 3 women in Catholic Maryland, at the end of the 17th century. Spanning decades this story might be a bit confusing because perspectives and timelines keep switching around but these 3 women's testimonies are very powerful. It all comes down to a mother who has to make a choice regarding her daughter...
🌟🌟🌟🌟
so-soThis book really packs that exquisite emotional punch that you know you're going to get from Morrison. I admit though that I struggled with it due to the writing style - the timeline and voice jumped around a lot and it was not always made clear when it did. I kept having to go back and reread because I felt lost. I totally get why she wrote it this way but I wish it were just a little more linear. 3/5 ⭐️
Preparing to have my heart ripped out like only the master Toni Morrison can do. #nowreading
I was ready to stop reading when I finished this chapter, until I realized that the next chapter is only 5 pages long.
I needed a little more out of my reading, so I‘m trying a Toni Morrison book. Let‘s see how this goes.
pickMorrison's writing is exquisite and her ability to craft connection and emotion with the reader is amazing. The last few paragraphs of this were so incredibly powerful -- the whole book was worth reading for that alone.
pickToni Morrison's words seemed the dance on the page. Highly recommend.
Hour 30 and we're waking up with a little poetry. #spinepoetry to be exact. A new challenge post is up on 24in48.com - show is your best spine poetry in the comments on the blog. Here's ours. #24in48
Next pick for @StephanieY's Reading Like a Writer book club. Really looking forward to a quiet morning with this one!
Without money or the inclination to peddle goods, open a stall or be apprenticed in exchange for food and shelter, with even nunneries for the upper class banned, her prospects were servant, prostitute, wife, and although horrible stories were told about each of those careers, the last one seemed safest.
Rebekka's understanding of God was faint, except as a larger kind of king, but she quieted the shame of insufficient devotion by assuming that He could be no grander nor better than the imagination of the believer. Shallow believers preferred a shallow god. The timid enjoyed a rampaging avenging god.
