Welcome to Litsy!

A powerful short story - Morrison's only one - where she explores a friendship between two girls who meet in a shelter when they are 8, one black and one white. The genius is that she never tells the reader which is which. The women meet again a handful of times as they move through their lives, experiencing the racial tension of the world. It's masterful and beautifully written - after all, it's Toni Morrison. My July #Bookspin. @TheAromaofBooks

@WildAlaskaBibliophile bought this LED fireplace to compliment our reading recliners. I enjoyed the glow while reading this excellent short story. I wanted to read the whole book, but the "introduction" was more of a critical essay, not appropriate to read before the story. Then, the story was so well done, I didn't really have any interest in the essay ?

Brilliant. Morrison‘s only short story is about two girls, one black and one white. Race is important to their story, but Morrison wrote without giving any context as to which is which, leaving the reader to wonder, guess, or make peace with not knowing while also thinking about why they want to know. Does it matter? Do you feel differently about either? What exactly are the “clues” you‘re looking for? Zadie Smith‘s intro is not to be missed.

A story about two women, Twyla and Roberta, who met in a shelter when they were just eight. The other girls there were orphans, but their mothers couldn't care for them. One is black, and the other is white, but the reader never knows which one is which. This story deals with poverty, race, and what all people have in common. I listened to this, and the intro essay by Zadie Smith was equally fascinating.

Feburary 2023 Reads:
5 🌟
Recitatif: Toni Morrison 📖
4.5 🌟
The Lions of Al Rassan: Guy Gavriel Kay 📖
Dinosaurs: Lydia Millet 📖
4🌟
The New Life: Tom Crewe 🎧
How High We Go In The Dark: Sequoia Nagamatsu 📖
3🌟
Hester: Laurie Lico Albanese 🎧
Lost in the Moment and Found: Seanna McGuire 🎧
2.5 🌟
Wade in the Water: Nyani Nkrumah 🎧
2 🌟
Lessons in Chemistry: Bonnie Garmus 📖
Wide Sargasso Sea: Jean Rhys 📖

Toni Morrison's only short story. Two girls meet in a state orphanage at the age of 8. One is black and one is white...and Morrison never lets the reader know which girl is which race. Brilliant introduction by Zadie Smith. Fast Brilliant read. 5 🌟 #52bookclub23 #under200 @LauraReads @KarenUK @britt_brooke @CarolynM @Smarkies @LeeRHarry @Clwojick @BookBelle84 @jennifer80 @Librarybelle @triplem80 @AshleyHoss820 @Read4life @Bluebird @squirrelbrain

I hadn‘t heard of this short story until @wideeyedreader told me about it a few months ago. As others have said it was thought provoking and in the end I‘m okay with not knowing which girl was which.

This was a thought provoking short story, the only one Morrison ever wrote. The concept of writing a story without racial coding about two girls (Twyla and Roberta) of different race for whom race is vital makes for an interesting experiment.

I read somewhere that apparently you can tell the race of the reader by what race they think Twyla is. An interesting thought!
Also, Zadie Smith‘s introduction is excellent.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a thought provoking short story about two girls, one white and one black, but intentionally unmentioned which girl is which race. It forces self reflection as a reader because you want to determine who is who and rely on biases to do so, although unsuccessfully. 5/5

I was glad I saw other reviewers suggesting one first read Morrison‘s story, then Smith‘s intro, which examines the story and, frankly, spoils it, as I read them in exactly that order. I enjoyed both, as well as my own response to and conclusions from the story.

Toni Morrisson never disappoint me. This short story was amazing. I skipped the introduction by Zadie Smith. It started to sound like Charlie Brown‘s teacher. You only need to listen to it if you want the spoiler for the actual story.

This is a cleverly written short story that brings together two characters, one black and one white. But who is of what race? Like Zadie Smith discusses in the intro, as a reader your assumptions turn with the page. It‘s frustrating to not have the answer, but satisfying when you experience that we are one humanity.

In this one and only short story ever penned by the great Toni Morrison, Twyla and Roberta meet as children in an orphanage then again as women and then as mothers. Their relationship is deeply impacted by their contrasting racial identities and yet we never find out who is Black and who is white. Morrison called Recitatif an experiment, and as Zadie Smith writes in her introduction, “The subject of the experiment is the reader.” —Zadie Smith

I listened to the audio edition of the only short story Toni Morrison ever wrote, narrated by Bahni Turpen. If you get the audio, which is under two hours, the story doesn't start until 59:21, because the entire first half is an essay on the story by Zadie Smith. I'm of the personal opinion that one should read the work before reading commentary on said work, and continue to skip intros, prefaces, and more. ↘️

The story is brilliant. I do have a massive issue with the intro by Zadie Smith. I‘m glad I read other reviews that said to skip it. It‘s completely inappropriate as an introduction, and epitomizes why I hate intros. Smith gives away the entire plot and then analyzes it to death. It strips the reader of any enjoyment in actually experiencing the story and interpreting it themselves. Her essay is an interesting read only AFTER reading the story.

📖 3-12-22 || This is powerful and thought-provoking. I loved Zadie Smith‘s intro, but would rather have read it after the story than before. The audio was well-done and, at only two hours, was well worth the listen. 🎧

Echoing the great reviews of this one already here on Litsy: amazing, brilliantly constructed story, and Zadie Smith‘s excellent intro worked best for me when read after reading the story.
Adding: audiobook was fantastic. Bahni Turpin! ❤️ And I loved Smith‘s narration of her intro, too.

Wow this is amazing! 🤯 Definitely something to read and reread and discuss! Also wow I really love Zadie Smith I guess, I remember reading Swing Time and not enjoying it but I‘m interested in reading her nonfiction now after reading this.

Wow. Powerful short story by Toni Morrison. Zadie Smith‘s introduction (which I highly recommend be read only after u read the story) nails the discomfort that Morrison evokes for the reader. #ARC #Edelweiss

Impulse-bought this and so glad I did! A complicated and interesting short. You know the two characters are different races but you don't know who's white and who's Black.
The introduction really hits you with it: "When [Toni Morrison] called 'Recitatif' an 'experiment' she meant it. The subject of the experiment is the reader."
And "... most attempts to answer it tend to reveal more about the reader than the character."
⬇️⬇️⬇️

Two women meet as girls in a group home. My theory is that Roberta is white and that Twillah is black. But because the story gives you so many clues it leaves everything up to the reader‘s interpretation. The story itself is very self aware and as it is told through Twillah‘s narration you get her thoughts and points of view regarding situations most of all.
I very much enjoyed this story and rate it a 5 out of 5.

#blackhistorymonth #blackauthors #blackgirlsreadtoo

Morrison's story has a trap at its center: we know that Twyla and Roberta are of different races. But Morrison never tells us who's who. You can guess, but to guess is to fall into Morrison's trap.

https://sophronisba.com/2022/02/02/recitatif-the-shifting-sands-of-historical-me...

Thank you Edelweiss for the advanced copy of Recitatif the forward by Zadie Smith was insightful.
This is a short story - only about 20pages (the forward was longer!) But it is one of those shorts that will have you replaying and overthinking all parts of the journey. Morrison was a master. This is her only known short.