Song of Solomon...2nd half.

Well after everything I said about this book in my previous post, I was very pleasanly surprised, hearbroken, bereft and finally at peace with the happenings of the last 100 pages. There was so much more peace, willingness to share, understand and love. A desire to just be, and experience life as it was. This whole atmosphere is missing before this point. My bereft bit comes from not knowing whether is it Milkman or his nemesis and bestfriend Guitar who gets to die from their encounter.
I was heartbroken by witnessing the decline and finally the death of Hagar who was so inlove with Milkman she lost the senses. Even more heartbreaking is that she never gets to see even a bit of the compassionate man that Milkman becomes as a result of his journey which turned from a quest for stealing gold to finding his roots.

I agree Toni Morisson is indeed one of the greatest writers of our time. Her Noble Prize in Literature is well earned. I must admit, I was very apprehensive about reading this book though. I always am when  a book has race issues in it. But I appreciate and admire how Ms Morrison does not make this aspect a "mission" in the book. It's just part of life in Song of Solomon, just as is obsession,  madness, hatred, voodoo, betrayal, family secrets, denial and selfishness..

the book is not a light read. I found it very deep and introspective. So it's really one that took me a while to get through as I went about absorbing it, being mad at it, being so happy that I reread some bits over and over again. I'm very happy for having taken the time to savour its contents, it is well worth it.

You can find Song of Solomon at Kalahari.net for loc al purchase (on the sidebar), a free version in the Library, or Amazon.com for international purchases