Beloved & Chinese Food

Beloved is honestly one of my few favorite novels and I'm about to enlighten on why this is important/surprising without spoiling the book for those who have yet to read it.

I'm not a fan of most African American works - it doesn't appeal to me, because I'm not into smooth jazz. The lack of proper grammar also gets to me too, because I'm narrow minded like that; however, there are a few exceptions such as e.e. cummings who very rarely capitalizes anything of actual need. He's not black as far as I know, so you can say that I'm biased against African American works. For me, the topic of slavery is over-done and while I realize slavery was an incredibly bad move humanitarian wise, it does not need to be a subject matter in a vast majority of AA works (I'm shortening the race, because I'm lazy).

However, the portrayal of slavery in Beloved was, dare I say, refreshing. While slavery is obviously a major theme/component to the novel, there are many other themes that are prevalent to overshadow the elephant in the room. The feelings of loss, despair, hopelessness, change, family values, and a debate on what freedom really entails are some themes if I had to say what the purpose was.

While the grammar isn't to snuff with what proper grammar should be, the way the story flowed worked. This may seem like a no-brainer, and prepare for some racism, because very rarely do AA writers write their characters as the most educated group of people. That being the case, I could actually follow the train of thought from chapter to chapter, despite the fact the POV changed sometimes within a chapter.

Maybe it's the romantic in me, but whenever I read a book and genuinely like it, it becomes a part of myself and vice versa. I feel like I give a snippet of my soul to each book that moves me, which is why I very rarely branch out to read many novels. I want to keep my soul and sanity in tact, because let's face it, you can only have a certain amount of Horcruxes before someone says, "alright, already, we get it!"

Something about this work reverberated at my very core and this novel gets a lot of credit for that alone. Very rarely do I read AA works and even more rare do I ever like them enough to warrant another read-through. Beloved is one of my go-to books, because I can understand the perspectives of all of the characters. I know how to feels to be selfish and want attention; how it feels to want to be the only focus for the person I care most about; how it feels to love something so badly that you'd do anything to keep it safe from harm, to keep to alive in some way, shape, or form; how it feels to lose hope in the midst of chaos and how it feels better to just lay down and let life take its course. For me, this is real. Even if I've never experienced slavery myself, my back burns with an image of a chokecherry tree for what the characters have experienced and it kinda takes a lot to get some sort of catharsis out of me.

Side note: I had Chinese food today and my fortune cookie said, "You smile, brings happiness to everyone you meet." Needless to say, it made me laugh and I just now realized I didn't grab it off the table to keep it like I said I would.

"'Here,' she said, 'in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don't love your eyes; they'd just as soon pick em out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O to my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face 'cause they don't love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain't in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it again. What you say out of it they will not heed. What you scream from it they do not hear. What you put into it to nourish your body they will snatch away and give you leavins instead. No, they don't love your mouth. You got to love it. This is flesh I'm talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved. Feet that need to rest and to dance; backs that need support; shoulders that need arms, strong arms I'm telling you. And O my people, out yonder, hear me, they do not love your neck unnoosed and straight. So love your neck; put a hand on it, grace it, stroke it and hold it up. And all your inside parts that they'd just as soon slop for hogs, you got to love them. The dark, dark liver -- love it, love it, and the beat and the beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air. More than your life-holding womb and your life giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart. For this is the prize.'" (Beloved by Toni Morrison)