Paradise

By: Toni Morrison

Narrated by: Toni Morrison

Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Rumors had been whispered for more than a year. Outrages that had been accumulating all along took shape as evidence. A mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their honeymoons. Two brothers shot each other on New Year's Day. Trips to Demby for VD shots common. And what went on at the Oven these days was not to be believed.... The proof they had been collecting since the terrible discovery in the spring could not be denied: the one thing that connected all these catastrophes was in the Convent. And in the Convent were those women."

In Paradise, Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain", assault the nearby Convent and the women in it. From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void "Out There...where random and organized evil erupted when and where it chose."

Richly imagined and elegantly composed, Paradise weaves a powerful mystery.

©1999 Toni Morrison (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

" Paradise is Toni Morrison's first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, and it is possibly her best work of fiction to date. Morrison is an extraordinary novelist." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"It is a fascinating story, wonderfully detailed by Morrison's shrewd and vivid portraits of Ruby's citizens and forebears....Her town is the stage for a profound and provocative debate - always personified and always searching - about black identity and destiny in America's past and present." ( The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review)

Interestingly Bizarre

I read Paradise with my book club. Many had a difficult times making sense of it. I had to listen twice myself. There are a lot characters and it is difficult to keep up with who is who. Over all it was an interestingly bizarre story that introduces you to the strangest group of people. Morrison did make me curious about all these troubled people but it disappointed me by ending so with many unanswered questions.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Grandma Morrison reading at Bedtime

Morrison reading her own words gives deeper depth to the story. The attitudes of each character come forth from her deliberate cadence. It's so worth the 25 bucks.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Story (Abridged)

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not well spent because the story was abridged. I like to read the books alongside of the text. The author kept skipping over segments of the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Paradise?

The opening of the book will capture the listener/reader. "They shoot the white girl first."

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Toni Morrison?

The author is the best reader for the project.

Could you see Paradise being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I would love to see it in film.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Abridged...

For some reason or another Morrison does not want to read all that she has written. It makes it difficult to follow along with the text, as she skips paragraphs at a time. The confusing thing is if she did not like these lines why write them?

Waste of money

Same version of book so I was planning on reading it and listening at same time but the audio is different from the book

Where to start

Would you try another book from Toni Morrison and/or Toni Morrison?

I was very disappointed in the reading of this book, she does not go word for word and even skips paragraphs and pages of the detailed information which made this EXTREMMELY HARD TO FOLLOW, AS if this story was not hard enough to catch on to. Needless to say I made it half way through and gave up entirely, not even curious how it ends because the end is in the 1st sentence. She seems brilliant as I heard her speak in an interview apparently she was simply a bit over my head.

It was enjoyable

I just wish it was read word for word and not skipping around. But I enjoyed it.

Paradise

I really really enjoyed this novel, and listening to the author read it was great.

Pay attention!

I had to listen twice because the ending was confusing. Overall a good book though. Leisure reading, might have been better to physically read.

Not like the book

Would you try another book from Toni Morrison and/or Toni Morrison?

no

What was most disappointing about Toni Morrison’s story?

For some reason I got this to listen as I read along for my enlgish class and the story teller skipped from sentences all the way to a page. I was very disappointed.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Toni Morrison?

yes

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

anger

Any additional comments?

pretty disappointed the story wasn't read word for word. I wasn't able to do my homework like I'd of liked to..

1 of 2 people found this review helpful