Tar Baby – Toni Morrison
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
‣ it's Toni fucking Morrison
‣ kind of weird
‣ complex relationships
“It was a silly age, twenty-five; too old for teenaged dreaming, too young for settling down. Every corner was a possibility and a dead end.”
*includes some spoilers*
After I finished Tar Baby, I looked up some reviews on GoodReads to get a general consensus on how other readers felt about it. Toni Morrison brings to mind only greatness. She is beyond reverence. Her writing is considered flawless. Tar Baby was no exception. She is a great writer, period. However, I was so conflicted on how to approach this review.
The plot is relatively straight-forward. We start in Dominique, on a property called L'Arbe de la Croix. The property is owned by Valerian Street, proprietor of of a candy company, who has decided to move into his family's winter home full-time, and spends his days in his greenhouse. L'Arbe de la Croix is also home to his wife, Margaret, their servants, Sydney and Ondine, and Jadine, Ondine's niece, who's education has been paid for by the Streets. Their time together in the home is interrupted when Margaret finds a strange man hiding in her closet, and her husband, both drunk and petty, invites him to stay. As the novel continues, relationships are tested and truths are revealed. (It reads, in some ways, like the drama of a reality show).
The novel's content, with regards to classism and sexual assault, often left me sitting in discomfort. In many ways, that can be the goal of a work. Readers may be pushed out of their comfort zones in order to be moved to react to the work. Tar Baby extended beyond that. Characters left me frustrated and the situations seemed beyond the scope of my imagination. The novel centers on an atypical love story—it's raw and difficult. Sometimes, the one you love the most is the furthest from your understanding. Jadine and Son love each other in a deep part of their beings, but on the surface they connect harshly. They conflict—physically, emotionally, mentally. When they fight, it's hard to read, hard to visualize. In part, I was rooting for their love. On the other hand, I wanted them to hurry up and leave each other.
I loved the writing. Toni Morrison will always be remembered for a reason. She is artful; her skill is universal in scope, but incredibly unique in vision and delivery. I haven't finished processing this novel, but to be fair, I'vc never fully finished processing any of Toni's works. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this as a starter to Toni; there are other works that serve as better intros to her as an artist. However, I'd love to dissect this novel in a more formal setting; it'd be great for a college elective. Have you read Tar Baby? Let's discuss!