For my intro to lit study class we're reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. It's a great novel about a former slave and her grown daughter a few years after the civil war. Their house has been haunted by the mother's baby who died about 18 years before the novel takes place. It goes back and forth through time, reaccounting the trials each character had to endure and how the characters have adapted (or in some cases, not adapted at all).

So, has anyone here read Beloved?

Yup. It's great.
I like her other work better though. Particularly Sula & The Bluest Eye.

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Have you seen the movie? It actually was almost just as good as the book.

I love how spoiled, jealous, and manipulative the baby is. It doesn't go into detail as to how the girl the baby was in got possessed. I love the part where the other daughter finally admits that it's her sister.

beloved is awesome. i agree with exor, the movie was great too.

i couldn't enjoy lovely bones because it seemed so juvenile compared to the ghost story that was beloved. beloved is literature.

i love the character called "stamp paid" cuz that's what was on the receipt for him. fkn heartbreaking.

I really enjoyed Beloved. I like how Toni Morrison messes with words and makes you look closely to see the meaning of them.

The bit in the movie where Beloved spells out her name for the first time really creeped me out!

The New York Times book review editor asked "a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages," to identify "the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years." and Beloved was voted number one. Evidentially, it was always expected to, because an earlier essay about the project incudes the information that:
A feature article about this will be in the May 21st Book Review Section.

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ooh i did Beloved for a level, really good book. i really like the Lovely Bones aswell, obviously they are both very different books.

I read Beloved this year for my senior Lit class; it was a really good read and we did much analysis of it...I think the most compelling theme to me was the loss of identity for all characters...Sethe, Denver, Paul D...all had to come into their own, rather than live under the control of Beloved (i.e. as slaves).

i haven't read it, but the other day when i was going through my books, i realised i own it. I was gonna throw it out

I like the book a lot (almost as much as Paradise), but I for one didn't think the movie did it justice. It was watchable, but nothing more. I know it's hard to see past the fact that it was Oprah's pet project, but I found it difficult to see it as more than that. The story was just strapped on to Oprah's quest for an Oscar, or whatever the fuck her motivation was.

so i should read the book then instead of chucking it out???

Yes!

it's ok, i put it on the catalogue pile, so its a keeper. Thanks Guys!!!!