Customer Reviews
That's the kick - By: T. Parmar, 03 Oct 2008 
I had to read this for A Level English & at first I found it almost impossible to get into. A lot of it tends to go over your head but as you keep reading & get to the end, something just clicks & at the last 3/4 of the last chapter, you honestly believe it's a masterpiece. Upon several rereadings of the book, I found I understood more of it & it's just wonderful. Especially the last paragraph.
Stay away from this over-rated stream of consciousness rubbish - By: Mr. D. C. Hayes, 04 Aug 2008 
I like an original & unique book as much as the next man, but this is just plain awful. I can't stand the way it is written, the characters names, the ridiculously dull story (which gets even worse when you have to endure the characters' past as well) & to top it off this has somehow won the nobel prize for literature. Clearly the people who voted had never actually bothered to read the book.
I have the unfortunate task of doing my english literature coursework on this next year but if you have the choice of not reading this, stay well away!
If you have to read a Morrison book, Beloved was marginally more readable, with Paul D the only remotely interesting character.
A True Masterpiece - By: Ems, 19 Jul 2008 
My favourite book of all time
I was lucky enough to study this book during 6th form college with a good teacher. Instead of butchering its beauty she illuminated it; leading us through the more complex prose (their beauty all more appreciated due to a deeper level of understanding) & highlighting some of the more obscure elements that might have gone unnoticed (or perhaps not understood).
At 16, though not niave, I was perhaps unaware of the many elements & angles of understanding related to racism, especiallyin America (which seemed a world far removed). But there is much more to Morrison's Jazz than American prose. Unlike so many others, that parade the usual melting pot, American Dream, Racism themes, Morrison examines human relationshipsin a real & down to earth way.
Having finished the book I walked aroundin a daze for a couple of days reconsidering almost everything I had previously thought (that is no overstatement). Though some obvious questions are raised (especially the lives of afro-Americans), I did not meditate on racism or poverty but rather relationships & the ties between human beings.
Im not sure if it was because of the time of my life that i read it, or whatever but to me Jazz spoke volumes.
This book really is amazing.
"I'm strong. Alone, yes, but top notch and indestructible, like the city in 1926 when all the wars are over..." - By: Mary Whipple, 21 Apr 2008 Set primarilyin Harlemin 1926, when jazz was bursting forth from the traditions of gospel & blues, this 1992 novel is one of Morrison's most experimental & least accessible. Written from multiple points of view, it uses the patterns of jazz itself for its structure. A series of overarching themes connects the work, but these are seenin individual characterizations & episodes which flash backward & forward, twisting & turning as they connect, misconnect, change, & ultimately create a unique world larger than the sum of its individual parts.
Focusing primarily on middle-aged Violet Trace, her fifty-year-old husband Joseph, & Dorcas Manfred, his teenage lover, whom he believes shares his passion, Morrison explores issues of love & fear, sex & obsession, violence & passivity, & strength & dependence,in addition to her big issues of color & gender. At the outset of the novel, Joseph has murdered Dorcas, fearing that his love for her will never be as great as it is at the moment just before her death. His wife Violet, distraught, has been forcibly removed from Dorcas's wake, & though she believes herself to be strong & indestructible, she shows her own vulnerability, sometimes seeing "that other Violet" who inhabits her soul.
Gradually, the individual stories of Violet, Joe, their families, & Dorcas & her family, some members of whom go back even into the 1800s, flesh out the characterizations upon which this novel depends. For much of the novel, however, the reader must be patient, not sure exactly how all these characters are connected to each other, like the most experimental improvisationsin jazz. Gradually, they do connect, & gradually the theme of redemption emerges triumphant.
Brilliantin its construction & thematic development, the novel requires the reader to make many connections which other authors (and Morrisonin her other novels) make or suggest as a matter of course. Her complex, spiraling structure (which Faulkner also employs)in Beloved, Song of Solomon, & even an early novel like Sula, for example, seems more effectivein these, perhaps because these novels have smaller casts of characters, & the importance of particular episodes & the relationships of many characters are clearer. For me, this was a novel to appreciate, rather than to love. n Mary Whipple
Spanning the Transition from Slavery to the Freedom of Jazz - By: Donald Mitchell, 09 Jul 2004 For many African-Americans, the period from 1860 through 1930 was a particularly challenging one. The formal slavery of the South transitioned into a vulnerable rural economic existence, dependent on the weather & the price of crops. The promise of the city lured many to leave their homes, & adopt city life-styles that put new social pressures on them & their relationships. Jazz tells this story through the microcosm of one marriage, that of Joe & Violet Trace.
Unlike many books about marriage, this one is a love story. Although it bears no relationship to any romance novel you have ever read, it reveals the way that the need for love develops from within each of us & allows us to grasp its potential when we respond to the yearnings of those we care about.
Music was importantin the lives of many people during those years. Churches & music halls vied for the attention of most peoplein the cities. Jazz was a new influence, bursting on the scene with a combination of extreme freedom & mutual respect for the other players. In this book, jazz is represented both as a symbol of freedom & as a source of base impulses that can lead people astray. Ms. Morrison also pays homage to jazz by building her narrative around the individual stories of those involved takenin solitary order, much like the solosin a jazz piece. The narratives all weave together, but you have to hear the whole piece to understand how. Be patient with what seem like digressions. They are really transitions into new perspectives, like when a horn does a riff before returning to the theme.
You also get the metaphor of jazz usedin the relationship of the two Traces. They were originallyin rhythm with each other, then fell out of rhythm, & then regained their ability to improvise together. It's very nicely done!
To me, the best part of the book was that Ms. Morrison does not permit her characters to fall back on misfortune, fate, & heredity as excuses for misbehavior. Clearly, those factors affect us, but we all have the potential to rise above them. We need only open our eyes & start responding to those closest to us. Then, we can build a better life together.
The family background of the two Traces is a rich tapestry as well of the social history of African-Americans during this period. Ms. Morrison's imagination is quite remarkablein the variety & vividness of these characters!
For those who are interestedin understanding more about the roots of the Jazz Age, this book will also be very appealing.
After you have finished thinking about the lessons of Jazz, you should consider where you display the good characteristics of a jazz player . . . & where you do not.
Feel the rhythm around you!
