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Home by Toni Morrison
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Home (original 2012; edition 2012)

by Toni Morrison

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,5547611,431 (3.83)100
"The story of a Korean war veteran on a quest to save his younger sister"--
Member:robertsgirl
Title:Home
Authors:Toni Morrison
Info:Knopf (2012), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 160 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:fiction, novel, african american, 1950's, brothers and sisters, @nov

Work Information

Home by Toni Morrison (2012)

  1. 00
    Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter (Esther1987)
  2. 00
    Far Bright Star by Robert Olmstead (Limelite)
    Limelite: Another war; another man; another exposure to atrocity; another wandering in body and spirit to find oneself, one's fraternal kin, and the meaning of home. Only vastly more brutal, beautiful and poetic.
  3. 01
    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Louve_de_mer)
    Louve_de_mer: Pour les problèmes de ségrégation raciale aux États-Unis.
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» See also 100 mentions

English (64)  French (6)  Spanish (3)  Dutch (1)  All languages (74)
Showing 1-5 of 64 (next | show all)
I can't do better than this extract from an NPR review by Heller McAlpin:
"Gorgeous and intense, brutal yet heartwarming. . . . Accessible, tightly composed and visceral as anything Morrison has yet written. . . . [A] devastating, deeply humane--and ever-relevant--book."

It is pretty devastating, and very moving, and still hopeful amongst its relentless sadness. More direct and concise than others of hers I've read — I prefer the longer works, but the impact of this is undeniable. ( )
  thisisstephenbetts | Nov 25, 2023 |
Incredibly touching story, especially right now with the racial tension in America. It touches on many aspects of enslavement and how despite being uprooted, one still finds home in their roots. I have to admit, I absolutely loved the compost and integrated pest management mentions. ( )
  AAPremlall | Jul 23, 2023 |
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on audiobook from the library.

Thoughts: This was well done and poetically written. It's a historical fiction about a Korean War vet who gets called back to his home town in Georgia to rescue his sister. He thought he had left the awful racism of Georgia behind, but is now forced to face it again with both the pain and good memories it brings.

This was beautifully written and beautifully narrated by the author. It was an excellent look at the 1950's and in particular the racism of the era (which although better now is still sadly present). It also looks at veterans of that era and how PTSD left many veterans mentally wounded without any help being offered.

I enjoyed watching Frank's journey through the American countryside on his way back to Georgia. Although, the casual violence him and his fellow African Americans faced was shocking and heartbreaking. Even more so because a lot of this violence endures even now, even though it's not as blatant. Reading about what his poor sister went through in his absence was just as heart-wrenching. I did enjoy that the ending gave some hope and peace to both of theses characters.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a beautifully written novel about a PTDS stricken Korean War vet trying to make his way through a racist America back to his sister and the home he hates. While it isn't something I plan to reread, I am glad I read it once. If you are interested in 1950's historical fiction that focuses on veterans and racism, I would recommend picking this up. It's engaging and interesting. ( )
  krau0098 | May 25, 2023 |
I listened to this short book. Some of the text is set in italic, which I wouldn't have known, but the intent was clear enough from Toni Morrison's classic, slow, deliberate reading.

Is this a book about the effects of the Korean war? Some. Is it about the effects of Jim Crow in the south? Some. Also a young man's trip through trauma to manhood, and the bonds of siblings, and the call of home. Listen to it if you can. I recommend it. ( )
  ffortsa | May 16, 2023 |
Interesting story and characters, moving, but not exactly my kind of book. ( )
  steve02476 | Jan 3, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 64 (next | show all)
Like a Toni Morrison primer, Home is a compression of many of the Nobel laureate’s perennial themes of memory, love and loss, uprooting and homecoming. Morrison’s characters struggle to overcome disturbing inner rhythms, caught between trying to exist freely in the world and being captivated by internal demons....

Home does not have the grand, sweeping narrative of Morrison’s best fiction. The story’s many brutal acts... are placed before the reader with so little fanfare as to detract from their power.

The book is also much more linguistically subdued than most of her work, and her grand themes of redemption, homecoming, and self-ownership do not work best on a small scale. Still, slice it anywhere and you will find striking moments, dialogue that sings with life, and the mythic American landscape and its people surviving within it.
added by zhejw | editThe Telegraph, Lucy Daniel (May 24, 2012)
 
“Home” is unusual, not only in that it features a male protagonist but that it’s so fiercely focused on the problem of manhood. The novel opens with a childhood memory of horses that “stood like men.” And as Money makes his way across the country to rescue his sister, he’s haunted by what it means to be a man. “Who am I without her,” he wonders, “that underfed girl with the sad, waiting eyes?” Are acts of violence essentially masculine, or are they an abdication of manliness? Is it possible, the novel finally asks, to consider the manhood implicit in sacrifice, in laying down one’s life?

What Money eventually does to help his sister and to quiet his demons is just as surprising and quietly profound as everything else in this novel. Despite all the old horrors that Morrison faces in these pages with weary recognition, “Home” is a daringly hopeful story about the possibility of healing — or at least surviving in a shadow of peace.
added by zhejw | editWashington Post, Ron Charles (Apr 30, 2012)
 
[I]f Morrison had finished writing the novel she so carefully began, it might have been one of her best in years. But at well under 200 pages with wide margins, Home barely begins before it ends....

Home should be relentless, unsparing, but Morrison relents halfway through, and spares everyone – most of all herself.
added by zhejw | editThe Guardian, Sarah Churchwell (Apr 27, 2012)
 

» Add other authors (7 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Morrison, Toniprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hoekmeijer, NicoletteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
Whose house is this?
Whose night keeps out the light
In here?
Say, who owns this house?
It's not mine.
I dreamed another, sweeter, brighter
With a view of lakes crossed in painted boats,
Of fields wide as arms open for me.
This house is strange.
Its shadows lie.
Say, tell me, why does its lock fit my key?
Dedication
Slade
First words
They rose up like men.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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"The story of a Korean war veteran on a quest to save his younger sister"--

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Book description
Ce petit roman envoûtant est une sorte de pierre de Rosette de l' œvre de Toni Morrison . Il contient en essence tous les thèmes qui ont toujours alimenté son écriture . Home est empreint d'une petite musique feutrée semblable à celle d'un quatuor , l'accord parfait entre pur naturalisme et fable .
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