About this title: Nobel Prize-winning author Morrison's latest "New York Times"-bestselling masterpiece centers on a powerful tragedy involving a mother and daughter, and reveals how acts of mercy have unforeseen consequences.
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Description: Very Good. 0739332546 EX LIBRARY UNABRIDGED AUDIO BOOK. CDs PLAY FINE. HAS THE USUAL LIBRARY STAMPS & MARKINGS. CASE HAS LIGHT WEAR. read more
Edition: Unabridged
Binding: Audiobook CD
Publisher: Random House Audio
Date Published: 11/11/2008
ISBN-13:9780739332542ISBN:0739332546
Description: Good. 0739332546 5 Unabridged Audio CD's-Ex Library copy in very good lightly circulated conditon in a plastic library clam case with the usual library markings and stamps-We provide prompt shipping and delivery tracking information-All items are guaranteed. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780676978308ISBN:0676978304
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Date Published: 2008-11-11
ISBN-13:9780676978308ISBN:0676978304
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Description: New. 0307276767 NEW: NEVER READ...! ! ! ! . (may have faint shelf wear from bookstore). ALL ORDERS SHIP SAME OR NEXT BUSINESS DAY, FREE POSTAL DELIVERY CONFIRMATION FOR U.S. ORDERS, TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE! ! ! ! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2008-11-11
ISBN-13:9780307264237ISBN:0307264238
Description: Excellent in excellent jacket. Sale for Charity. Proceeds go to fund our Social Service programs. All items are donations and are used, but are carefully checked for condition. This book looks like it just came from the bookstore. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Date Published: 2008-11-11
ISBN-13:9780676978308ISBN:0676978304
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Description: Like New. 2009-Paperback---Used-Like New. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Large Print
Date Published: 11/11/2008
ISBN-13:9780739326305ISBN:0739326309
Description: Very Good. 0739326309 LARGE PRINT-Former Library Book in GREAT shape! 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Shipping! ! ! We are ECO-CONSCIOUS by using recycled packaging materials, when possible, and send order confirmations/receipts digitally via E-mail. Thank you for your consideration. read more
"Maybe I'm just not a Toni Morrison fan. Even though I want to be. This is only the second book of hers I've read, the first being Song of Soloman in high school. I mean, no question, the lady can write. Certain passages are just beautifully rendered.
A Mercy is told from several different points of view in pre-revolution colonial America. (It's the seventeenth century, and around Maryland, I think. Early enough that the Portuguese are still big shots in the area.) We begin with Jacob, a Dutch farmer. Also included are Florens, a slave that Jacob accepts as a trade from a Portuguese lord, Rebekka, a native American lady who's a servant in Jacob's home, and Sorrow, a shipwrecked teenager who's another servant in the household. Morrison does an excellent job of creating the world these characters live in-- it's at once wild, unspoiled and lovely, and also quite menacing and cold. I loved the feeling of that part of the country feeling new, because it feels so old to me. The Chesapeake Bay being slightly dangerous in its terrible beauty is a notion that is lost today, yet Morrison makes it plausible. The world of A Mercy reminded me of the world of The Crucible. Somewhat because of the atmosphere of fear among great natural beauty, but mostly because these are (for the most part) people living in a world that is completely new to them. In both settings, the characters are in awe of and at odds with the great possibility in the land around them.
That said, I can't really abide by some of her character's voices-- Florens is somewhat unreadable, because her voice is dreamy and indistinct, it can be difficult to decipher what she's actually saying. I'm sure this is a draw for some readers, but for me it was merely frustrating and boring."
"Excellent Book- Very thought provoking yet easy to follow the different storylines. I LOVED the way to weaves in the significance of the title- You really feel the act as truly, A MERCY-"
"Okay, first thing's first: I clicked this cover because it's terrible and terrifying in its cheesiness and utter stupidity--it's almost offensive in how off base it is. Is this the British version or something? Yes, a girl in A Mercy does insist on wearing shoes at all times, and actually travels in her dead master's boots, but this aspect of the book is no way akin to a kid borrowing her mom's shoes to play pretend, as this cover suggests. This looks like Sasha Obama borrowing Michelle's heels after the Inaguration Ball! Geeze.
...Okay wait, I'm editing myself. Once you click on the cover the shoes look a lot less opulent, and her dress is clearly ragged, and I guess--I guess--it alludes to a very important scene in the book. Still, it's like a stupid Hallmark card.
***
Anyway. The prose in this book blew me away. The language is so strange and beautiful, whether speaking in Florens's tense-less voice, or as Jacob, or Lina. The syntax of this book was always shifting depending on the character, as were the images, but from start to finish the prose put a charge through me. I actually felt this prose in my body--as a tingling in my wrists and up my arms. The language itself transported me to this historical era--my mind had to shift to accommodate the language, and thus, this particular past.
I was pretty convinced the book was going to be my favorite of the year--and it's only January! Maybe it still will be, but the ending felt rushed (it could have been 60 pages longer!), and the last two chapters were a bit too on the nose for my taste. I liked the book more when its world and the relationships between the characters confounded me a little...at the end Morrison seemed to enjoy explaining things to her reader.
I want to say more about the animal imagery throughout, but I have to clean my apartment and take a shower before teaching, so I can't right now. I also want to re-read this one. So many things to unpack in this novel..."
"I really hate to only give 2 stars to a Toni Morrison book. My main problem with A Mercy (the audio version) was with the narration. Morrison chose to read the book herself, and I'm not sure how well it worked. She reads so slowly and pauses in the middle of sentences so often, it started to feel like an attempted poetry reading. For example, "Far away to the right (pause), beyond the iron fencings (pause), enclosing the property (pause) and softened by mist (pause), he saw Rosa Cortez, quiet (pause), empty (pause). In the fields, he reckoned (pause), trying to limit (pause) the damage (pause) sopping weather (pause) had wrought (pause) on the crop."
They were not long pauses, of course, but long enough to be so noticeable it was all I could focus on.
Normally, I love to hear Morrison speak. I find her to be incredibly wise and articulate, and she is undoubtedly a gifted writer. I just found the pauses so distracting that it was hard to stay focused on the story itself.
The book is interesting conceptually at least: a look at American slavery in the late 1600's, with multiple characters and relationships involving love, betrayal, and how a mother's choice to save her child from abuse is misunderstood and seen as abandonment.
In the end, though, I couldn't get fully absorbed for the reason stated. This is another of those books I may have to revisit in the future when I can read the print version."
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