WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
The Bluest Eye is a book about a young African-American girl living in the 1940s who wants blue eyes above all else.And if you think that sounds like a semi-light hearted book, you would be horribly wrong.
The girl is raped by her father, becomes pregnant, and has a miscarriage.
The book was tragic, but I can't quite bring myself to feel for the characters.
I brought the question to myself: Why, other than my basic lack of empathy, would I not be emotionally torn by the story of a girl who has such a tragic thing happen to her?
Well, for one thing, the writing style. With each chapter, the author introduces a new character, and each character alone has little to do with the story. The protagonist and the narrator are two different characters, and things are never, never shown in the perspective of Pecola, the girl who is put through all of the trouble.
The Narrator, Claudia, had a sister who was, however briefly, sexually abused by a boarder who lived with them, Mr. Henry. However, no mention of it is ever made after the chapter in which it happens. You'd think that being felt up by a man you once trusted until right after that would be a tragic occurrence, but it seems not. Apparently, the character is only interested in introducing the (rather pointless) back story of the most amoral character in the book, who apparently was abandoned by both his parents and raised by his great aunt, who died, and he ran away from home, which doesn't quite explain the list of atrocities it is implied he committed.
The characters are developed, but put together rather haphazardly into the same setting. The story sets things up that you think might be important later, but you finish the book, and think, 'What happened to X?' Apparently, the author may have forgotten about it, which is what I assumed was the case with what I call the 'whiskey subplot'.
In conclusion, the book is interesting, but not enough to give a good score to. If this review hasn't ruined the plot for you any more than the first chapter does, then I'd recommend it.
It's still kind of hard to suggest it out of context. Allow me to present the following theoretical dialog-
"Hey, do you want to read this book?"
"What's it about?"
"...rape."
As a side note, I found the 'Master Narrative' used to be off-putting and unnecessary. As a reader, I could easily have understood that Pecola's life sucks ass without juxtaposing it with lines from Dick and Jane.
