Recitatif

"I chose to read this after finding out it was the only short story that Toni Morrison ever wrote.<br/>I didn’t know what it was about until I read the introduction on the specific publication I read from, which might I just say GAVE it an extra star. The introduction is actually more of an essay about the history of racial bias. It’s about how race is not a bad thing, nor is it something we should want to let go. But, racial bias is something that every individual person experiences differently. This is due to the fact that racial bias forms from every aspect of your life. All the books you read, movies you watch, people you grow up around, even the things you hear your friends and family members talk about. All of these things help to create your own specific racial bias. You may not even know you have it, but it’s there.<br/><br/>The introduction alone was something I would reread. But, the story itself was incredibly interesting as well. Set in a time when segregation was slowly being dismantled, this book gives no clues other than the things the two main characters eat, whether they can read or write, where they live, what their mothers’ do, if they are raised with religion, how they behave, and where they end up in life. You don’t get descriptions of their clothing or faces, no indication of anything else that would specifically and objectively indicate what race each girl is.<br/><br/>I went back and forth during the story, thinking Twyla and Roberta were black or white. I would at one point think one thing might give a hint to it, but then find myself thinking ‘but I know people of the opposite race that do that too’. So, by the end, it was truly just a question of ‘does it matter?’<br/>I guess that is one reason I enjoy Ms. Morrison, she always seems to give you something to think about and something to ponder. For me, it was simply that. Does it really matter what race either of these women were? For the purposes of analyzing the story, not at all. Would it change circumstances or affect their life? Of course. If both women were black or both were white, they may have had a much different experience, both together and in life. That’s just the unfortunate reality of the society we live in today.<br/>This is a book I know I will read again and I highly suggest the introduction by Zadie Smith. She does a fantastic job of exploring the ambiguous racial identities and analyzes the ‘experiment’ to remove social codes."

"Read as a short story. The plot was meaningful but I didn't feel that it was enough to get the point across. It does review the though process of two very different women at various times in their lives with a common bond."

"“Recitatif” demands a reread. Its depth and complexity challenge perceptions, leaving a lasting impression."

"This novella follows the lives of two women, Twyla and Roberta, who were roommates in a group home as young girls, and their interactions as adults when they periodically run into each other over the years. But in classic Morrison style, the reader cannot determine which girl is Black and which girl is White. Because of the circumstances that befall each girl, it is hard to tell; and that is the journey and the mystery for the ready. Who married well? Who works at a roadside diner? Who is in favor of busing their child to the White school? Who is against it? At times when there seems to be an obvious “aha!”, Morrison will throw a curveball that undermines your reasoning of what you thought, and makes you rethink a new possibility. The only drawback for me was the introduction by Zadie Smith. Hell, it was longer than the novella, and her deconstruction of the story, while I could appreciate her scholarly insight, gave too much of the story away before one could read it without bias or preconceptions."