Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison · first published 1634
9mentions
4recommended by
8HN commenters
2019–2025first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. With this brilliantly imagined novel, Toni Morrison transfigures the coming-of-age story as audaciously as Saul Bellow or Gabriel García Márquez. As she follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, Morrison introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized black world.
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…book I read as a teenager, and I still go back and reread it every so often. It should be required reading. For fiction, “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy, “100 Years of Solitude” by Marquez, and “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison (or really anything by Toni Morrison, it’s all amazing). Also, Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation of the Heart Sutra, “The Other Shore”, gave me a much deeper understanding of my meditative…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗…his most "sci-fi" of the bunch but I wouldn't really call it sci-fi. Other great starting points are Cat's Cradle, Mothernight, and of course Slaughterhouse Five. I've only read one Toni Morrison book, Song of Solomon, but that was one of my favorite reads of this year. If you haven't read Frankenstein or Dracula then I would highly recommend them. I personally enjoyed Frankenstein much more than I thought I would.…
on “Ask HN: Non-sci-fi fiction recommendations?” ↗I just finished "Song of Solomon". Toni Morrison needs no introduction, and the book is simply an irresistible whirlwind of emotions and lessons. Currently reading "The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews." Shakespeare and Co.…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading Feb 2024” ↗…suggested Toni Morrison and held without a doubt that she was the greatest living writer until her passing last year. She'll likely always hold that top spot in my mind, no one can compare. Go read "Sula" or "Song of Solomon" or "Beloved" or "The Bluest Eye". Her work will make you a better human.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗We read her book Song of Solomon in my senior high school English class. It was one of my favorites of the class, along with Catch-22. I don't think I really got even close to 100% of what it was about, but her writing was just so gripping…
on “Toni Morrison Has Died” ↗…sentence is exactly the right one. Sometimes that produces a kind of precious, jeweled quality—a tightness, which I particularly wanted in Sula. Then after I finished Sula and was working on the third book, Song of Solomon, Bob said to me, You can loosen, open up. Your writing doesn’t have to be so contained; it can be wider. I’m not sure these were his exact words, but I know that the consequence of the remarks was that…
on “Toni Morrison Has Died” ↗…and other software managers SHOULD handle NSFW content, but the Bible does not contain this content (such as in Ezekiel chapter 23). Why pick out a tiny bit of Ezekiel when you have the entire book of Song of Solomon? Anyways, I think the more interesting tension is: What tag or flag would apply to the Bible that does not apply to the Wikipedia app? I have literally used Wikipedia to look up sex positions, which…
on “Bible and Quran apps flagged NSFW by F-Droid” ↗Shhh, you don’t want them suddenly reading the Song of Solomon all of a sudden.
on “Oklahoma lawmaker introduces book-banning bill with $10k-a-day penalty” ↗…want (1) the effects to be broadly distributed, (2) that the gatekeepers be hyperactive invite-only groups on social media, (3) that those volunteer ratings boards promote certain tastes over others. Song of Solomon must never be blocked. A reference to a torrent that contains a gay furry story? AV the entire domain, read the story into the Congressional Record, AV the Congressional Record. Obviously hyperbole,…
on “Age verification is incompatible with the internet” ↗