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|summary=An elegant and moving novella set in post Korean war America. This is sublime writing from one of the best American writers.
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Toni Morrison's ''Home'' is simply a beautifully crafted novella. Set in post Korean war America, it features some familiar Morrison characteristics. Veteran Frank is suffering from what we would now call post-traumatic stress disorder, but is released from service with no treatment as so many were, especially if they were black no doubt. But at least he has survived unlike his two friends who whom he grew up with. Frank is troubled and has his flaws, but also has dignity. He finds himself returning to the Georgia home, Lotus, he longed to escape from as a child, another typical Morrison settlement with nothing going for it apart from the goodness and dignity of the people who live there. What draws him back is the news that his younger sister, Cee, is suffering from the aftermath of some medical experimentation. It sounds grim stuff, but while life is hard, it's not a traumatically difficult read.
Much gets written about Morrison's themes and socio-political messages. What they often fail to mention is that she is simply a beautiful story-teller. You could comfortably read this in one sitting, although I didn't purely because I wanted it to last. There is political comment there, of course. She notes that war veterans of the two World Wars tended to ignore the Korean war because no one knew what the point of it was.
