Rent Beloved

I used to think that the best person to read a book to me would be the author I mean, who would know better than the author how a book should be read out loud? Authors like Jon Krakauer and Sidney Poitier seemed to confirm my ***umption, but that was before I listened to Ray Bradbury as an old man reading Fahrenheit 451, and before I listened to Toni Morrison reading Beloved. First of all, I HATED the book. Once I got the gist of the story, the rest of it bored the hell out of me. And second, I HATED the way Morrison read it. Long, drawn-out, mystical ramblings, stream of consciousness, and really poor phrasing, where sometimes she'd take a breath before reading the next word and then read only that word, which was apparently the end of a sentence. Well, it drove me crazy. I've wanted to read this book for a very long time, but now that I've listened to it, I don't have to read it for myself, and I won't. I guess you have to like her writing, and I guess I don't. So if you're reading this review, thinking about listening to the book, take my advice---choose another book.