November not only marks the publication of Toni Morrison’s eagerly anticipated(期待) eighth novel, Love, but it is also the tenth anniversary of her Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison is the first black woman to receive a Nobel, and so honored before her in literature are only two black men:Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, in 1986; and Derek Walcott, the Caribbean-born poet, in 1992. But Morrison is also the first and only American-born Nobel prizewinner for literature since 1962, the year novelist John Steinbeck received the award.
Like Song of Solomon, Love is a multigenerational story, revealing the personal and communal legacy(遗产) of an outstanding black family. As Morrison scholars will tell you, Love is the third volume of a literary master’s trilogy(三部曲)investigating the many complexities of love. This trilogy began with Beloved(1988), which deals with a black mother’s love under slavery and in freedom. Jazzy(1993), the second volume, tells a story of romantic love in 1920s Harlem. This latest novel looks back from the 1970s to the 1940s and 50s.
The emotional center of Love is Bill Cosey, the former owner and host of the shabby Cosey’s Hotel and Resort in Silk, North Carolina, described in the novel as “the best and best-known vacation spot for colored folk on the East Coast.” We get to know Cosey through the memories of five women who survive and love him: his granddaughter, his widow, two former employees, and a homeless young girl.
The latest novel, Love, had been described in the promotional material from her publisher as “Morrison’s most accessible work since Song of Solomon.” This comparison to her third novel, published in 1977, was an effective selling point.
1. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Toni Morrison’s latest novels
B. Toni Morrison and her trilogy
C. Toni Morrison and her novel Love
D. Toni Morrison, the Nobel prizewinner
2. What can we learn about John Steinbeck?
A. He was a black writer.
B. He was born in America.
C. He received the Nobel Prize after Morrison
D. He was the first American novelist to win a Nobel
3. The similarity between Love and Song of Solomon is that they both _____.
A. belong to the same trilogy together with Beloved
B. concern families of more than one generation
C. deal with life of blacks under slavery
D. investigate life in 1920s Harlem
4. The novel Love mainly describes ______.
A. the best-known vacation spot for blacks
B. the life of an outstanding black family under slavery
C. the miserable experience of the five women in Harlem
D. the memories of five women about Bill Cosey