Toni Morrison on NPR

The other day as I was making my monthly trek across 3 states to see my SO, I tuned into NPR. I admit that I look forward to the drive because I know I will have hour after hour of uninterrupted NPR time. One of the few pleasures radio has maintained. This weekend on NPR, Toni Morrison was on discussing her new book Mercy. Now anyone who has attempted read any of Morrison’s books or has seen Beloved, already knows it can be challenging. Morrison adds a different perspective to various events that happen to people. She takes a story, flips it upside down, then goes around the corner, stoops down, and views it from that angle, then she runs to her computer and types it up. And although I may not always get her perspective, I can appreciate the imagination and creativity that goes into it.

On the radio she was asked about her opinion about a certain person, who will remain nameless because I don’t want you guys to get distracted by the potential propaganda of the whole thing. Instead I want to focus on the word she used to describe this person. She said this person had “wisdom”. She said that wisdom wasn’t necessarily an accumulation of knowledge or something gained by spending many years on earth, but rather a kind of ingrained genius, something you are born with and are able to use to your advantage. -- I’m totally paraphrasing all of this and hopefully I’m doing it some justice.-- It is how you problem solve and the means by which you get something done. I thought this was an interesting perspective. She wasn’t trying to redefine wisdom, she just put a spin on it, or rather she opened my eyes to an additional view of the concept of wisdom.

It made me think of when we say a child or young person is wise beyond their years, or that a young person has an old soul. I’ve met people who haven’t been around long, but carry with them a keen sense of how things operate and are able to cope or approach problems with a depth of knowledge that belays their accumulated years of experience.

So I give a shout out to Toni Morrison for keeping me on my toes, I may have to invest in Mercy when it hits the stores. I would also like to give praise to Paradise, a book that really spoke to me by Morrison. I highly recommend it.

Thanks Toni.