Do they still call it infatuation? That magic ax that chops away the world in one blow, leaving only the couple standing there trembling? Whatever they call it, it leaps over anything, takes the biggest chair, the largest slice, rules the ground wherever it walks, from a mansion to a swamp, and its selfishness is its beauty…. People with no imagination feed it with sex — the clown of love. They don’t know the real kinds, the better kinds, where losses are cut and everybody benefits. It takes a certain intelligence to love like that — softly, without props.”
-Toni Morrison, from the novel, Love
Toni Morrison’s illustrious career as an author includes many unforgettable novels, including Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz and Love. The beauty of Morrison’s writing, aside from her thoughtful plots and multi-layered characters, lies in her elegant prose. Her command of the English language, the way she is able to link words and create imagery, is incredible. In the quote above, she manages to describe the experience of infatuation with pinpoint precision, stirring the reader’s heart with knowing empathy.
