Challenges with Song of Solomon

The most challenging aspect of reading a book like Song of Solomon is just keeping track of the timeline along with the descriptions of the characters. I felt that with all the flashbacks and quick pace action, it was hard to get a good grasp of the characters' appearances and their age. The story progresses so quickly and I feel like we didn't really get a good introduction to many characters and how they might appear, especially skin color which is vital in this novel. It is just extremely important to be able to understand the characters and the timeline because each character is drastically different and plays very different roles. The beginning of the story especially is hard to understand because the timeline is all over the place and there is little to no context or background knowledge.

There are multiple ways of addressing this challenge. The approach that I go with is I usually like to read an overview of the chapter before I read the actual chapter, so I get a good idea as to what the chapter is about. That way when I read the actual chapter I can focus more on details and not the big picture as much. This allows me to get a better understanding of the characters and focus more on what is happening in the moment instead of thinking about that along with the overall grasp of the chapter. If this doesn't work and I still don't understand something, I would go to Mr. Lawler and ask questions. Song of Solomon is certainly a novel that comes with its challenges, but there are ways to cope with them.