Toni Morrison's Sula

Sula isn't the most famous of Toni Morrison's books, but it may be the best. It reveals humanity at its most raw and vulnerable. The only other Morrison book with this kind of power is Beloved, and the less publicized Sula moves with all the passion and compassion of the acknowledged work of genius. Sula and Beloved both belong on any list of greatest books ever written.

In this novel, Toni Morrison's deals in part with the concept of community in a town called the Bottom. Using the Bottom as a microcosm, Morrison introduces us to a series of characters, which although Black, can very well make up any other community regardless of their ethnicity or background. Morrison's ironic style reminds us the Latin American Magic Realism writers from the 1960s, that populated our imaginations with... Read Full Review

Sula is troubling, powerful, poetic, intense, magical, gorgeous and devastating. Morrison explodes binaries, celebrates "sistergirl" bonds and comments interestingly on the love of mothers for their children and the hardships of African American communities. Sula should be on every high school book list- but usually is blaringly absent from curricula. However, Professors in university are well aware of this novel's force... Read Full Review

Having read The Bluest Eye, I felt compelled to read another Toni Morrison book. People have mentioned Morrison's powerful poetic undertones in Sula -- I couldn't wait to read it. This is one of the most powerful and gripping novels I have ever heard. The story follows the path of best friends Sula and Nel. They grow up in a poor black neighborhood with eccentric and suicidal characters. Sula and Nel grow apart. Sula wants... Read Full Review

The central themes that Toni Morrison tackles in this work are relevant today and wonderfully executed, although very dark and in rough territory. Friendship, death (of more than the physical kind), a hard life, and little regard for morality comes across in this novel. Her primary characters are women, featuring her as an important writer in any Women's Lit class worth its salt. She holds a mirror, making us, forcing... Read Full Review