Reviews with content warning for Violence - Sula

Sula, like so many of Morrison's works, is both raw and lush. There is an exquisite peeling away of characters and places which leaves their set-upon lives tormented and ambiguous, people neither virtuous nor wicked, just people breaking and broken. And, of course, the masses of hypocrisies which surround them meanwhile.

Images here will never leave me: hands which slip, arms which open, feet that land and that do not -- the (ir)responsibility of childhoods, the desperation against aloneness, the sacrifices.

Each of our lives intersects and encapsulates; we sublimate and revise our guilts; so too does this novel work upon us, compelling us to peel back and see up close, to admit, to understand. Sula upends our own comfort even while we weep for its people.

Content Warnings

azariamckay's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The perfect book truly exists! A 5 star rating isn’t enough to capture the brilliance of this novel. Like Toni put her blood, sweat and tears into this one. I haven’t come close to tears from a book in quite some time but this one had me teary eyed throughout. There’s so much heartbreak, so much loss, so much hurt wrapped into 174 pages and I have no idea how Morrison did it.

I will be bringing Sula to my next therapy session for sure. I feel like everyone should read this book at least once in their lifetime, there’s so much to take away from this soul crushing work of art.

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sula is undoubtedly a book about friendship. However, where the novel's strength really lies is in Morrison's unparalleled characterization. Each character, whether central to the story or briefly mentioned, feels palpably true to life. Though Sula and Nel are the focus, this book is ultimately a tragic portrait of an entire community.

Of course, Morrison's skill at character studies extends to the titular Sula herself. Despite the era in which Sula lives, she has no interest in marriage, family, or any other aspect of living a traditional woman's life. This makes her community at large distrustful of Sula and her intent. Such a character must have been especially groundbreaking when this book was first published in 1973. An independent woman eschewing rules in the 1930s? And a Black woman at that? Sula, flaws and all, is one-of-a-kind. Even in 2022, I won't soon forget Sula and her story.

Content Warnings