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Summary: Sula
Review: -In her novel "Sula" Toni Morrison paints a vivid and disturbing picture of an Ohio African-American town in the early to mid 1900's that leaves us with countless unforgettable images of human affection and anguish. Sula and Nel, two girls from somewhat different upbringings, form a strong friendship as they grow up in the same troubled community. Their relationship grows out of the life that they share, that of a poor but beautiful black girl in early 20th century America. We share in their childhood experiences and witness them begin their entrance into maturity. Eventually Nel gets married and Sula disappears from the town for ten years. When she finally returns dressed like a movie star, Sula begins to live the life that she witnessed her mother live, one of a constant series of sexual partners, regardless of their marital status. In doing so, Sula nearly earns the contempt of the town's entire female population including Nel who's husband Sula did not exclude from her sexual exploits. Both of them begin to independently struggle to deal with their slowly crumbling lives.
-Morrison's unique and poetic writing style successfully creates a fictional community that overflows with life and emotion. The characters are developed with such care and brutal honesty that they seem to be plucked from real life and as the author's pen directs the actions of these characters she does not shy away from the darker truths of human nature. This unforgiving style often leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable yet emotionally connected to the towns inhabitants. Their behavior can be hard to accept, whether it be a woman killing her own drug-addict son or a child watching her mother burn to death in silent satisfaction. Nevertheless, by participating in their suffering we not only learn about the character's lives but our own lives as well and what we're all truly capable of. The book's tragic end leaves you far from uplifted but is poignant and satisfying nontheless. "Sula" reads like a relentlessly powerful inquiry into the minds of two African-American women in the mid 20th century that contains many life lessons from which we can all learn.
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Summary: Disappointed
Review: I thought this book was overrated. It was dark and depressing.
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Summary: What was Oprah thinking?
Review: This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. I don't understand what the big deal is. I read it long before Oprah had it on her show - I regret the day I decided to read it. Do yourself a favor and skip it, or see for yourself how awful it really is. Clearly from other reviews some people like it, but I don't see how.
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Summary: Just Misery...Know Sula, No Peace...
Review: SULA, I don't know why folks have been saying this book was hard to read, I read it in 2 days, while watching basketball play-offs! It was not difficult at all. This is the 2nd book by Morrison I've read, the other was THE BLUEST EYE. I don't like Morrison and she is not so great a writer to me. I don't understand how people reviewing this book could say it was a "masterpiece" or "so meaningful to me"! It was about a dysfunctional family, hell a dysfunctional town. I don't get how this could be "the best I've read". Hell, it was depressing and Sula Peace had no peace at all. I really felt sorry for Nel because she befriended such a s.o.b. as Sula. I'd hate to have her as my only friend. Generation after generation was off from Eva, to Hannah, to Sula! Pick up a book that has some happiness about it instead of this.
Just my 2 cents!
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Summary: Being A Black Woman in Life's Society
Review: Toni Morrison's SULA has to be one of the most inspirational novels of all time. I say this because it clearly demonstrates the struggles,trials,and tribulations of the black woman.Even though it is based upon life for women in the 1930's .It goes on to prove that even though time changes and evolves people basic rules of society remain the same.Then and even now,women were asked to stay in ther place,be a good house wife, tend to her children,and most importantly avoid being independent,and successful.In SULA,women tend to the same expectations. There,just like today were two basic types of women. The conventional woman(stay home wife) and the independent woman(collage graduate,loner,husbandless)Toni Morrisons demonstates the advantages and the dis-advantages of these types of women comabined them with chrisis and eventually got SULA.A wise choice that granted her a well deserved award and a hell of a novel.
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Summary: A Book To Remember
Review: I believe this book was very interesting. It gave me a glimpse of how people back then lived. People were still racist and were pretty much divided. For example blacks lived on the top of the hill and whites lived at the bottom of the hill where the land was fertilized. The book mentions background information about how they got the part of the land that they choose. The character Sula showed the side of a woman that others didn't want to be which was a independent woman.The character Nel was more like the other ladies a conventional woman. In this book the author shared more of the inside thoughts of the woman than the men. I believe she gave us the inside thoughts of the women back then,because the men had more power than the women. The women didn't dare speak out their thoughts,because women back then were not seen to do those such things. In sum, this book was very good to read and I would recommend this book to people who want to read about inside thoughts of independant women and conventional women.
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Summary: A great book
Review: I think the author has done a great job at creating another masterpiece. Toni Morrison has done a great job at showing how life was back then for blacks and whites, and a little bit of this book based on society today. She also got to womens point of view more than men and got in the inside the head of independant womans head. I also like how she expressed the characters thoughts deeply and how she uses symbols to signify other things. Id recommend this book for and one to read, because I think this book was very interesting to read.
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Summary: Sula
Review: I think this novel Sula was very interesting at a point and it made you feel the way some of the characters felt.At another point the book lost interest, some of the things were really confusing but i got back on to it. The one part of your book that made me think and feel for the characters is the part when Sula sleeps with her best friend Nel's husband Jude and she actually caught them.Not only did Jude walk out on Nel but Sula and her was not talking at all after that. They were both the opposite of each other and thats what made them interesting.Another thing that was interesting about Sula was what she did when her mother was just burning up, and when she got older and came back to the bottom what she did to Eva. I think that that was very messed up.Other than everything else the book was o.k and it did make a lot of sense, it made you put yourself in the characters position. So you go on making those books but try a little harder to draw the teenager's attention. I have a question. Did you just make this book up or did you take facts out your life and put it with other things? Well Toni Morrison talk to ya later!
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Summary: Average
Review: "Sula" deals with the story of two young girls, Sula and Nel who were best friends, despite coming from very different background. Their differences were what connected them. Soon, both chose a different lifestyle, Sula leaving for the big city, while Nel continued to stay at Medallion. The turning point came when Sula returned, and had an affair with Nel's husband. That was the end of their friendship. Both women suffered in their ways, as their friendship was lost, despite the fact that both women needed each other greatly. Despite the title "Sula", it actually dealt a lot more than just the friendship of these two women. Toni Morrison, gives a good portrayal of what was life like during the twenties and what it was like for an African-American woman to live in those times. Personally, I did not enjoy the book as I felt that it is too bleak for my taste and I still feel that there are some questions (that I have) left unanswered. I think the strengths of the book lies with her provocative way of writing, and her understanding of what it meant to be an African-American woman, whereby their status were greatly undermined. In addition, Morrison also deals with the complexities of family relationships, and her book also displays the importance of two-way communication between family members, friends and spouses. Judging by other Amazon.com reviewers, I think this book have different meanings for different people and this is what makes the book special and different.
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Summary: Amazing Grace!!!
Review: Just completed reading this book by Toni Morrison and I could not put it down. I experienced many lows while reading about the characters in the Bottom and very few highs. The two women, Sula and Nel represent opposites as they developed in life from childhood to adulthood. Although opposite, these two women attracted like magnets with very strong energy between them even at death!! This is a must read for all!!! You must take your time when reading this book in order to understand all of the metaphors.
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