Very good. ( )

It's a good story, but the elaborate descriptions in Part 2 got on my nerves. ( )

One of Toni Morrison's early novels, "Sula" displays flashes of the brilliance of depth to come in "Song of Solomon" and "Beloved". An uncompromising and perplexing portrait of the realtionship between, Nel and Sula, two black girls/women in early 20th century rural Ohio. Tinged with violence and sorrow, and mysticism, it is of course, beautifully written. ( )

By turns lyrical and stark, rooted and fantastical, delicate and painful; Sula is a haunting novel. This is the story of two young girls, best friends, who grow to be very different women. More than that, though, it's the story of a vibrant community.

Nel and Sula are born and come of age in The Bottom (the black community in the hills above the richer, white town of Medallion). Following their lives we bear witness to the complex tapestry of the town which is held together by the shared pain and triumphs of its inhabitants.

Morrison weaves a vibrant tapestry around The Bottom within which the characters leap from the pages. These are real, whole, compelling characters with profound strengths and deep flaws. They wear their pain and loss with honour while moving on through life as best they can. Like all of us, they are simply human.

Toni Morrison has always taken my breath away and this was no exception. ( )

In that place, where they tore the nightshade and Blackberry patches from their roots to make room for the Medallion.City Golf Course, there was once a neighborhood. It stood in the hills above the valley town of Medallion and spread all the way to the river. It is called the suburbs now, but when black people lived there it was called the Bottom. One road, shaded by beaches, oaks, maples, and chestnuts, connected it to the valley. The beeches are gone now, and so are the pear trees where children sat and yelled down through the blossoms to passersby. Generous funds have been allowed to level the stripped and faded buildings that clutter the road from Medallion up to the golf course. They are going to raze the Time and a Half Pool Hall, where feet in long tan shoes once pointed down from chair rings. A steel ball will knock to dust Irene's Palace of Cosmetology, where women used to lean their heads back on sink trays and doze while Irene lathered Nu Nile into their hair. Men in khaki work clothes will pry loose the slats of Reba's Grill, where the owner cooked in her hat because she couldn't remember the ingredients without it.