Sula by Toni Morrison

CURRENTLY READING

Wow, what can I say about Sula?! I picked this one up in @harbourbooks a few weeks ago. I don’t know what drew me in, it could have been the cover or just the fact that I haven’t read any Toni Morrison for ages — since I was in my late teens and I read Beloved, and quite frankly, that’s completely my loss!

I’m not quite finished yet but my oh my, I had to post about Sula because from page one, I was in, head over heels. I mean, look, can anyone write like Morrison? I can only explain the impact of this thus far by writing that one moment I was sitting on my couch about to start a new book and the next, I was quite literally in Medallion, the valley town where this novel is set. I was there, living and breathing it. I still will be for a long time. That is, indeed, what a book of the greatest kind can do to you. 

A story that has at its core, the friendship between Nel and Sula, to say that parts of this book are harrowing is an understatement. It is hard-hitting, uncompromising and unforgettable, so much so, that there have so far been times that I’ve had to put it down to take stock. But it is a gift because Morrison’s writing is precisely that — each and every single word is a gift to the reader. Multilayered and fearless, I will not forget this one.

More than that, though, I am already thinking about which Morrison to read next — what would you recommend?