I want to share my experience reading Sula by Toni Morrison. @bylaurencapellan’s post yesterday about not being a book recommender (on the photo of Luster on Instagram, if you’re coming to this later) really rang true for me. This account is just a collection of my thoughts on books. I am by no means a professional reviewer (or even close), and I struggle to identify what is good or bad about a book in a technical sense as I’m reading. My connection with the books I read has more to do with the feelings I have while reading and after. And, I am not always good at describing why I feel a particular way (though I try). I loved Sula, and I loved my experience with it, and I’m not done experiencing it yet, as I am excitedly awaiting the discussion from @thestackspod on it. All of this to say: this isn’t a review. I don’t consider myself a qualified book reviewer. This is my attempt to describe my personal experience with this book.

This is the second novel I’ve read by Toni Morrison. I read this book in one day, which was great because the town and the characters swallowed me up and I felt just totally connected and “in it”. I went back and forth with the audiobook on @librofm, and that really enhanced my experience because there was something about hearing the story in Toni Morrison’s own voice, tone, and cadence, that made me feel like I understood it better. After listening to the audio, when I was reading, I could still hear the story in her voice. I feel like that’s the way it’s meant to be heard.

Sula is about a town nicknamed the Bottom, the Black residents of the town, a girl named Sula, her promiscuous mom Hannah, her larger-than-life one-legged grandmother Eve, and most of all her friendship with her best friend, Nel. The girls are so close that their friendship is more of a sisterhood. So many scenes stand out in my mind: two girls who are so comfortable with each other that silence is natural, wordlessly digging in the dirt with sticks; a daughter overhearing her mother say she loves her but doesn’t like her; a veteran waking up confused in a hospital bed with no explanation and a psychosis that makes him afraid of his hands, being sent home with nothing and no one to help him.

This is a story of Black people, flawed people, downtrodden and desperate people. Desperate people can be cruel, and this book has a bleakness to it, but is at the same time so moving. I don’t think you need to hear it from me to know that you should be reading Toni Morrison. I’m looking forward to exploring more of her work, and this is a book I won’t ever forget.