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Toni Morrison is truly transcendent at capturing and expressing human sorrow.
In "Sula," Morrison creates these truly fascinating characters grounded within their family backstories. To know the stories of their mothers and grandmothers is to understand the contexts in which Nel and Sula make the choices that they do. These personal backgrounds are compounded by the realities of the time period (early - mid 1900's) and location ("Bottom") which further inform how these two women react and respond directly or indirectly to systemic oppression.
The vivid complexity of the two women also saves the narrative from deteriorating into a dichotomous (and boring) tale of the good girl v. the bad girl. Nel and Sula make choices that inspire, hurt, confuse, and reflect many facets of the human experience. They may not be traditional heroines, but they are viscerally real
In short, I'd recommend the novel.
In "Sula," Morrison creates these truly fascinating characters grounded within their family backstories. To know the stories of their mothers and grandmothers is to understand the contexts in which Nel and Sula make the choices that they do. These personal backgrounds are compounded by the realities of the time period (early - mid 1900's) and location ("Bottom") which further inform how these two women react and respond directly or indirectly to systemic oppression.
The vivid complexity of the two women also saves the narrative from deteriorating into a dichotomous (and boring) tale of the good girl v. the bad girl. Nel and Sula make choices that inspire, hurt, confuse, and reflect many facets of the human experience. They may not be traditional heroines, but they are viscerally real
In short, I'd recommend the novel.