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Sula
New School Classics- 1915-2005
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Sula - Spoiler Thread
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on page 48-am ready to discuss your feeling on Eva and Plum's death.
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I am not reading along with this one since I recently reread it but it is a great book with one of the most fascinating scenes Morrison ever wrote. I won't discuss it yet but hope when the topic has more posts that scene gets some discussion and if not I will bring up my thoughts later in the month.
Sam- I am done with the novel & read your insightful review. See my question at the end of the book discussion as I am very curious to what your response will be. Am rereading the chapter that you said was one of the best ever-thanks for that revelation.
I agree—that chapter (“1922”) is intense, powerful, and one of the best I’ve read. Told as only Toni Morrison would, too, I think.
Just started, and I think the first chapter begins beautifully the her vividly rendered description of the segregation into Bottom and valley. It's a smart choice to set up some understanding of the area and social time before the characters are introduced, and it's so vividly and sensually described that it doesn't come across as an info dump at all. It's almost as though the place itself is a character of its own with its own history, its own quirks and grudges and its own awful weight of injustice.
Alexw wrote: "Sam- I am done with the novel & read your insightful review. See my question at the end of the book discussion as I am very curious to what your response will be. Am rereading the chapter that you ..."I will look for your question at the end of this discussion when you post it and give you my thoughts.
On Eve and her horribly callous killing of son Plum who was helpless and shattered by World War 1 by pouring kerosene on him, lighting him on fire while she locked the door was not only frightening but was foreshadowing of gruesome events to follow.Page 44 is also telling about Eve's character or lack thereof. Eve "make love to the new groom and wash his wife's dishes all in one afternoon." These are the lessons that Sula knew when she was growing up.
I am very hesitant about what to say, because I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I found the writing and the subject matter to be quite typical of the author, but some parts of the story, I felt were rather excessive.
Sam & Alex, please share your comments, reviews and questions. The discussion has to begin somewhere, and this is the “spoilers” thread.I never read Sula before, and appreciated the author’s forward. Despite her explanation about preferring to jump right in, rather than cater to an audience unfamiliar with the setting and perspective of the primary characters, I felt like an outsider unable to comprehend everything. There were some words and phrases I didn’t understand, for starters.
What do you think the gray ball symbolizes in the 1937 chapter? It took me a bit to figure out it was Nel narrating her feelings about coming upon Sula and Jude naked, and that Jude left his family. But the fluffy gray ball just to the right, she couldn’t look at it, was afraid of it… What is Toni Morrison saying to the reader here?
Wow- that is what I like about buddy reading as I do not have a clue what that means. I think you might have to know more about Toni Morrison's personal life to figure that one out or be a note psychiatrist who discern dreams. Hopefully another one of our buddy readers will give an answer to your intriguing question.
Jerilyn in enotes they discuss what the gray ball means but they are just guessing also. Sula died in pain so young, must have been from a venereal disease. I hope Sula did not give it to Nel's husband which would be another act of betrayal.
Eva didn't want Plum to suffer his demons
Tin… thank you for reminding us. These characters are so complex, and living with unthinkable trauma. We can’t judge their choices any more than we can judge any person’s heart. It’s a very sad novel.
This is the Spoiler Thread