The Color Purple (1982)

I don't really understand the hoopla surrounding this book. The blurb on the back was totally misleading. Maybe the movie is better.... ( )

When I started this book I didn't know why it was on the list for Grade 12 students to read as an independent study novel. However, by the end I was convinced. All along I saw the literary value (amazing writing!) but the content seemed too adult for a school to recommend it. The beginning of the novel is very adult, but with the introduction of the African missionaries subplot, and the discussion of who/what God is, my respect and understanding of the novel increased dramatically.
It is a very powerful story about women, oppression, black/white relations, European & American/African relations, man/women relations, independence, religion, love, parentage...the themes are many and great.
This book would pair well with [b:The Help|4667024|The Help|Kathryn Stockett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312519558s/4667024.jpg|4717423], [b:Pigs in Heaven|14250|Pigs in Heaven|Barbara Kingsolver|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166585964s/14250.jpg|161123], [b:The Secret Life of Bees|37435|The Secret Life of Bees|Sue Monk Kidd|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311648169s/37435.jpg|3275013] and [b:Sweetness in the Belly|124982|Sweetness in the Belly|Camilla Gibb|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1243293877s/124982.jpg|1074076], to name a few. ( )

I have no good reason as to why it has taken me so long to read this book. I kept putting it aside because I saw the movie several times. I thought there would not be much difference between the two. I was totally wrong. The movie was not a total shot in the dark but like in most cases the book is much better.

Walker presents her characters with so much clarity. Disappointment and misery were Celie's companions early in life. She was molested repeatedly, forced to marry as a teenager, and torn away from her children and sister. All these tragedies were forced upon her by men which led to her life long disdain for them. There was a certain inner strength that Celie possessed that would not allow you to pity her. The same was true for Sophia. Shug was the most celebrated of the women. She could be likened to a strutting peacock. Behind all that show and celebrity was a weak woman. Of all the characters my opinion of Mr. changed the most. Contrary to how the movie depicted him, Mr. did not remain a lazy, abusive, self centered individual. When faced with severe loneliness, he began to examine his life and made the necessary changes. Mr. and Celie were able to build a friendship later in life which was a true test of the human spirit.

Walker did not allow the reader to lose touch with Celie's sister, Nettie. Lives were taking shape and new relationships blossoming in America and Africa all while each sister thinks the other is dead. Even though Nettie and Celie were separated for years and unsure of the other's plight they never gave up hope. Their love saw no end.

The Color Purple demonstrated how love will cover a multitude of faults. Walker's writing style reminded me of J. California Cooper. Celie held this story together because she refused to be broken. ( )

"The Color Purple" is one of the strongest statements of how love transforms and cruelty disfigures the human spirit that this reviewer has ever read. Alice Walker gives us Celie, 14 years old when the book opens, who has been raped, abused, degraded and twice impregnated by her father. After he takes her children away from her without a so much as a word, he marries her off like a piece of chattel to her husband, who is so cold, distant and inhuman to her that she can only refer to him as Mr; and this person deprives her of her sister Nettie, the only one who ever loved her.

Celie manages to survive by living one day at a time. Her life is a series of flat, lifeless panoramas painted in browns and grays. Into this existence, if you can call it that, comes Shug Avery, her husband's mistress, who shows Celie her own specialness and uniqueness. A lot has been made about lesbianism in this book and all of it is beside the point. Celie isn't a lesbian, she is a human being in need of love and Shug Avery helps Celie realize that she is somebody worth loving and caring about. When Celie hurls her defiance into Mr's face -- "I'm poor, I'm black, I may be ugly... but I'm here", she is making an affirmation not only to him, but to the whole world; the reader can only say, along with Shug Avery, "Amen".

When Celie finds the strength to leave Mr, he is left to face the reality of himself and what he sees isn't pretty; his transformation humanizes him and allows Celie to call him Albert, recognizing him as a person, as he finally recognizes her as one. The last chapter makes many readers go through half a box of Kleenex (Stephen Spielberg once said in an interview that he "cried and cried at the end" of the book), but Walker doesn't play cheap with the reader's emotions; she has a powerful story to tell and she tells it with such consummate skill and sensitivity that she brings us into it and makes it ours. This is a book to be treasured and read over and over again.
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Celie is only a young teen when her stepfather marries her off to their widowed acquaintance, Albert. Celie is little more than a slave to the family. Albert has several spoiled children who terrorize her and he regularly beats her himself. Celie just puts her head down, writes letters to God, and tries to go unnoticed.

As time goes by, Celie loses contact with her beloved sister, Nettie. She starts writing letters to Nettie as well, but she never hears back. Then Albert moves his ailing lover, blues singer Shug Avery, into the house and expects Celie to take care of her. Far from feeling jealous of Shug, Celie is relieved that someone is there to deflect Albert's attention from her. Then the women become friends and Celie realizes how much more there is to life than what she's getting out of it.

I read this in order to have a review ready for Banned Books Week. I'm not sure what on earth possessed me to buy it at a library book sale. I've always been a little afraid of it, ever since hearing my grandmother talk about the movie: "Oprah wasn't going to let that man beat on her." Wife abuse. Not exactly my cup of tea.

I was surprised to find myself loving the book. I was taken aback in the very first few pages, I'll admit. Rape and beatings and killing babies, and all of this happening to a 14-year-old girl. I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. I'm so glad I stuck with it.

You see, Celie is not obviously a strong person. She is a survivor, but she doesn't really thrive. She just gets by. Watching her come into her own and become a woman to be reckoned with was a joy. She goes through so, so much. She somehow becomes surrounded by a group of strong women, and she finds the strength to learn from them. Her daughter-in-law, Sofia, "wears the pants" in her family and keeps her husband in his place when he tries to show her who's boss. Shug Avery does exactly what she pleases, irregardless of what her current lover or society thinks. She knows she isn't hurting anybody, so what's the harm in living the way she chooses?

Everything else I want to say is a spoiler, so I'll stop now. Grit your teeth and get through the painful parts, and find a touching story of friendship, love, strength, and faith. ( )