The Color Purple

this book just broke me open. i cried almost the whole way through it, for all kinds of reasons.

i'm surprised how much of it i didn't remember. turns out almost nothing was familiar after about 40% of the way through even though this was probably the 4th time i've read it. i'd also forgotten how she just jumps right in with the hard stuff. you don't get any time to settle in because she throws you a 14 year old pregnant by her father about 3 paragraphs in. and this is how it should be, because there's no settling in for celie and there's no getting comfortable for the community.

i'm not sure i've read a book before where the entire thing - except the first sentence - was written in letters. it wasn't just a letter here and there to show more inform us of something or to use the epistolary format in part of this book. it's the entire book. and this tells us so much more about the characters and gives us a sense of place so much better than narration can do. it's used so well here and to such good effect. and when nettie's letters are hidden from celie, which i always think of as one of the most heart-wrenching things in all of literature, we feel the loss, too, because we're also missing these letters in a book that's told only through letters. but seriously, this part always makes me want to crawl into the pages of this book and rip mr's head off with my bare hands.

there is just so much in this book. racism, obviously. intra-racial racism, incest, rape, domestic violence, colonialism and native traditions, and even the current (as if it hasn't been going on for 400 years) situation of punishing black people excessively (sofia was slapped and when she responded she not only got beat up so badly she almost died and was disfigured and blinded, but she got 12 years in jail for it) and exclusively. and religion and god - and i've said before that i don't like either in books i read, unless it's exposing hypocrisy - but i like everything she says in here, even as i don't believe in either. and talk about strong female characters. this book is chock full of them, from sofia to shug to nettie and celie to mary agnes. even eleanor jane, when she found out why sofia came to work for her family, defied tradition and racist society. some of the people (men and women) might come off as weak to start with, but their strength really emerges as the book progresses. even mr grows into himself and becomes stronger for it.

one thing that surprised me on this reading was how central lesbianism was to celie's character. i really hadn't read it that way before, somehow, and had felt like there were just a couple of places in the book that highlighted her queerness at all, and that shug felt more sorry for celie than anything else. turns out it's through and through a love story between them, and it's clear from the get-go that celie is a lesbian. shug isn't, but she also does love celie.

and it's a love story of a community and a people and there is forgiveness and beauty and i cried like a baby that this one came with a happy ending.

it might sound funny to say that this is a beautifully written book, because it's not lyrical and the language isn't music on the page, but it absolutely is beautiful. i love this book. i am so glad to have read it again.

"My head drop so it near bout in my glass.
Then I hear my name.
Shug saying Celie. Miss Celie. And I look up where she at.
She say my name again. She say this song I'm bout to sing is call Miss Celie's song. Cause she scratched it out of my head when I was sick.
First she hum it a little, like she do at home. Then she sing the words....I look at her and I hum along a little with the tune.
First time somebody made something and name it after me."

"What God do for me I ast.
She say, Celie! Like she shock. He gave you life, good health, and a good woman that love you to death.
Yeah, I say, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won't ever see again. Anyhow, I say, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgitful and lowdown.
She say, Miss Celie, You better hush. God might hear you.
Let 'im hear me, I say. If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you."

"Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me." show less

The Color Purple is an incredibly difficult read due to the CSA, abuse, domestic violence, and Christian (inter)nationalism it depicts. That being said, Alice Walker did an incredible job writing these characters and this story.

Celie and Nettie both grew up facing systemic racism and misogyny. Without realizing, they internalize both of these concepts and perpetuate them themselves, especially at the beginning. Both of them over the course of the novel have full-circle moments on this idea, but are never able to truly break away from them because of how normal it has become to them.

I think a big part of this novel is pointing out how normal these concepts have become to us, and intends to create dissonance to enact change, which I show more really liked. However, I didn't like how many of the women in the novel return to their abusive husbands just because they've improved their behavior a little bit. While these issues aren't something that can be fixed by just a couple of people, the ending kind of gives off a vibe that everything has been fixed and everyone is happy now, which isn't entirely the case and can't be applied in the same way to real life relationships.

I particularly liked Shug's character, as she was able to do what she wanted and wasn't willing to tolerate abuse just because that was the norm. She used what she knew, i.e. singing and sex, to get what she wanted and be able to live an independent life. Her characterization brought the themes of paying attention to the beauty in the world around you and not taking abuse just because it was the norm, which I really appreciated. She is a sex-positive character, and the novel does show how she faced discrimination and "slut-shaming" because of it, and I liked that she wasn't willing to change who she was just because of that. show less

For the first 100 pages, I thought the author's voice was good, I thought the plot was interesting, I thought it was well-written, but I just wasn't that invested. I can understand why I lot of people would put it down, maybe because the vernacular is a little tricky (audiobooks might work better!) or because there's a serious lack of punctuation, but, for me, it was something else.

Celie's struggle starts out like a lot of black women's struggles in her time. It all seems fairly hopeless, and it was difficult to read because I was sure that it wasn't going to get better - that Celie was going to be one of the many women of her time who was worn down by the stress of life, who's spirit would be broken.

And then I read to the 104th page. show more And my god. I was into it. I couldn't put it down. As a woman, as a feminist, and as a queer lady, this book spoke to me on so many levels.

Alice Walker, you have produced something of a masterpiece. I love Celie, I love her strength, I love her vulnerability, I love her compassion, her capacity for growth, for resilience, for love, for forgiveness.

If you are a feminist, you should read this book. This book writes relationships with women the likes of which I haven't ever really read before. These women love and support each other through everything. I have learnt so much from this book. This book is powerful.

This book deserves so much more than a Pulitzer Prize.

Thank you, Alice Walker, for adding your voice to the chorus of black women's voices. You have taught me so much. We won't always agree, but I will recommend this book to anyone I meet. show less

Mi spingerei anche ad un ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2.
Divorato. Celie scrive a dio, perché a parlargli si vergogna. Racconta la sua vita di donna nera ai primi del 900 negli Stati Uniti. Le violenze, i soprusi e l’insicurezza che tutto ciò a generato. Ma racconta anche il suo percorso di crescita e di lotta per salvarsi.
La prima parte è fatta di brevi lettere, e permette di entrare subito nella storia. Più si va avanti, più le lettere si allungano e cominciano ad alternarsi a quelle della sorella Nettie.
Se proprio vogliamo trovargli un paio di difetti, alcune lettere risultano un po’ forzate, nel senso che entrano in un dettaglio che non è propriamente epistolare e la parte delle lettere della sorella risulta un po’ show more didascalica.
Tolti questi difettucci, un grandissimo libro, pieno di bellissime riflessioni su Dio e sull’amore, sulla libertà di amare e di cercare il piacere e la felicità. show less

Celie and her sister Nettie grow up in a house with a predator. Their mother is sick and frequently pregnant and when Celie is still a child, her father starts raping her. The two children she bares him disappear. And the he starts looking at Nettie. Celie encourages Nettie to marry the man who keeps coming around but their father won't agree. Instead, he tells the man to take Celie.

Now in a different house with a different man who rapes and beats her, all Celie does is work. Her husband has many ill-behaved children that she is expected to raise along with working herself to the bone around the house and farm.

One day in town, Celie sees her children. They are with a pastor's wife. She realizes her father must have given them to this show more couple. Later Nettie comes to live with her to escape their father, but it isn't long before she has to leave to escape Celie's husband. Celie tells Nettie to go to the pastor and his wife, where her children are. She begs Nettie to write, but she doesn't hear anything.

Celie's life is nothing but sorrow and dust until the day word reaches them that Shug Avery is sick. Shug is the local girl who made it big as a singer in the city. She is also Celie's husband's first love - and Celie's secret obsession. Before long, he goes off to collect Shug and is surprised when Celie is just as happy to have Shug in the house too.

Shug will be the first light to shine into Celie's life for many years. Their friendship will change her life forever.

This book was captivating from beginning to end. These vibrant characters draw you into their complex experiences and perspectives. The author's masterful story telling creates a deeply layered world full of wonder and tragedy. There is so much to digest in these pages that I imagine I'll be mulling it over for years to come. show less

This is a multi layered story with themes of slavery and subjugation, unspeakable horrors, loss and despair and yet as I read it the inspiration and hope of the characters shone through despite the dark and bleak experiences that each had in some way undergone.

Having read a number of reviews I was well prepared for the dark side of this book. The contrast that came when a small ray of light shone for the characters was all the more arresting. For example the simple act of laughing, followed by the quilting that drew women like Celie and Sofia together.

So I appreciated the moments of hope and the inspiration. The centrality of learning was another theme of the book that I was not expecting. Here, I am using education, not in the formal show more sense but rather in the wider way in which we are all life long learners. In Nettie’s letters the way that education was seen as so important and the revelations it bought – Nettie writes of being so thankful to her teacher for ‘keeping alive in me somehow the desire to know’ (page 119). What a priceless gift that was and remains so today.

I also loved the reciprocity of the learning that struck me in a number of places. For example, Nettie works for Corrine and Samuel and admits that even though she looks after their children she does not feel like a maid. Nettie further explains ‘I guess this is because they teach me , and I teach the children and there is no beginning or end to teaching and working – it all runs together. (page 120)

I enjoyed the challenges to taken for granted assumptions, the close juxtaposition of God, fatherhood, love and relationships that Alice Walkers characters grappled with. The reader cannot help but become engaged with many of ‘the big questions of life’! In conversation with Shug Celie ponders ‘God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. And sometimes it just manifest itself even if you not looking, or don’s know what you are looking for….’ (page 176) The perseverance and spirit of the women as they grow and learn more of themselves and their spirit was inspiring.

Finally I loved the phrase that made me laugh out loud ‘I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it’ (page 177). After all, as my friends know purple is my favourite colour!

The Color Purple is one of those books that will keep me thinking long after I put it back in my bookcase. I highly recommend it. show less

Not at all what I expected - a book that grows on you as you get deeper in. Told in letters, firstly from Celie to God and then between the sisters Celie and Nettie, The Color Purple tells something of what it was like to be poor and black in the USA between the wars. And of how humanity and love can triumph in the darkest of circumstances. I found the beginning very confronting but as I grew to know the characters I grew to love them. Indeed it's a book about growth and change for no-one in the book remains static. It also reminds those privileged by way of our race or social standing that introspection and love can be found wherever there are human beings.