The Color Purple
Book - 2019
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Opinion
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
Set in the 1930s and taking place mostly in rural Georgia, this epistolary novel tells depicts the lives of women, including sisters Celie and Nettie, who were separated as girls.
Tayari Jones's comfort read (author of "An American Marriage")
Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. The message of this story is that kindness, courage, and love can defeat any challenge.
Walker won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for "The Color Purple."
From the critics
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Add Age Suitabilitypink_dolphin_2294 thinks this title is suitable for 13 years and over
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JCLAdamH
Jul 17, 2020
“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, the more I love.”
"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."
"I hadn't realized I was so ignorant, Celie. The little I knew about my own self wouldn't have filled a thimble! And to think Miss Beasley always said I was the smartest child she ever taught! But one thing I do thank her for, for teaching me to learn for myself, by reading and studying and writing a clear hand. And for keeping alive in me somehow the desire to know."
Summary
Add a SummaryCelie, a fourteen year old black girl, lives with her dying mother and abusive father in the South. Her father rapes her, impregnating her twice, and then rids himself of the children after birth. She learns to obey men to the letter, to grow used to beatings, and has dropped out of school in order to do housework. However, her "cleverer" and "prettier" sister, Nettie, is allowed to continue her studies, and is lusted after by a Mr. Johnson, who is known to have a dark past with a woman named Shug Avery. However, Nettie declines the mans advances, and the father offers Celie instead. Nettie and Celie are separated for years, each making their own discoveries about love, god and bigotry.
Comment
Add a CommentProbably as realistic a portrayal of Black life in Jim Crow South as Jane Eyre is accurate about being a Victorian governess. I picked up more details upon re-reading.
such a time honored novel of the struggles of African American's in our country. Alice Walker has such a great way to reveal character depth in language, setting and dialogue. I love to reread or listen to this every couple of years.
This is a pretty difficult book to read and contains a lot of really mature topics. From what I understood it was a great book but I’m definitely going to come back to it in a few years and read it again.
Like many, I watched the movie before I read the book. Most of the time, you'd expect the movie to do the book no justice. This is not the case for The Color Purple. I love how the movie was missing things from the book because it changed the how we saw the fictional story without altering the nonfictional elements.
Listening to Alice Walker read her own book was amazing.
Review for the audiobook as read by Alice Walker:
I'm not sure of much in this life, but I am convinced that the absolute best way to experience this book is to have the author read it to you herself. A beautifully poignant story read with disarming honesty and soulful tenderness. Walker's voice is a gift to be treasured.
A beautifully written book that really does affirm the human spirit. It is the story of Celie's awakening from self-hatred and abuse to love and reaffirmation. Beautifully written using vernacular in a way that is masterful, clear and poetic. A must read for fans of Alice Walker and American Literature.
At a bar, some people will slam a shot of liquor while others sip a cocktail. This is a sipping book. You read The Color Purple slowly and let the story unfold at its own pace. It would be a crime to rush through this one. Beautifully written. Alice Walker's writing style carried me to a different time and place. Though there the pages tell tales of rape, abuse, and powerful yearnings there is also lightness with the dark. The characters invite the reader on a journey of hurt, healing, injustice, struggle, and triumph.
One of my favorite books of all time. Great characters and story! I loved the strong female characters and the struggles they had to overcome.
The characters in this book freely abuse Celie. The constantly put-upon girl grows up never expecting anything else.
Her redemption is as satisfying as can be, and the peace she finds is almost enviable.
The story is beautifully told, with the plot unfolding through letters written by Celie and her sister.