The Color Purple

Rating:
Summary: emotional journey
Review: The Color Purple is a book that really tugs on the reader's emotions. The novel is about a young lady named Celie who experiences great tragedy throughout her life, but in spite of everything that has happened to her she learns to overcome the hurdles that are placed before her. As a teenager Celie was sexually abused by her stepfather and became pregnant by him twice. The children were taken away at birth and she was forced to marry a stranger. During her marriage an ex-lover of her husband's came to stay with them. While she was with Celie and her husband Shug Avery made a tremendous impact on Celie's life. She taught Celie how to love, laugh, and live. Some parts of this novel are hard to read and understand because they are letters written by Celie and she was very uneducated, but Walker does a very good job letting the reader know what the characters are feeling. The novel itself is very mature, but the lessons one should get from reading it are very elementary. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick read and a quality piece of writing all in one.

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Summary: Colorful Story
Review: The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, is an emotional story of an African American woman's journey through an unbearable life which teaches women to unite in order to find strength and happiness. The main character, Celie, journeys through many different abusive relationships to discover who she really is and to find the strength she possesses. However, until she discovers her hidden strength, she allows herself to be physically and mentally abused, first by her father, and then later by her husband. Two independent women enter her life and help her to see past her feelings of self worthlessness and discover her own beauty. She discovers that life is not a matter of simply existing, but rather, it is about enjoying living. This book may be hard for some readers who are especially sensitive, because it is very graphic. It deals with sexuality, rape, homosexuality and offensive language. It is easy to read because it is divided into short diary entries and letters, but the language and dialect can be somewhat confusing. Also, the story seems to drag on and on. I liked the ending because everything ties together, but it almost seems to end too perfectly and unrealistically. Celie goes from being a weak, submissive wife to Albert at the beginning to a his equal at the end just because she has become a stronger person. Albert's personality doesn't seem as if it would permit this drastic change. In addition, Celie's long lost sister suddenly appears on her front porch. It's a good book with a powerful story, but if you have a choice, watch the movie instead.

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Summary: the color purple
Review: "The Color Purple," was one of the best books I read in a long time. I really don't care for reading books, but I must admit this novel had me hook. Not wanting to stop reading it, because of all the drama that was occuring in the novel. Alice Walker really made you feel as if you were part of the 1800's, for the simple fact the way she express the way "Celie" spoke since she didn't have much education. This novel is alot better than the movie. The movie leaves out so much that when you read the book it's even alot better. There is more details in the book that the movie left out. I really recommend this book. This book is not appropriate for younger children, there is alot of graphic parts in "The Color Purple."

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Summary: ~The Color Purple~ Now THIS is my kinda book!
Review: Written by Alice Walker and published in 1982, The Color Purple is tremendously under rated. Although it won a Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for fiction, it didn't go well with the male population because they said it was a "makes men look bad" kind of book. I personally think that men didn't want to believe they could be so cruel. The Color Purple is about a puzzled young girl named Celie who grows within from her many wonderful and many not-so-wonderful experiences to have the courage to ask for more, and to fight for true happiness. The book is written in the form of letters to God and to Celie's sister, one of the gracious people who gave her hope and saved Celie from a life of grief. Throughout the story Celie learns how to read, learns how to fight back, and learns how to love. The thing I liked most about The Color Purple is it's captivating form- the letters. It makes the pages go by quickly, like you are reading a diary or a journal of someone important. Because you are seeing things from her perspective, it genuinely makes you feel her pain and see the hell she is going through. When she is abused, you want to sob with her, and when she is victorious a smile runs from ear to ear. The big things that kind of take away from the book, though, are the letters from Nettie. The Color Purple is going strong until Nettie's letters intrude with stories of Africa and Celie's long lost children. The letters were very repetitive, and not to mention never ending! I've barely heard or seen of her sister or kids and all of a sudden they cut in while the book is approaching its climax. I want to know what Celie is going to do about her wicked husband, her relative in jail, and the best friend she has ever known that is trying to leave. I don't care about anything else right now. Although I could've lived without them, the precious letters of Nettie contributed to the book by letting Celie know that her only blood family was still alive, and that they would be coming home to her shortly. From reading this book, I learned that you truly are what you believe you are, and you only accomplish what you believe you can. In the beginning, Celie thought she was nothing because everyone who knew her, excluding Nettie, told her that. As the book goes on, Celie gets more confidence within from the people surrounding her and makes her way to the top. Instead of lying there, when Celie gets knocked down, she gets right back up again and keeps on climbing. By the end of the story, she is everything she ever dreamed of. Celie is a working lady with her own pants shop, she is a mother with her two returned children, and she is a role model for women who were once like her. I think this is exactly what Walker hoped for in writing this. The Color Purple is a good read for inspiration, but its audience should be a mature one. The book's print has adult language and explicit sexual content. I recommend The Color Purple to anyone above the age of thirteen, who wants to read an original, remarkably outstanding novel.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: I recently read The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I thought it was an amazing novel. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a heartfelt story with many lessons to be learned from it. Many themes were presented in this book. The relationships between white and black people were shown. And also the relationships between men and women. Whites treated blacks as if they we're below them, and men were always dominant over women. Throughout the novel, Celie, the main character, struggles to find herself and to overcome the burdens placed on her by society for being a black woman. Through her letters to God, the reader learns Celie's true feelings about the world around her. With the help of her sister Nettie and her lover Shug, Celie truly does find herself and learns many lessons along the way. She learns to stand up for herself, and to be proud of what she is. She is a great role model. Alice Walker did an excellent job of making the characters seem real. When I read this book, I felt for the characters in a way I've never felt reading any other novel. When Celie was sad, I was sad. When she was happy, so was I. I felt like I knew her as a friend. All of the emotions in The Color Purple really had an effect on me. All in all, this novel is inspiring, emotional, and extremely powerful. I would recommend it to anyone.

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Summary: Riveting and complex--a sure bet
Review: By far, one of the major novels AND movies of the last century was/is "The Color Purple." This gripping, colorful, wonderfully-told book is as powerful today as it was when it first came out.

While I like all of Walker's books, "Meridian" being second in line, I found "Purple" to be one of three books I could not live without. The other two are "Sophie's Choice" and McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood." All of these books are riveting, complex looks into the human psyche (or lack thereof) and must be read.

But by far, "Purple" is the best of all of these. The style, warmth, and richness of the writing make this one of the best buys on the market. It's more than a book--it is life itself.

Also recommended: "BARK OF THE DOGWOOD--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens

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Summary: Magnificent book!
Review: Diane Sawyer, A reviewer,
This is the most magnificent books I have read. Filled with sadness and turmoil, so full of truth....so determined. I came from a life of abuse (child). Though I have read mostly memoirs like NIGHTMARES ECHO, I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS and BEAUTY FOR ASHES to try and help aide in the healing process. I have found that this book COLOR PURPLE has also helped me in so many ways to understand the feelings that go on inside someone that comes from abuse. This is truly a page turner. So Magnificent.

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Summary: The Color Purple Review
Review: The Color Purple is an amazing book to read. It was very rewarding for me to read because it opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about life, love, and religion. Alice Walker is able to capture the feelings of each character and their reactions to life, especially Celie. Celie is a poor, black girl who lives in the south and struggles throughout life. I felt some strong aspects of this book were the plot, the writing style, and the Characters.

In my opinion, the plot of the story is well done because you feel the anger that Celie is going through. The story begins very abruptly with all the struggles Celie is faced with, like the abuse by her father and the death of her mother. The story begins with her father saying, "You better not tell nobody but God. It'd kill you mammy." (pg 1. line 1). She is also forced to marry a man she hates and she is very angry with her life, until her husband's lover, Shug Avery, comes to live with them, then things begin to change. Shug teaches Celie how to love and how to speak for herself. I love the way Shug and Celie's relationship develops throughout the book. They grow to love each other and care for each. This allows Celie to feel more respected.

The book is written in a letter formation. The book starts out with Celie writing to God and then she begins to converse with her sister, Nettie. When Celie was talking to God, she was in need of someone to talk to. Then she talked to Nettie about her life and what is happening in it. I love the letter formation because it allows the reader to get a bigger perspective of the characters and a wider view of the story. When Celie is writing to God you can really understand how she is feeling and what she is thinking. You get to see the characters through their eyes and not someone else's eyes.

The characters are well described and portrayed for the time and place of the book. Alice Walker does a great job in portraying the women of the time and how they were treated. Celie is the one character who changes the most throughout the story and evolves into a more courageous and independent woman. In the beginning of the novel Celie is very powerless and doesn't have much confidence. She doesn't care about what other people think of her, she doesn't even care what God thinks of her, until the middle of the book when she says, "All my life I never care what people thought bout nothing I did, but deep in my heart, I care about God." (pg 187. line 26.). As the story progresses, she becomes powerful and is able to control her life like this quote, "I see they think me and Nettie and Shug and Albert and Samuel and Harpo and Sofia and Jack and Odessa real old and don't know much what going on. But I don't think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt." (pg 289. line 1-3.). This quote shows that she feels happy and young again and she has overcome all of her struggles.

Overall this book was really a touching book. It had a great development and it had a great theme behind it. I would recommend this book to anyone. Once you read this book, you will have a completely different view on life and the way you live it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book- The Color Purple
Review: The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a great book and I recommened it to everyone. One of the themes could be that all bad things can be good. Celie is raped and forced to marry a man she doesn't like and he beats her. When she runs away she starts a business and comes back with money. That is not the only theme in the novel there are many. Alice Walker develops the character in a way that you can relate to them. Walker describes Celie's emotions so well you can picture her expressing those emotions. You can feel Celie's pain when she writes to God saying, "Mr. come that evening. I'm in the bed Crying," (Letter 5, Paragraph 2, pg 7).You can imagine her fear and picture her in bed crying. When Shug Avery comes into the picture you see Celie and Shug's relationship grow when they run away. Celie found out Shug loved someone else, "My Heart broken. Shug found someone else," Celie feels she has lost Shug because they have grown so close. Celie changes so much through the novel and Walker ends the novel showing how much she has changed. When Nettie comes home and they see each other for the first time Celie remarks how young she feels again and how alive she is. In the beginning of the novel Celie would have rathered die then live. She changes alot because of Shug. The plot of the story is how Celie becomes friends with Shug Avery and how she try and learn to become independent woman, get rid of Albert, and Celie trys to find herself without Nettie's help. They come to learn what love is from the nature of God. Celie only writes to God.
When you first start to read the novel it is hard to follow because she writes in all letters and since you don't know her husbands name it is hard to understand. Walker also throws a lot of characters at you all at once and it is hard to keep track. It is an easy book to understand once you get used to it. The development of the novel is easy to follow because you feel what the characters are going through and Walker gives you a good sense of description. "But before I know anything a skinny big toof man wearing red suspenders is all up in my face," (pg 104, paragraph 4). You can imagine what the characters see and you can imagine that yourself.
The dialect Walker uses is southern. She uses double negative because that is the way blacks would be speaking in this time period. You get use to the dialect after reading it for a little bit. It makes it easier to understand the character better because you can interpet how they would such words. This was a profound novel about love, overcomming the odds, and learning to be independent.

Rating:
Summary: The Color Purple Review
Review: The Color Purple was a good and bad book for different reasons. Two reasons it was not a very good book is because the use of "local color", or regionalism, makes the book hard to read and because the book seemed very depressing, giving too much detail in some areas. One reason that I felt the book was good is because the book was composed entirely of letters written by Celie. All in all I could not decide whether I liked this book or I did not so I would say it is a mediocre book.

The regionalism used in this book was very extreme, in that the words very scarcely were alike the words they were supposed to be. Because of this it took longer to read the book. Also this made me focus less on the content on the book and more trying to keep up with what the sentences were about. One example of this is when Celie writes on page 7, "She say Mr. _____ was taking somethin out his billfold to show Pa an it fell out an slid under the table." Reading that one sentence may not seem bad but reading the whole book full of sentences like that started to get tough. Even later in the book the grammar was like this. Another example of this towards the end of the book is when Celie writes on page 186, "But then I remember, he not my daddy, just my children daddy." This was the first thing I noticed about the book and the first thing that I did not like about it.

The letters that Celie writes are what makes up this book, along with letters from her sister, Nettie. Because the book is totally made up of letters by the one girl you can see her age throughout the book. Writing these letters is her way of getting out everything she wants to tell somebody. When she says on page 1 "You better never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mummy" it makes it seem more than just a bunch of letters and she's real. It is her way to talk to God and not get in trouble by her father. This is a part of the book that I liked. I've never read a book like this and I thought it was very original. The letters made the characters seem more alive and the book not seem like a work of fiction.

The second reason why I didn't like this book was because it was too descriptive in many parts. Even thought it's giving you the experiences the characters are going through, it was too much. The words used were not necessary for me to know what was going on. It started right on the first page and then throughout it would talk about many different "experiences".

Overall this book was an average book. It had its' up sides and down sides but mostly downsides. I just didn't agree with some of the language used. This wouldn't be a novel I would really recommend.