Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: Before I read The Color Purple I wasn't sure what to expect; but as soon as I started to read it I got wrapped into it. It's just one of those books that you can't put down. The book is told from Celie, the main character's, point of view. She talks about her difficult life and all her struggles. It is written through letters that are addressed to God and later to her sister Nettie. I found the writing style to be very unique. At first it was a little odd, but as Celie explains why she is writing to God, we become even more drawn into the novel. The Color Purple seems very real because of the language Celie uses. She has very bad english which was probably very typical back then. Also, we reader's get a real feel for the characters. I developed strong feelings for each of them, whether I liked them or not. The Color Purple is a story that was probably a pretty familiar way of life in that time period. I think it is an important novel to read that gives people a look into a time period that life was very different for a lot of people.
Rating: 
Summary: Tries too hard
Review: As you read through Walker's "Color Purple", there is little doubt as to where the author is trying to go. The book starts off just plain awful, with a young girl, Celie, describing her childhood of abuse in poorly-written letters to God. Through these letters, and a series of letters between Celie and her sister, Celie's life is followed from childhood to late adulthood. As the book progresses, Celie takes more steps forward and back, and her growth can be seen in the writing itself.Unfortunately, when I read this book, I felt no emotion whatsoever. It was so obvious what Walker wanted me to feel that I couldn't feel it. It was as if someone was trying to cram my head full of sentimentality with a sledgehammer. After the first fifty pages, my attitude towards the book evolved into "Yeah, yeah, I know where this is going - let's just get it over with". If you like very sentimental books, I suppose there is nothing wrong with this one. It's a bit difficult to read in the beginning (when Celie is young and her English awful), but it gets easier as it goes, both because the reader becomes more used to Celie's mannerisms, and because Celie's writing improves as she grows older.
Rating: 
Summary: What do you say about a classic
Review: This was one of those books that I felt like I was supposed to read, but which I really didn't want to. It seemed like it was something that wasn't my choice. So when I ordered it, it ended up sitting on the shelf for a very long time. When I finally got to it, I was blown away. I'd liked the movie very much, but I wasn't prepared for the power of the book. It was just striking. Intelligent people are used to existing in a realm where facility with the language gives them access to streams of thought which are cut off to those with their skill. Although I deeply appreciate an intelligently written book which is incredible, I respect even more a book that doesn't rely on advanced language. This book was written in character, by someone who was not very educated, and yet it was a powerhouse. The style of the writing, in letter form, was also unique. The characters are wonderfully developed. The plot is very real. The insights into the life this women lived, was heartbreaking, and invigorating. There's something for everyone in this book to like, whether they are black or white. The human spirit isn't a color.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. Excellent writing, interesting characters. You'll laugh, you'll cry...you'll care about the people in the story.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This was one fantastic read. Alice Walker has a way for pulling each character to the fore front and giving them discriptive qualities that will either make you hate or absolutely fall in love with them. What really kept me enthralled when reading this book was that Walker made each character seem alive by showing how people can change and grow for the better or worse, as well as the ups and downs each character faces whether financial means, family or love matters. I sincerely regretted finishing the book and will be buying more books by Alice Walker soon.
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening page-turner!
Review: Powerful. Eloquent. Enlightening. Endearing. These are some of the words that I have for The Color Purple. Alice Walker's masterpiece was as groundbreaking now as it had been 20 years ago. Walker is a prolific and amazing writer whose use of words inspired me, a poet and short story writer, to try my hand at writing a novel myself. In certain ways, I can relate to many of the characters, from Celie to Nettie to Shug to even Mr. The Color Purple shows many things about American life, then and now. It shows how racial and gender stratification in southern culture. It exposes the brutality of racism and the virulence of misogyny. But it also emphasizes the meaning of family, or love, and of the self. It shows us that people can change, people can become stronger, and wiser. I must caution potential readers that this is an R-rated novel, full of violence, sex, commonly-used four-letter words, and even a few mentions of drug use. But once you get past that, you will truly enjoy the novel and take it for what it is worth. This is one novel that everyone will get something out of and one that will delight those who read it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Written, like Toni Morrison's Blue Eyes
Review: This book actually captured my eyes since i began reading the first page that starts with, "Dear God" Alice Walker was successful at pulling readers into her own world where Celie, Shug Avery, Mr.____,and Nettie. i could not talk to Celie, Nettie, o anyone, but i was actually hearing them sitting next to Celie, as an invisible thing. I highly recommend this book to everyone, women, and men, white, and black, or asian. "The color purple" will pull you into its world like gravity. So... Go On! Try reading it! I know you will love it unless your body does not have any "heart".
Rating:
Summary: Read it and weep...
Review: Not only is this one of my favorite movies, but it is one of the only books I know of that is equally good to it's movie version (so, if that's any indication of what to expect have you seen the movie...go with it). However, the book and movie are different in ending, format, and even just in the general feel. Both bring the reader in, forming a close bond between the audience and narrator. Alice Walker writes (through her protagonist, Celie) in short personal diary entries and letters which are genuine, brutally honest, and can be both painful, and/or exhuberating to read. I find this story always brings something new to me every time I come back to it- it is a layered text- and I am touched every time by both the pain expressed in the book and the empowerment delivered through the characters in the end. It's not a hard read (I've read it in one sitting), and will stay with you (which I hope would make it worthy of reading). I wholeheartedly recommend "The Color Purple" to anyone and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: The Color Purple
Review: The story of Celie and the environment in which she grows and blossoms is touching, warming, even if disjointed. The style of writing is creative and worthy of the praise it has received, although it sometimes left me wanting more description of the world in which some of the other interesting characters lived, which was difficult to get when only hearing the world described through Celie's and Nettie's eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Her World
Review: What Alice Walker does so well in this book is to draw the reader into Celie's time, place, and frame of mind. There have been any number of critics who cite problems with the novel's plot and even attack the book for casting the black male in a bad light (debatable), but nearly everyone agrees that it is a book that must be read once it is begun, and this is owing to Walker's great narrative strengths. This one ranks up there with the great books of all time.
|
