The Color Purple

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Summary: Best format ever
Review: Hello my name is HST+Rainelle Piper( see my name Ms. Mcardle). I think The Color Purple is a wonderful book because of the format it was written in. The letter form Alice Walker used makes it much more easier to read and understand. The story line was also wonderfulin that it kept you wanting to read more and more. I really suggest everyone read this book.

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Summary: Truly captivating!!!
Review: The Color Purple by Alice Walker is an amazing book, I enjoyed reading it. I especially liked the way it was written in short letters to God, to Nettie, and to Celie in some cases. The book captured me from the first page when Celie described her life filled with pain and despair, from the beginning I felt for her. Celie is truly an inspirational figure who triumphed over sorrow and suffering and still came out a winner even in the worst situations. To me, Walker sends the message that things do happen for a reason.

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Summary: A Brilliant Book
Review: The Color Purple is a great book. It helped me view the role of woman back in the past. Celie is a character that is remembered forever. I love the way that Alice Walker uses the compostion of her words. Even though the words and the use of language were pretty strong and graphic, it illustrated a strong picture and message in the reader's mind. Even the use of grammer and vocabulary colored in much of Celie's personality. Overall the book was captavating and warm. I encourge everybody to read it.

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Summary: ------------------
Review: I have just finished reading "The Color Purple" for the first time and I want to get this review out of my system before my heart recovers from the beating it took. We have a girl named Celie. She lives in the South and is sexually abused by her step-father. She gave birth to two children, but they are taken from her. Her marriage to her husband is devoid of love as well as he beats her both with his hands and his words. The woman her husband loves, Shug, is taken in by him when she gets sick. As Shug begins to feel better, she has relations with Celie's husband. Enough with the plot. I provided a little bit of it to indicate how devastating Celie's situation must have been. But here we get to the key point: Despite all these circumstances, Celie unfailingly reacts with only love. As a result, she is able to not only transform her life, but the lives of those around her. It is such a shame that the book was criticized by many African American men because of the way it depicts black men. I wonder if those who criticized the book based upon that criterion actually read the book through to the end. Because the evil Mr.______ goes through a transformation as do ALL the characters of the novel. And what beautiful transformations they are. I love the language of the novel - Celie is my favorite narrator of all time (if you can count her as one). In my opinion, Walker is right up there with Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Wharton, and the other great American authors. Perhaps the greatest novel written over the last twenty years?

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Summary: The Color Purple, a different yet meaningful novel.
Review: When I first began reading this novel as a project for my English class, I was disturbed by the content and almost read another book instead. But I was determined not to be turned off by the first several pages, and I soon became fascinated with the book. During the course of the novel, Celie grew from an abused and obedient girl to an outspoken and risk-taking individual. She had been abused by the man that she knew to be her father as well as the man that she was forced to marry. Things did not look good for Celie until she made friends with Shug. Shug was extremely unique for a black woman at the time that this story took place, and being friends with her was very liberating for Celie. Not only did Shug comfort Celie when Mr._____ beat her, but she also became her best friend as well as her lover. Before she knew what was happening, Celie was wearing pants, sleeping with a woman, and living her own life without a man telling her what to do and beating her whether she did it or not. The way Celie turned her life around was amazing, and I could not help feeling proud of her while I read the novel. Celie took control of her life so well that she finally saw the amicable side of Mr.______, or Albert. She finally learned to get to know him as a person, and she discovered that he was not as terrible as he had always appeared to her. At the end of the novel, Celie's newly-found strengths greatly outweighed her weaknesses that once held her back. With the help of Shug, she overcame abuse by men as well as by society in general, which was a very difficult thing for an African-American woman to do in her time. This is a very inspiring and interesting novel, and I believe that it is a learning experience as well. Reading about Celie's life and the lives of her loved ones is a better way to learn about discrimination against blacks and against women than reading a text book or listening to a lecture. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to enjoy and learn from a book, and please do not be discouraged by the surprising content in the opening pages...keep reading!!

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Summary: Amazing Grace-beautiful and touching
Review: Absolutely amazing. The Color Purple, about a downtrodden African American named Celie, is inspiring and beautiful even with the rough way it is written - rough as in dialect, not as in the author's talent. Even though it deals with such controversial subjects as lesbianism, sexual and physical abuse, domestic violence, and infidelity, it is so touchingly and innocently written that there is no way that anyone could find offense. Celie, only fourteen when first subjected to sexual abuse, rises above all troubles and finds a place where nature and love rule. With the help of the wild and gorgeous Shug Avery, she realizes her own importance in the world and asserts it to the fullest. There is no other way to say it: this book is absolutely beautiful.

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Summary: The Color Purple, a moving novel
Review: The Color Purple is an awesome book about a downtrodden women named Celie. She has lived her whole life doing everything others have told her to do and is not leading a very happy life. She marries a man that wanted her sister and was sexually abused by her father. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it reveals the life of women who are abused and how they are able to finally take control of their own life and live it the way they want to. It is a very powerful and moving book that once you've read it you will never forget the impact it has.

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Summary: Speechless!
Review: I was asked to write an review of this novel for my English class. As I began reading I found the content disturbing however with further reading and studying of the text I learned to appreciate this as it is a neccessary part of the novel. The novel itself was a learning opportunity for me. I knew that discrimination exsisted however not at such an horrific extent. The narrative being in the form of letters to God from Celie's perspective allowed me to become involved with the character and feel her pain and joy. This was a novel which blew me away with its indepth look at such themes as abuse; phsical, emotional and sexual; discrimination between race, gender and between the women themselves, Celie weaknesses contrasted with Shug and Sofia's strength and independence and the journey through life in a quest to find selfhood. This novel has recieved much critism over its content. To the people that feel this novel is about gay exploration, I feel it is merely the insecurties of an abused woman in search of love. To those who feel the men were portrayed negatively in this novel, did you read the end? Albert was only seen in a negative veiw because he himself like Celie had not progressed as a character at this time, to a state of maturity and understanding and the fact that Shug loved him was a high contributor to this also. If you can ignore the critisms in this novel and take the time to read it I feel you will find the same as I did, a supberly crafted novel conveying the harsh realities of life for African American Women at a time of domination by males. I highly recommend this novel to anyone wishing to have the most rivetting read ever!

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Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK & VERY TOUCHING
Review: I've read this book once and saw the movie twice. Every time it makes me cry. The story is so real and gives you a look into the Afro-American life as it was in the early 1900's. Every woman (and man) should read this book!! It is very touching, emotional, and in the end it is uplifting. I recommend this book to everyone!! This is one of my favorite books that will be on my bookshelf forever!

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Summary: What I think
Review: To me this whole book was about Celie trying to find herself in what small of a world that she was given. But every time she would try to venture out it seemed like there was always something stopping her. After reading this book I realized that everything revolved around courage and strength. Sophia had strength and courage. Nettie had strength and courage. Shug had strength and courage. Celie had nothing. The only thing Celie had/knew was how to survive. That's all she cared about. Sophia is Celie's step son. Shug is a singer that Mr.____ Has loved all a long. Nettie is Celie's little sister that had no place left to go after her father kicked her out. The only thing Celie could offer her is a reverend's name. They took her in to help teach and take care of kids on a missionary trip to Africa. This whole book can teach ANYONE (yes even men) how hard life is and how little we thank for how much we have.