Original post at Book Rhapsody.

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Intro

I am the only reader in our family. I might sound a little condescending, but it really is true. I am the only person in the most recent generation of our family tree who would spend a lot on books. A few of my cousins show some interest in reading, but they do not read as voraciously as I do.

So it really is rewarding when I get my cousins to read by simply letting them check out my books. One cousin read a book I left on the dresser. Never mind that it was More...

La vicenda narrata in questo libro racchiude diversi temi, ciascuno dei quali racchiude una possibile chiave di lettura. La storia della protagonista, Celie, ha luogo nel profondo sud degli Stati Uniti, in un arco temporale che, più o meno, va dalla fine del 1800 giunge sino agli anni '40.
E' però riduttivo individuare un'unica protagonista; in realtà la storia di Celie si intreccia con quella di molti altri personaggi, ciascuno dei quali svolge un ruolo essenziale nell'economia del romanzo.
Se

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I read The Colour Purple in my early teens, was traumatized by the graphic abuse portrayed, and vowed to never read it again. I was curious about why so many of my GR friends rated it so highly and was eventually convinced to give it another go.

Years after my first read, I still (of course) have the same visceral reaction to the abuse but that no longer blinds me from seeing the magnificence of Alice Walker’s storytelling, and how she brings her characters to life.

Celie is the protagonist of the More...

Since its release in 1982, The Color Purple had been a subject of frequent censorship due to its violent sexual content and language. Not to mention the casual and constant change of partners, lesbianism and the polygamous society of the Olinka tribe. Written in epistolary form, the book is a series of letters addressed to God through which our protagonist, Celie, found solace in her chaotic life. She exists in a time of male dominance and fixed gender roles.

“Well sometime Mr._____ git on me pr

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I first read this in high school, and really enjoyed it. I re-read it in 2007, and enjoyed it just as much the second time.

First thing I should mention: This is not the book for you if you object to blunt language about sexuality, and strong language in general. The themes in this one are very real, and very shocking. However, if you can get past that, the story does offer some very touching moments.

The story, in a nutshell: Celie, a poor black girl living in Georgia, overcomes poverty, sexual o More...

It was a beautiful story that made you want to cry, laugh and smile along with the characters. Well put together plot line, the characters were people you could really feel for and identify with. I loved the humanness of it all, way different stories were intermingled with each other and how you felt closure at the end of it all. Read it. Everyone.

Raided from the local library, for when I driving. Had seen the film, but never read the book. The film (on second viewing - didn't like it first time - was good,) but the book outclassed this by a long way.

Alice walker, as reader of the story was excellent, as well as excellent in the role of author.

She is one of the few authors who made 'good' characters believable and attractive. Ceilie is wonderful. Loved the way the story worked out into a reconcilliation of the main characters - even Miste More...

Walker's characterization is one of the best I've encountered so far in my reading. There are many memorable characters in this book, The Color Purple that I will probably remember for a long time. Walker's characters are not caricatures as they are well-developed and multi-dimensional, i.e., not only with both their good and bad sides revealed to the readers but also the reasons why they behave or think that way. Even the secondary characters like Squeak or Mary Agnes contributes in bringing ou More...

"They are the blackest people I have ever seen, Celie. They are black like the people we are talking about when we say, "So and so is black than black, he’s blueblack." They are so black, Celie, they shine. Which is something else folks down home like to say about real black folks. But Celie, try to imagine a city full of these shining, blueblack people wearing brilliant blue robes with designs like fancy quilt patterns. Tall, thin, with long necks and straight backs. Can you picture it at all, More...

As many of my companions know I have recently re-read 'The Color Purple' because it was voted as the November group-read by participants of the "Feminist Readers' Discussion Group" which I facilitate. I have so very many thoughts and ideas rattling around in my mind on how to structure our gathering next month that I can barely begin to write this review.

I'll keep it brief...

Quite unsurprisingly, I once again experienced 'The Color Purple' to be a harrowing yet compelling and inspirational read. More...

This is one of my new favorite books.

The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a black woman who finds herself in one abusive situation after another. Her stepfather molests her, her husband beats her, and she is worn down by bearing and caring for children. Over the course of the book, however, Celie learns to stand up for herself and, more importantly, learns to love. Celie's personal development is prompted by her relationship with Shug Avery, a singer and her husband's former lover, who com More...

So why would I enjoy a book that starts with a rape scene?

I don't know if this makes me evil but I was not a bit affected by this novel. Yes, it was sad, deep and profound but it was nothing new. I was aware of sexual, verbal and physical abuse far before I read this book. As for the writing itself, I could barely keep myself awake. I understand that the narrator was uneducated and could barely spell words. However, it was still a headache for me to read it. Anyway, I liked the book though. It h More...

I think I was too young, or too untravelled, or too unbroken-hearted to fully appreciate this book when I first read it. (Though I did notice a few typos this time that would never have happened in the age of "search and replace.") This book is epic and intimate at the same time. Finishing it the night after our first black President won reelection was another added pleasure, but mostly I love how the book moves in unexpected and graceful ways that are commensurate with the topography of our liv More...

The color purple was really hard to understand but i worked hard .What the color purple was mainly about was celie learnig how to stand up for herself.her sister will always try to make her do it but it did not work.She let The Man beat on her and she did not know how to defend herself.When this lady got sick she came to live with celie an dcelie husband,and celie and the lady became very close and talked about a lot of things i think celie was in love with her.Well the lady was really nasty and More...

I'm surprised by how much I liked this book. Normally I hate books that I'm forced to read for school. It was just something about this book that clicked with me and sent me soaring off into Celie's world. What normally draws me to a book is either the magical world or the fact that there are quite a bit of hot sex scenes (though I'm very rarely in the mood for these kind of books). The Color Purple has neither of these and yet I still was using all my willpower to not read ahead. It is about Ce More...

Wow. I mean. Really. Wow.

You know how there are some books and their words wrap around you like a comforting blanket? Well...

This. Is. Not. One.

The Color Purple rips the clothes right off of your skin, leaving you bare and vulnerable. From the first freakin' moment opening the page. You are just THERE and you can't be anywhere else but THERE. Even when you're not.

Wow.

Have you seen the movie? I had. I thought I was prepared. Because the movie was devastating. I remember vividly being in the house More...

When talking about the power of books, I often mention something I call "the human spirit." However I would define it if I could, I believe The Color Purple comes closer than any other book to embodying, for me, this wonderful enigma. Walker's story, even after what is probably a dozen readings, continues to come to life like no other book. It pulses with the stuff of real human possibility and both the magic and wonder of the human experience. It literally moves me to tears every time I read it More...

(Notes made following the discussion at Earlsdon library Avid readers' group.)

The readers who gathered in July agreed that this novel, which many of us were reading for at least the second time, has a huge number of themes and an incredible depth of characterization for such a slim volume. One compared it to a haiku, saying it deals with enormous issues by examining something narrow and apparently bounded – in this case the life of a woman who is seldom exposed to money and never travels far fro More...

This is a deeply religious book, in a couple of different senses. First of all, the main character, Celie, narrates the book through letters she writes to God. She is trapped in abusive relationships, first with Pa and then with her husband Albert, referred to by her as Mr ______. She writes to God because she has nobody else to talk to after her sister Nettie disappears, believed dead. Gradually, through her relationship with Shug Avery and piecing together the truth about her past, she rids he More...

Plot Summary:
Celie, the book’s narrator, is a young black teenager who is writing letters to God. Her father, Alphonso, abuses her, rapes her and fathers her two children.
A man who is referred to as Mr. ________ tries to marry Nettie, Celie’s younger, more attractive sister. Her father rejects this but suggests that he marry Celie, an offer that Mr. _______ accepts. Soon after she moves in with Mr. _____ and his family, she learns that he has a lover named Shug Avery. Celie is intrigued by Shug More...

If I'm in love with Maeve Binchy slowly but sure, I'm in love with Alice Walker in a rush. She's great at telling the story. This is my first encounter with her writing, and it make me intend to collect all her works, just like I do with Maeve Binchy. (well, a start for hunting good books, I always love this part!).
The book is so 'black'. The story is so compelling. You'll love the way its character describe every other character.
I know this book is kind of difficult to read for most of Indonesi More...

I picked this book up on a whim at my aunt's house (I'm currently on vacation with not enough reading material). I wasn't skeptical, per se, but I wasn't really interested, because I was expecting it to be like Beloved, which was a lot of work. But The Color Purple is an epistolary novel (ahh, freshman year English) from the point of view of an uneducated woman, Celie, who has been told her whole life that she is stupid and ugly. There is external action (the most interesting involving Celie's s More...

I have to give it five stars. I don't know how you can't, but it's a very disturbing and yet so penetrating image of love. Is there a person off-limits to love? Does your suffering justify where you find love? What is the difference between a man's love and woman's love? Is one better than the other? Is happiness only found in loving someone? And the greatest question, what does God say about it all, if He is even there? Is He made happy by what makes us happy, or is it something bigger than tha More...

(Originally published here: http://www.nbafictionblog.org/nba-win...)

I picked up my copy of Alice Walker's The Color Purple to jog my memory of it for this review. I found myself swallowing it whole, reading it cover to cover in one day, and not merely remembering why I liked the book, but loving it once again.

Walker accomplishes a rare thing: She makes an epistolary novel work without veering into preciousness. Rather, Celie's full-bodied voice emerges, a moody and honest voice, in an inherentl More...

The Color Purple is an excellent reading experience, and an interesting view of life. We see life through the eyes of Celie, who goes through a series of tragic ordeals as she grows into an young woman. Celie, as a black woman experiences being inferior to men, and to all white people. It is not until Celie grows through life, gaining experience that she learns about who she is and how to be content. Life is not about 'suviving', it is about living. However moving and successful this novel is, t More...

I bought this book at a library or church book sale in the early to mid '90s because I felt that it was something I should read. So for the past 15-ish years, it has sat on my shelf of "classics" intimidating the heck out of me. Now that it was suggested for book group and I've started it, I'm so glad I'm finally reading it. In fact, I'm so close to the end that I want to finish it before going to sleep, and it's already 1:19am. While it's not a thrilling, fast-paced ride, it is quite compelling More...