From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Start date: March 1, 2019

Finish date: March 31, 2019

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: March 2019 Completist Selection
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What Members Thought

Sep 07, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer-winning-fiction, fiction, american-20th-c, national-book-award, pulitzer-fiction, african-american-lit, novels, slavery

The Color Purple is an absolute masterpiece about love and redemption. Shug, Celie, Sofia, and Nellie are some of the strongest women characters in American fiction. I am literally writing this with tears streaming down my cheeks.

There is so much to unpack here as Alice Walker deals holistically with the fate of African Americans from the perspective of Africa and the tribes who sold their kinsman to white slavers, the devastation of Africa by European colonizers particularly after WWI leading t ...more

287 likes · Like · see review

Mar 25, 2019 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: completist-book-club, classic, historical-fiction, library, hoopla, 2019

Before I get into this review I should let you know that the ONLY thing I knew about The Color Purple is that it was a movie in the 80s. I knew nothing about the plot or subject matter – except for a few impressions of seeing Oprah and Whoopi in promotional stills or videos over the years. Also, I try to avoid reading book summaries unless absolutely necessary as I feel they often give too much away. I felt it was important to say this because as I have posted statuses and comments while I was r Before I get into this review I should let you know that the ONLY thing I knew about The Color Purple is that it was a movie in the 80s. I knew nothing about the plot or subject matter – except for a few impressions of seeing Oprah and Whoopi in promotional stills or videos over the years. Also, I try to avoid reading book summaries unless absolutely necessary as I feel they often give too much away. I felt it was important to say this because as I have posted statuses and comments while I was reading it, I felt like there was some shock that I didn’t know more about it already. So, now, how I was going into this book is all out on the table!

With that being said, this book was 100% not what I was expecting. This is not a good thing or a bad thing. It is just if you asked me to give a one paragraph description of what I was going to be reading about, I would have written down nothing nowhere hear this. I probably would have said something like “ex-slaves trying to survive in the post-Civil War South”. Well . . . spoiler . . . that is not what it is about.

I will next mention a phrase that kept going through my head as I was trying to prepare to write my review. I kept saying to myself that “I am not sure I can, should, or have any right to write a review of this book”. It is a powerful and raw story about subject matter that is important and that I don’t really know a whole lot about. Because of that, I cannot say for sure how I can possibly do a review justice. I decided that while I will do this review, it is important to remember that this book transcends any possible viewpoint I have of it.

One thing that I came out of this book surprised about is that it is more about women, women’s rights, and female relationships than it is about race. Don’t get me wrong, race is an important element, but the way that the men view and treat women and the way the women look at and treat themselves is the crux of this story. As mentioned above, this book is raw – not too extreme – but raw enough to warn readers that some of the subject matter is difficult and it may stir up strong emotions, especially if you are a woman.

While I found the book to be powerful and important, I am going with 4 stars because I struggled at times with the writing. I admit that this is just my preference and is all on me. Some of you may love the way it is written, but I found that it was the reason I found myself taking long breaks from the book.

This book is important to read for any person trying to make sure they hit all the classics. Also, people with an interest in historical fiction and women’s studies would benefit a lot from this story.
...more

256 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2015 Caroline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feminist, classics

I had kind of been putting off reading this book because I knew it would be quite serious and (let's be honest here) I am very rarely in the mood for a serious book. But I promised I would read the Our Shared Shelf books with my sister and so I read it and I was kind of surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The story is told in letters written by our main character Celie. She is a black woman, living during a horrible time in American history. She is raped and mistreated and unappreciated for a lot ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2014 Srividya Vijapure rated it really liked it

Shelves: srividyas-2014-challenge

This month has been a wonderful reading month for me, giving me a lot of good books to read and enjoy while also teaching me a lot of lessons.

This was one book that has been on my TBR since a long time and I am glad that I got to finally reading this. Can't truly describe how I feel as this book leaves you totally speechless and filled with a lot of profound thoughts. One thing I can definitely say is that I lived this journey with Celie and Nettie and they have become a part of me today. I felt ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 26, 2019 Rachael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-favorites, lgbtq

Definitely one of my new favorite books... I don’t know how I haven’t read it before now! So much wisdom about gender, race, love, and yet so much more. Excuse me while I go watch a pirated version of the broadway musical and cry.

2 likes · Like · see review