Book Review: The Color Purple

Book info

Title: The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker

Series: Standalone

Genre: Literary Fiction, Epistolary novel

Language: English

Pages: 262

Year of Publication: 1982

Plot

Set in the deep American South between the wars. It is the tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls ‘father’, she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie, and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker – a woman who has taken charge of he own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. (Wikipedia)

My Take

I had signed up for a reading challenge for which I was required to read a Pulitzer Prize winning book. That’s when I came across this book. You see, Purple is my favorite color and as such, I was instantly attracted to the book. I wondered how the book would live up to the title, but after completing the book, I can say that the book has aptly been named “The Color Purple”.

The book is written in epistolary format and in the deep South American dialect, and that makes it all the more interesting. Our protagonist, Celie, starts by writing letters to god, and then halfway through the book she starts addressing those letters to her sister, Nettie. You can see how the character transforms throughout the book and how in doing so, her relationship changes with those around her. It reminds me of the saying “you are only treated the way you allow yourself to be treated”.

Once I started reading it, I just couldn’t put it down. It’s a gem of a book. The story warms and chills your heart at the same time. I cannot sing enough praises for this book because no matter what I say, it wouldn’t be able to put it in words. It’s like you see a beautiful sunset and can’t describe the beauty. It can only be experienced.

To sum up the story up in one word – Beautiful.

Would I read it again? Definitely yes!

Favorite Quotes:

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”

“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.”