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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“Why do tired people sing? I asked Corrine. Too tired to do anything else, she said.”
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was certain I'd already read this book when I picked it up for book club, but I realized I hadn't, and as I read it, I remembered just how much I love Alice Walker's writing. She has a great unique style and explores human nature in an incredible way.
Can’t believe I’ve only just now read this beautiful book.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
My copy of the book came with a beautiful foreword by Alice Walker asking the reader not to overlook that this book was a spiritual journey through the concept and presence of God. So I began the book aware that although there were other themes, the author thought I should be particularly attuned to spiritual resonance. A quarter of the way through, I realized in my focused reading to find these “enlightening meanings”, I had tuned down the vibrating energy of Celie’s strength and insight, Shug’s love and rebellion, Nettie’s adventuring and compassionate soul, and Sofia’s defiant and nurturing leadership.
A review of the book I read after wallowing in my emotions at the end criticized that Walker tried to touch upon too many themes that drowned out Celie’s storyline. But honestly, as a woman of color myself, I know there is no hierarchy or limit upon oppressions. If, like Celie, you are a poor Black woman, you live at the intersection of some of the most marginalized social identities in American society. To ignore that domestic abuse, toxic masculinity, white supremacy, colonialism, sexual abuse (particularly of women), slavery, restrictive gender norms and forced poverty are not interwoven in both roots and effects in society, is a blindness and a privilege in itself. I know Celie, Shug, Mary Agnes, Sofia, Odessa, Nettie, Tashi, and Olivia better for knowing the depth of their lives, their simple pleasures and determined rebellions along with their imprisoning circumstances.
To circle back, I ended the book feeling an overwhelming sense of love. Shug’s contagious love, and the way “she knows how to love you back”; Celie’s unwavering devotion to Nettie and Shug; Sofia’s powerful love that comes with the expectation of trust and respect from and for her partner, and her deep nurturing motherhood; Nettie’s love for curiosity, and the generosity of spirit that lets her love her children in the least because they are hers, Corrine’s and Celie’s and in the most for who they are as proud young people. I have always believed love is God, and so here I am at the end, realizing, that yes, Walker was right. A book with love and nature is a book with God in every letter and word. A world with love and nature is a world with God, regardless of what atrocities humans unleash in that world amid the love and light.
A review of the book I read after wallowing in my emotions at the end criticized that Walker tried to touch upon too many themes that drowned out Celie’s storyline. But honestly, as a woman of color myself, I know there is no hierarchy or limit upon oppressions. If, like Celie, you are a poor Black woman, you live at the intersection of some of the most marginalized social identities in American society. To ignore that domestic abuse, toxic masculinity, white supremacy, colonialism, sexual abuse (particularly of women), slavery, restrictive gender norms and forced poverty are not interwoven in both roots and effects in society, is a blindness and a privilege in itself. I know Celie, Shug, Mary Agnes, Sofia, Odessa, Nettie, Tashi, and Olivia better for knowing the depth of their lives, their simple pleasures and determined rebellions along with their imprisoning circumstances.
To circle back, I ended the book feeling an overwhelming sense of love. Shug’s contagious love, and the way “she knows how to love you back”; Celie’s unwavering devotion to Nettie and Shug; Sofia’s powerful love that comes with the expectation of trust and respect from and for her partner, and her deep nurturing motherhood; Nettie’s love for curiosity, and the generosity of spirit that lets her love her children in the least because they are hers, Corrine’s and Celie’s and in the most for who they are as proud young people. I have always believed love is God, and so here I am at the end, realizing, that yes, Walker was right. A book with love and nature is a book with God in every letter and word. A world with love and nature is a world with God, regardless of what atrocities humans unleash in that world amid the love and light.
A tragic, incredible, gut-wrenching read. Black stories told by Black voices are so poignant, reading this book stung, it educated me on parts of my history I didn’t know existed. I came away from this story changed in some way.