Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

87 reviews

rory1387's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Rape and Incest

studiouspoppy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved it. It’s definitely hard to read and contains a lot of race-gender based violence, but that’s life. The religious reflections were really interesting, and the discussions on sexuality were truly ahead of its time. The difference in the narrators voices was so well done too, same with their evolution. The sisterhood, the different types of love, the diverse families were everything!
Will be rereading it, and I will definitely recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and War

saojimenez's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

i literally hate classic lit, but THIS WAS SO GOOD OMFG!! i loved watching celie’s character grow as the story went on. and the discussions of womanhood and religion>>>> it was genuinely such an amazing book, and i’m glad i loved it as much as i did (:

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexism

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I can see why people like this book and I did enjoy the community formed by the various women for survival even when they didn't like one another very much. However I felt that most of the characters weren't very deep and a lot of things seemed to be forgiven way too easily. There is a sort of "plot twist" in the mid point which seemed to have no purpose aside from making another character seem more "valuable" to Celie.

Additionally, while looking up information about the book while reading I discovered very recent and bizarre antisemitic comments that Alice Walker has made and I can't recommend reading a book by a living author who is out there recommending David Icke and Alex Jones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Medical content, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Ableism, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Body shaming

criticalgayze's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I have had a hard time sitting down to write this review, which is partially why I'm sitting down to it six days after having finished.

This novel was really powerful, especially the first half. It does that thing that all marginalized people's fiction feels like it has to do where it is simultaneously a history/anthropology lesson while being a deeply felt character study. Walker does some truly interesting things with language here, and I really appreciate the form, which is justified from the novel's start. I also am thankful for a modern classic that is so unabashedly Queer, and I don't think that aspect of the story is talked about enough. You can feel the authors that Walker is in conversation with here, most notably Hurston, and you can tell the authors who have been in conversation with her since, Whitehead is springing most quickly to mind.

But about halfway through the novel I took a trip over to Walker's Wikipedia page where I read some truly troubling things she's said in support of antisemitic creators. While she has tried to underplay the antisemitism in these works she supports, it does not come across as being very absolving of what one has to make the leap to assume are her own personal beliefs to some extent.

About the same time, the book dipped in interest for me. While we may try to push the separation of art from artist, I don't know that this is an achievable feat for me as a person, especially when Walker is a living author who has made these comments at least as recently as 2017. I don't know if the dip in my personal connection to the story can truly be said to be on the story's merit or on this disagreement with Walker's personal beliefs.

I do feel like I can say confidently that there is some extent to which the novel doesn't quite stick the landing to me as the novel's fade to black ending does feel a little overly sentimental and rosy in what up to that point has been a fairly searing tough hang of a novel.

Maybe one day I'll come back to try to review this more objectively, or maybe I'll just stick with the people who are having similar conversation in their works that don't come loaded with public baggage. Only time will tell.

Quotes:
She got my eyes just like they is today. Like everything I seen, she seen, and she pondering it. (pg. 13)
He try to give her a compliment, she pass it on to me. After while I git to feeling pretty cute. (pg. 17)
Oh Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly. (pg. 184)
Let 'im hear me, I say. If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you. (pg. 191)
But it ain't easy, trying to do without God. Even if you know he ain't there, trying to do without him is a strain. (p. 192)
It hard enough to get by without being a fool. (pg. 219)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Police brutality

missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Abandonment

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Colonisation, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical trauma, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War and Slavery

aliciamanautou's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What can one say about The Color Purple - totally deserved every award and then some! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

butterflyy_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexism

icarus_has_risen's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This book really makes you reflect on life. It is a great book if you want to find and enjoy more diverse authors. I love this book so much. Will read again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Incest, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape