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Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'
The Third Life Of Grange Copeland; Meridian; The Color Purple by Alice Walker
3 reviews
squidsmash's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Death, Slavery, Racism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Violence, Racial slurs, and Infidelity
rlgreen91's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Ok, so I had planned to give myself until the next day to review this like normal, and then of course time got away from me. So now here I am about a month later, trying to reflect on this novel - and I think what still stands out to me the most is the relationship between Grange and Ruth and Josie as a character.
I really enjoyed the relationship between Grange and Ruth, perhaps because it reminded me of my relationship with my grandfather in some ways. I could practically see the love and care each developed for each other over the years. It's a bit hard to explain - I'm not sure how to without just listing out all of their interactions and hoping others realize the relationship is more than the sum of all of those parts. But getting to see the depiction of their relationship was wonderful.
As for Josie the character - it's funny, by the time I got to the end I realized that she reminded a lot of Shug Avery from The Color Purple. They have fairly similar backstories, in terms of their reputations, their love lives (and how that affected their reputations), their relationships with their parents, children, lovers, etc., and how they went about their careers. But Shug Avery managed to achieve a level of personal peace and some degree of healing that Josie never did, or at least never did completely. Knowing that The Third Life of Grange Copeland was Walker's first book, I wonder how much of Josie influenced her eventual development of Shug Avery. I wonder if Walker had taken Josie, who realized how empty her life seemed towards the end, and said what if I had another woman like this who had somehow gotten to a point where she felt whole? It would be interesting to ask someday if I could.
There's still a lot more to this novel that I could talk about. Honestly, talking about Brownfield in full is probably a book unto itself, if not someone's dissertation. I'm sure this is a book I'll end up re-reading eventually, but maybe I'll swing by and jot down some more thoughts before then.
I really enjoyed the relationship between Grange and Ruth, perhaps because it reminded me of my relationship with my grandfather in some ways. I could practically see the love and care each developed for each other over the years. It's a bit hard to explain - I'm not sure how to without just listing out all of their interactions and hoping others realize the relationship is more than the sum of all of those parts. But getting to see the depiction of their relationship was wonderful.
As for Josie the character - it's funny, by the time I got to the end I realized that she reminded a lot of Shug Avery from The Color Purple. They have fairly similar backstories, in terms of their reputations, their love lives (and how that affected their reputations), their relationships with their parents, children, lovers, etc., and how they went about their careers. But Shug Avery managed to achieve a level of personal peace and some degree of healing that Josie never did, or at least never did completely. Knowing that The Third Life of Grange Copeland was Walker's first book, I wonder how much of Josie influenced her eventual development of Shug Avery. I wonder if Walker had taken Josie, who realized how empty her life seemed towards the end, and said what if I had another woman like this who had somehow gotten to a point where she felt whole? It would be interesting to ask someday if I could.
There's still a lot more to this novel that I could talk about. Honestly, talking about Brownfield in full is probably a book unto itself, if not someone's dissertation. I'm sure this is a book I'll end up re-reading eventually, but maybe I'll swing by and jot down some more thoughts before then.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Body horror, Death, Murder, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Child abuse, and Rape
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
maidenknightbradamant's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was not self aware enough to understand _why_ i stopped reading this book about a third of the way through, even though in retrospect it was obvious: it was only a few chapters after the most horrendous act of violence in the book. _Why did this stop me?_ I wondered. _I’ve read and watched much worse_. But unlike Hannibal or Dexter or whatever, this novel doesn’t glorify violence, and the violence doesn’t come from a place of alien apathy or dressed up in the aesthetics of an addiction. The violence is purely and deeply human, coming from a completely comprehensible place. It is not mysterious or grand, but mediocre and ugly.
Walker refuses to hyperbolize the nature of evil, in a way that reminds me a lot of Arendt. And like with Arendt, you get the impression that she also sees one’s humanity as mutable. It can be _revoked_, not by the actions of others, but by one’s own inaction, one’s own unthinkingness. This unthinkingness manifests in Walker’s book as a lack of what the elder Grange calls “soul,” but which we could also call “integrity” (and indeed, Walker does in her addendum.) It is the state of somebody who has given up the task of thinking, of pushing towards the good. Brownfield does this, as does Judge Harry, as does Josie(?), as do most of the racist whites in the story.
In Brownfield’s case, this is clearly a result of a life of consistent dehumanization. He has been shown only a life of unthinkingness, told only that he is incapable _of_ thinking, of action, of goodness, and so this is gradually what he comes to believe about himself. The silver lining of this harsh picture is that it tells us that nobody’s inhumanity— not even, it is implied, the racist whites— is pre-ordained. It is always something which can & should be fought against. And… I guess that has to be enough.
Walker refuses to hyperbolize the nature of evil, in a way that reminds me a lot of Arendt. And like with Arendt, you get the impression that she also sees one’s humanity as mutable. It can be _revoked_, not by the actions of others, but by one’s own inaction, one’s own unthinkingness. This unthinkingness manifests in Walker’s book as a lack of what the elder Grange calls “soul,” but which we could also call “integrity” (and indeed, Walker does in her addendum.) It is the state of somebody who has given up the task of thinking, of pushing towards the good. Brownfield does this, as does Judge Harry, as does Josie(?), as do most of the racist whites in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Domestic abuse
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