The Color Purple – Alice Walker

100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: For 30 years we follow the experiences of Celie, a woman who was consistently mistreated and underestimated, as she finds her voice and her purpose.

Expectation: A gorgeously written snapshot of life for Black people in the South during the early 1900s.

Reality: The unique format didn’t allow you to learn about all the characters equally, but it did make this a quick, engrossing read.

Recommended For: Fans of modern classics and those seeking out banned or challenged books.

Why I Read It: It had been on my TBR for years, and I’m trying to read Black authors in recognition of Black History Month.

My Take:

There’s not much I can add to the discussion about a book that has endured in popularity — and polarization — for 40 years other than I found it to still feel very of the moment and deeply engrossing.

Even after viewing the Steven Spielberg film adaptation, once in full and in snippets over the years, and seeing the stage musical, I was still surprised by many of the events and even more engaged in Celie’s journey than I had been in the adaptations.

At first, I was surprised by the letter format, but it helped propel the narrative through time and events in a way that dense exposition cannot. It also helped fully realize Celie’s and Nettie’s voices and how they diminished and grew as time passed. However, some familiarity with the content — likely through the film or stage adaptations — could help assuage confusion.

Ultimately, Alice Walker took a complex and layered story and told it simply to great effect.

Of course, this format also means that you are left learning about other characters second hand, and my one complaint about “Purple” is that near the end we lost focus on a few characters — Sofia, specifically — that were such an essential part of the story at first and then became more tangential. 

This made me teeter between a four and five-star rating, but I couldn’t shake these characters in between readings and, to me, that’s the hallmark of an exceptional story.

An aspect that surprised me — and one I don’t fully remember from the adaptations — is Nettie’s experiences as a missionary in Africa with the Olinka. It was an interesting historical fiction snapshot of the intersection of colonialism and religion, made more complex because the people encroaching look like those whose land they settle on.

But, Celie. Dear, Celie. She is a character that everyone should spend time with. I was fully invested in every heartbreak and triumph, her love and attraction for Shug, her success and the reclamation of her narrative from the men that had exploited and mistreated her.

If you’re actively seeking out challenged or banned books to read, add this one to the top of your list.

Rating (story): 5/5 stars

Rating (narration): N/A

Formats: eBook (personal library)

Dates read: February 3 – February 9, 2022

Multi-tasking: N/A