The Color Purple - Alice Walker

This is another selection from my 52 Great Books to Read list. Even though The Color Purple falls in the category of books that I know something about because I watched the movie, the only thing I remember about the movie was that I bawled like a baby. So I was already a bit apprehensive about this book, and I went into it assuming it would just end up being a tear-jerker. I don’t necessarily mind being emotionally abused by a book (or a movie) to the point that I’m actually crying, for real. But if I suspect that that’s the entirety of what the experience will offer, I tend to lose interest. It’s the main reason I haven’t watched quite a few movies, because if it sounds so soul-crushingly devastating, I wonder why I would want to go through that. But, like I said, I don’t mind crying during books or movies. The most recent book that had me crying was Deathly Hallows, which I just finished re-reading a few weeks ago. Yeah, I admit it. I was bawling during the two chapters that reveal Snape’s true intentions. You know what’s even worse? I re-read those two chapters a few days later and I was still crying. I own up to it, but I’m not proud.

Anyway, I wasn’t too excited to start this one and I was preparing myself for one long sob story. And what happened instead was so much better. It is a sad story, clearly, but ultimately it’s a story about hope and redemption and finding true happiness. I would now say that it’s actually a pretty damn uplifting story. If every asshole you ever met in the world could turn himself around and find it in himself to become a good person, I would have a much better view of humanity. At least, this book showed me what that view could be.

The book is written entirely as a series of letters, first by the main character Celie, a young African-American woman, to God. Celie has already been tragically abused for someone her age by the time she decides to turn to writing as a way to cope with her emotions and the hardships she endures daily. Eventually, Celie begins to write her letters to her long-lost sister Nettie, once she becomes angry at God for the things that have happened to her. And somewhere in there, Celie discovers letters written by her sister that had been kept from her (Celie). At a young age, Celie is married off to a man who only wants a wife to take care of the house and kids; she is separated from her sister Nettie, who becomes a missionary in Africa; and she is impregnated twice and forced to give up her children. And as crappy as that sounds, and despite the other really crappy things that happen throughout, the story really does grow more and more uplifting. Celie grows stronger, an emotional growth that is flawlessly executed in the tone of her narration.

The book also weaves in the story of a number of characters, including Celie’s sister, Celie’s stepson and his strong willed wife, and Celie’s husband’s mistress, among others. Everyone in the book goes through some kind of change and in some cases, some pretty amazing changes (particularly Celie’s husband).

The book won Walker a Pulitzer Prize and I guess it’s one of the most contested books out there. I’m not particularly interested in looking up what aspects of the book are the most debated, but I would bet a good $5 that scenes of homosexuality take the top of the list rather than scenes of domestic abuse. I’m not in the mood to get riled up and find out, though.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Even the writing style of presenting the story in letters worked out much better than I thought it would. And for a book with such a sad premise, it ends up being a pretty happy story. Surprisingly, I didn’t even cry at all.

30 down, 22 to go.