Book Review of Color Purple by Alice Walker

Usually I write my review in a pattern but for this particular book I would like to talk about it in paragraphs as I want to add my personal comments too in it. Alice Walker represents the Black Feminism Movement and this novel is a perfect example of this. I read this novel as it was in my course. I must thank the people who introduced this to our Syllabi. I was stunned to know that such discrimination exists.

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I am not going to talk about the appearance and other things which I used to talk in my previous reviews. I will talk about the main aspects of this book.

“The Color Purple” is foremost the story of Celie, a poor, barely literate Southern black woman who struggles to escape the brutality and degradation of her treatment by men. The tale is told primarily through her own letters, which, out of isolation and despair, she initially addresses to God. As a teen-ager she is repeatedly raped and beaten by her stepfather, then forced by him into loveless marriage to Albert, a widower with four children. To Albert, who is in love with vivacious and determinedly independent blues singer named Shug Avery, Celie is merely a servant and an occasional sexual convenience. When his oldest son, Harpo, asks Albert why he beats Celie, he says simply, “Cause she my wife.” For a time Celie accepts the abuse stoically: “He beat me like he beat the children. Cept he don’t never hardly beat them. He say, Celie, get the belt… It all I can do not to cry. I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. That’s how come I know trees fear men.”

But during the course of the novel, which begins in the early 1900’s and ends in the mid-1940’s, Celie frees herself from her husband’s repressive control. Bolstered by her contacts with other women and by her affection for her yonger sister, Netti – who with Celie’s help has fled to Africa with a missionary group – Celie eventually leaves Albert and moves to Memphis, where she starts a business designing and making clothes.Ironically, it is Ablert’s real love and sometime mistress, Shug Avery, and his rebellious daughter-in-law, Sofia, who provide the emotional support for Celie’s personal evolution. And, in turn, it is Celie’s new understanding of an acceptance of herself that eventually lead to Albert’s re-evaluation of his own life and a reconciliation among the novel’s major characters. As the book ends, Albert and Shug sit with Celie on Celie’s front porch, “rocking and fanning flies,” waiting for the arrival of Netti and her family.

The plot summary gives us a clear picture of the discriminations Celie goes through. It further tells us about the various themes of the novel. The main theme is double discrimination. In this, Celie goes through rape by her own father and being ill treated by her husband. Even she is beaten brutally. She is also judged on the basis of her colour.

The other theme we come across is Male chauvanism. The male characters in this novel discriminate the female ones. They beat the females, rape them and hurt them.

A theme of Lesbianism can be noticed here. Usually, this concept is considered as a taboo in many countries but when we see this side and come across it we can say that yes, lesbianism is not wrong. There is very strong reason why this happened in the novel. Celie is beaten by her husband and one day when she comes across Shug Avery, she is surprised to see that she is bold, confident. This makes her admire her. Further, she began to confide in Shug. Shug gave her strength emotionally and physically. She felt safe in her arms. Shug made her an independent woman.

I personally feel Alice struggled so much to come out the shackles of male chauvanistic society and she confidently presented this book. I am impressed and still shocked that how could a father rape his daughter?  But this harsh reality is brought into notice.

Coming to the characters,I would say the female characters left me in an awe. Especially, Celie’s character. In the first part we see her weak, tormented girl and latter half showcase a new Celie who is independent and more confident. Shug Avery’s character is the stongest as she comes as a ray of hope in Celie’s life. Even Nettie has her own story to tell and how she comes out of it boldly. Whereas male characters are villaneous as Satan.

As far as the language is concerned. The book has errors. O wait a minute, they are not even considered because the whole book is written from the perpective of a 16 year old girl. The technique used in this novel is epistolary. This is one of the mind boggling book I have read. I could feel the sufferings of the characters and I have shed numerous tears.

Where you can buy this book?

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Color-Purple-Audiobook/B0030H1M5W?mkwid=DSATitle_dc&pcrid=81800400129&pmt=b&pkw=_cat%3Afiction&source_code=GO1GB907OSH060513&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_qW9BRCcv-Xc5Jn-26gBEiQAM-iJhW4QNzwNkZkFNC11WtunUHp8tFAAW8G_a4ZSwwTrUVMaAhjS8P8HAQ

https://www.amazon.ca/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=color+purple+alice+walker&tag=googcana-20&index=aps&hvadid=17456354982&hvpos=1t2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8655720657791970176&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=9000805&hvlocphy=9040175&hvtargid=kwd-935807835&ref=pd_sl_4kfyqtsuhu_b

http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/color-purple/author/alice-walker/?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_AbeBooks_DSA_GOOGLE-_-SRP%20esvg_8057494-_-_inurl:/book-search&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_qW9BRCcv-Xc5Jn-26gBEiQAM-iJhTMTrIiHkkvLFBeUlUz1HvPTdIytNUD9Zl2StPpA8woaAlAU8P8HAQ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/1780228716

http://www.amazon.in/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/1780228716

ABout the Author

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Walker

 

She Swiped Right into My Heart : A special Review

She Swiped Right into My Heart by Sudeep Nagarkar has become number 1 bestseller in just a couple of days. The author has done an amazing job in delineating his characters and the way he tells his story surely reaches the hearts of the readers. His popularity has made him the heart throb of young generation.  Well, I ordered this book for the first time in pre orders and the happiness doubled when I saw his sign. Lets get into the technicalities and know more about this book :

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Cover- The cover of the book is light and dark blue which gives a soothing effect to the mind.

Title- The title of the book ‘SHe Swiped Right into my Heart’ is unique and has a lot of store in it which we come to know when we read it.

Plot-  The plot is really intriguing. The story is of Geet who is an unpopular girl and ends up making Rudra her fake boyfriend in order to play cool. Shibani and Tushita are her darlings who are always with her in her thick and thin. Tushita’s accident brings a shock to all of them and series of events take place that makes their friendship go through ups and downs.

Tushita’s love affair with Vivaan after her breakup with ANdy serves as a sub plot which meets with the main plot in the end and makes the novel fascinating.

Characterization-  Sudeep knows perfectly how much space is to be given to his characters and very well manage it. Geet’s character goes through a roller coaster ride. SHe is depicted as a dull, underconfident, victim of bullies but after she comes across Rudra she becomes preety, bold and confident which makes the readers love her character.

Shibani’s attitude and her love for bikes makes her stunning but her evil act makes us hate for sometime and in the end she undergoes a change which makes us like her again. SHe is shown as the mouthpiece of Sudeep who takes to a different side which most of us are aware of it but we never pay any heed to it.

Tushita is treated as the princess character and her accident brings tears in the eyes of the readers. But when Vivaan brings positivity in her life, makes the readers relieved. Vivaan is shown as an introvert character who hides his feelings for Tushita and later on when he says his heart out, this leaves us in an awe.

RUdra is shown as the victim of his own issues. He sounds cool and carefree but in his deep, he is a tormented which is delineated perfectly bye SUdeep.

Andy plays a cameo role in the novel and his evil acts make us hate him. ANd those girls who used to bully GEet, adds hatred in our hearts for them. But as they say,” Without Villains a hero is incomplete so they all complete each other.

Theme- The major theme is of friendship. SUdeep highlights the trio Geet, SHibani, Tushita who love each other unconditionally and grow through a lot of mess but still stand together in the end. The other important theme is of love. Geet and Rudra’s love story is super fantastic. One can feel living those lovey dovey moments. Further, TUshita and Vivaan’s story is really cute and has a lot of struggle in it. Last but not the least, They are the significant themes in the novel, bullying and Lesbianism.

Bullying is the act of teasing a person and humiliating him by reminding his follies. This act makes a person depressed and lose his confidence. Geet is the victim of this act and readers end up crying when she goes through this.

Lesbianism is an act in which a female is attracted towards a female. In this context, Sudeep has made Shibani his mouthpiece. Sometimes, it is not easy for a person to identify his gender roles. Everyone has their own preferences and its normal to be a lesbian. But Shibani struggles herself and ends up doing those things which she was not supposed to do. But in the end, she accepts herself and even her friends accepts her which goes in a positive way.

Style- The language is simple,lucid and clear. The author has used epistolary technique through Tushita’s diary entries. The narrative is impersonal and a third person narrative. The sub headings are unique. The author has done full justice to the novel.

Availability- http://www.amazon.in/She-Swiped-Right-into-Heart/dp/8184007450

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29772476-she-swiped-right-into-my-heart

http://www.flipkart.com/she-swiped-right-into-my-heart-english/p/itmehb7zfeu4gsyh

Others Reviews- http://dna-of-books.blogspot.in/2016/05/she-swiped-right-into-my-heart-by.html

http://hungerbrain.com/book-review-she-swiped-right-into-my-heart/

ABout the Author

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Sudeep Nagarkar is an author of 6 Best-selling Novels. His books are inspired from true incidents. His book “It Started With A Friend Request” is the most popular fiction book of 2013. He was awarded 2013 Youth Achievers award for being one of the best-selling Romance Writers in India.

He Quit his Managment job in 2012 to become a full-time writer after the success of his second book.

More pictures of Sudeep Nagarkar’s book

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Will post the interview soon.. Stay tuned to more updates ..:)