Alice Walker

Advantages: Excellent story line, poignant
Disadvantages: Long, might be too heavy for some

...Just as Alex Haley's "Roots" was, so Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" is another of those books which brought black authors into the mainstream in the last few decades. I remember the movie, with Oprah Winfrey playing the slightly simple girl, whose life was one of all kinds of abuse and who did not realise that what was happening to her was not the way it was supposed to be. Written in the colloquial dialect of the uneducated Southern black, it is her thoughts and reasonings behind all that is happening to her, and is written in terms of her relationship with God. There are poignant pieces of giving thanks for small pleasures, and cries for forgiveness for sins she feels she has committed. You feel for the character so much, and you find yourself urging her to stand up for herself, to run, to get away. Alice Walker paints... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: broken down text, easy to read
Disadvantages: long and difficult to under stand phonetically spelt words

...The book in an excellent read, which makes your heart turn from side to side inside you. The scene has been set well, and the stroyline is one which will make you want to read till you finish the book without stopping once. I personally felt the book addressed many issues of the time, and is interesting not only to know about the period and traumas but about the cruelties of life in general as well as a religious theme to it. Alice Walker has proved herself to be an excellent writer with this boo, and if you've watched the film adaptation then it's definitly recommended you read the book which is far better. You need to have a stomach to read some parts of this novel as it is very heart wrenching... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful

Advantages: great read
Disadvantages: hard to read

...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful