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Forgot how good this Classic is! The Color Purple Shad

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The Color Purple: A Novel Paperback – December 10, 2019

by Alice Walker (Author)

4.6 26,126 ratings

Book 1 of 3: The Color Purple

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Read the original inspiration for the new, boldly reimagined film from producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino.

Celebrating its fortieth anniversary, The Color Purple writes a message of healing, forgiveness, self-discovery, and sisterhood to a new generation of readers. An inspiration to authors who continue to give voice to the multidimensionality of Black women’s stories, including Tayari Jones, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Jesmyn Ward, and more, The Color Purple remains an essential read in conversation with storytellers today.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early-twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence. Through a series of letters spanning nearly thirty years, first from Celie to God, then from the sisters to each other, the novel draws readers into a rich and memorable portrayal of Black women—their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.

Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, The Color Purple breaks the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, and carries readers on an epic and spirit-affirming journey toward transformation, redemption, and love.

“Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, Black women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.” —Tayari Jones

“The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.” —Kiese Laymon

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Popular Highlights in this book

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I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.
Highlighted by 6,895 Kindle readers
But I don’t know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive.
Highlighted by 4,564 Kindle readers
I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I’m here.
Highlighted by 3,095 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker. Now a major motion picture! Read the original inspiration!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, Black women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.”
—Tayari Jones

“The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.”
—Kiese Laymon

“A novel of permanent importance.”
—Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek

“Indelibly affecting … Alice Walker is a lavishly gifted writer.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A story of revelation . . . One of the great books of our time.”
—Essence Magazine

“A work to stand beside literature of any time and place.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Places Walker in the company of Faulkner.”
—The Nation

“Remarkable expressiveness, color, and poignancy . . . not only a memorable and infinitely touching character but a whole submerged world is vividly called into being.”
—The New York Review of Books

“Richly evocative . . . a vibrant fugue of devotion and search for love.”
—Los Angeles Herald Examiner

“A national treasure . . . A rare and lovely book.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A saga filled with joy and pain, humor and bitterness, and an array of characters who live, breathe, and illuminate the world.”
—Publishers Weekly

“My go-to comfort novel is The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. Even though it touches on difficult subject matter like child abuse and forced marriage, this story believes that human kindness, courage and love can defeat any challenge. Its big, beautiful happy ending is heartfelt and hard-won. Every single time I read this book, I walk away as a slightly better person than I was when I picked it up.”
—Tayari Jones, The New York Times

About the Author

Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her novel The Color Purple. Her other novels include By the Light of My Father’s Smile and Possessing the Secret of Joy. She is also the author of three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, and several children’s books. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker now lives in Northern California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (December 10, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143135694
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143135692
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL670L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.29 x 0.75 x 7.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #9,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #241 in Black & African American Women's Fiction (Books)
- #330 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #1,058 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 26,126 ratings

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Alice Walker
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Alice Walker (b. 1944), one of the United States’ preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. In her public life, Walker has worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.
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Christopher A. Hubert
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Rhonda

Beautiful story!

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2024

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This is my first time to read after watching movie. I didn’t expect to read it as writing to Dear God as I felt it was like a diary that Celine wrote to witness what happened in her daily’s. Beautiful story - Sad, heartache, triumph and happy

2 people found this helpful

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Carlos H. Davila Jr.

Wonderful novel

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2024

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I’ve seen the movie many times to include the broadway play and the movie musical.
The book by Alice Walker is great to read and follows the flow of the movie.

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AmandaReadsSoMuch

Devastating but beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2024

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This book has such devastating and beautiful content. I took a while to get into it, but once Nettie entered the "conversation", the book flew by and I really appreciated the time and place and how strong the female characters were. By the end of the book, even Mr. ____ had grown and changed from true villain into someone that could be rooted for. The growth of the various characters and the way the women supported each other in such terrible circumstances are all reasons I can understand why this book has won awards. This made for a fantastic book club discussion.

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024

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Powerful story of growth and triumph in the face of abuse, poverty and prejudice.

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024

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For me, this book falls into the category of human behavior, struggles, and experiences that I want to read about. It’s fiction but reflects the times, namely how appallingly white people treated black people, especially women, in the first half of the twentieth century. The dialogue is consistent and seems so authentic, staying true to the well-developed and endlessly endearing characters. I had so much love for Celie, Shug, Nettie, and Sofia—for their kind hearts and earned wisdom. Their courage, grace, and determination to survive and fight back had me cheering them on from beginning to end. I laughed and cried with them.

There are so many great quotes from the book, but one of the many that made me laugh hard was Sofia responding to white men calling her “Aunt.” As Celie explained, Sofia ast one guy “which colored man his mama sister marry?”

The Colored Purple is a gem of a book to be treasured throughout time and so well deserving of the Pulitzer Prize awarded to its author. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024

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Such a riveting story about ladies bonding during good and bad times.

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Andre Moore

Don't believe the hate

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024

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Such a smooth read, and yet it's timelessly powerful in its message.

3 people found this helpful

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Pence & Rodriguez

A Masterpiece!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024

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So glad at 59, I read this book. I have always loved THE COLOR PURPLE, the movie, the musical, the revival of the musical, the new movie (well not as much as the other 3), Whoopi Goldberg,

I wanted to go back to the source material - Alice Walker herself.

Told through a series of letters, I was never more engaged in a person’s life, in the heartbreaks, the love, the family, the friends who become family.

So thank you Celie for leading such a FULL LIFE that I was reminded of what it feels like to openly sob at the end of a book as you see your family. You are a life well lived - vulnerable, strong, unapologetic. “What if we be just friends?” has so much more meaning now.

Worthy of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and every other prize.
I now also appreciate how brilliant the screenplay was to pull the most important words fo the book and get those moments on screen. I will say Marsha Norman’s book for the musical seems to have used the movie for a LOT of inspiration. I am surprised Spielberg wasn’t given credit in her adaption.

We are in Costa Rica celebrating my boyfriends’ 60th birthday and this was the perfect book to close with.

“But I don’t think us feel old at all. And is so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt. AMEN.”

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Elizabeth Barter

Redemption and Forgiveness

Reviewed in Canada on March 6, 2024

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Some of found our way to "The Color Purple" via the 1980's movie . (I am among them). I think the first time I actually read the book,I got as far as the entrance of "Shug", then the book needed to go back to the library.
I didn't think much about it until recently until I heard about the musical. This confession done with , let's move forward to the novel.
The Color Purple ,to me, is a novel of redemption
and forgiveness, it's also about how we see God and the relationship we have with our faith.
Through Miss Celie, we see life in all it ugliness and beauty. She takes us on a hell of a ride.
From a battered 14 year old child , who is a baby ,having babies to an unappreciated wife . She goes through the wars,and eventually finds love . It's an arc, we've seen before , ( i.e ' The Book of Job, The story of Ruth, ...etc),the difference with Miss Celie, is that as she begins to rise and rediscover her humanity, her enemy Mister finds his too.
Job is run through the mill, miraculously,his faith survives. Miss Celie loses hers again and again, but then it sparks, walking with Shug. Bit by bit ,she finds herself beginning again. As her life changes,so does Mister's.
They have been at odds with the same unforgiving old testament God,it s not until
Shug comes into their lives and leaves them in their later years, that Miss Celie and Mister(Albert), understand how much they've
Suffered and what they 've endured.
This does not mean I m excusing Mister for being a serial batterer or a rotten spouse. I just saying that as Celie rises and regains her humanity, so is Mister(Albert). It should be noted his redemption isn't initiated until Celie nearly kills him; but it is observed by this reader, that said incident fast tracks to a road of changing his point of view .
I never saw that in the 2 movies that were based on this novel. His Redemption is equally as important as Celie 's. Like " The Kitchen God", Mister changes, thus Celie ' s faith and humanity is returned to her , when she forgives him.
This is why " The Color Purple" remains an award winning and significant novel. It's also why I will recommend it, to other readers.
Forgiveness is powerful, it frees us and let's us soar. Thank you for " The Color Purple."

Giomar Velasco

Una ventana al pasado y a las mujeres como hilo conductor.

Reviewed in Mexico on July 30, 2022

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¡No lo puedes soltar!

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Diamela

Me encanta

Reviewed in Spain on May 7, 2024

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Me gusta mucho el libro. Llegó en buen estado.

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trine

Amazing rich facetted book

Reviewed in Germany on January 26, 2023

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So many things to think about, so many peculiar thoughts and open questions. So much honesty about human ugliness and disdain... and at the same time the story and writing explore true, real love across all conventions and social expectations. I love this book. Thank you to the author.

Taiza Nascimento

Entrou para os favoritos da vida

Reviewed in Brazil on September 16, 2020

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Nossa! A história é triste, é pesada, é real, mas termina bem, como para algumas pessoas. Leitura rápida, fluida, que prende e instiga. Personagens que te envolvem e te instigam. Representam cada um um pouquinho de qualquer pessoa, são reais, são bons e maus, com defeitos e qualidades. Fala de tantos temas, de tantos problemas, de uma forma ingênua, porém direta e sem máscaras. MARAVILHOSO!

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