I generally don’t read books after watching the movies based
on them but here I made an exception which I don’t regret. I picked up the DVD
of the movie just by its title,” The Colour Purple”. Purple always fascinates
me. Also the back of the DVD cover said. “Directed by Steven Spielberg’. And I
could not resist.
I laughed and cried through the movie and bought the book
the next day. The Colour Purple is the story of Celie, a black woman in America . She
lives with her mother, her stepfather and her sister Nettie in shacks of
poverty. Her stepfather repeatedly rapes her and fathered her two children whom
he takes away. He furthers marry her off to Albert who treats her worse than a
beast, let alone love or respect her. Albert then forbids her to meet her
sister, only love of her life. One fine day Albert brings Shug Avery home, his
love of past so many years. Shug initially shuns Celie but slowly a bond is
formed between the two. A bond made in heaven. She finds her lost spirit back
and courage back through the charm and magic of Shug.
What makes this Pulitzer Prize awarded creation by Author
Alice Walker being hailed as one of the greats is its narration. Celie writes
to God her story in her own broken English which is some times heartbreaking
and sometimes relishing. The characters bring in every nuance of human
behaviour. The book brings out the greyscale of all the character so seamlessly
that they entwines with the shambles of good and bad perfectly. At the end you
just leave the book with a smile, sigh, and utter astonishment at the ordinary
characters and their extraordinary struggle with life.
P.S It doesn’t matter what you have read or not in the past,
this book is definitely worth a read.
