The Purple Colour: Book Review

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. 

"A Fine Balance" By Rohinton Mistry

Its past one o clock at night and I should have been in the bed two hours ago in order to be prepared to reach office on time tomorrow but here I am trembling and shaking, unable to move with the baggage of having read a saga of great misfortunes in the book “A Fine Balance” by Rohinton Mistry. I toiled with last 100 pages for more than week with a meek hope that somehow the author will contradict the statement made over and over again in the book, “everything ends badly”.

“A Fine Balance” is a story of four people and how their lives get intertwined with each other, yet their fate remains solely theirs.  Dina Dalal is woman in her forties, a widow and is trying hard to lead a dignified life without taking help from her snobbish elder brother Nusswan. She had always been the tough nut to crack for her brother with her indomitable spirits. She married a man of her own choice much against his will. Her husband died after 3 years of their marriage and she never married again.  She gets into a contract with a garment company and hires two tailors, Ishvar and Om. Om is Ishvar’s nephew and they belong to the Chamaar community. Ishvar and Om had come to city to ward off their past which stinks of ill-treatment, sufferings, burnt bodies and with them a whole generation of hope, love and happiness. For a steadier income, Dina decides to accommodate a paying guest into her flat. Maneck, Dina’s ex-classmate’s son enters the scenario.

Set in the emergency era, the story impeccably handles the details of the world the government creates for the poor and the world that is ultimately created. For person born in the nineties like me who had known nothing about those turbulent times, the book indeed drafts out the era with precision. And the precision comes out boldly with the characters the author has painted in bright colours even though their lives are painted in stale chalk powder.

This is not the book you would want to open and re read again as once you have read it, it will remain with you and direct your understanding of life. You will feel sad and will remain in despair for a long time, accusing the author of stealing you a happy ending. You will curse him for over exaggeration and will produce a catastrophe at the end of every misfortune. But you will surely thank the author for writing such brilliant novel which has greatly changed your perception of life.

P.S Please share your reviews on the book if you have read it.  

Things I Want My Daughter To Know

Things I Want My Daughter To Know

by Elizabeth Noble

I bought this book few years back and left it after reading first few pages. I am not one of those who get hooked to a book just after laying hands on it. I take time to let the book grow on me till I get immersed in its world (not if it’s Dan Brown of course). But I didn’t give this book the privilege of grow on me. Last week when I had nothing left to read, I skimmed through my bookshelf and reluctantly took it out with the thought of scanning the pages till my next visit to the bookshop which was due on the following evening.

But against my due plans, the visit to the bookstore never happened as I found myself glued to the book within minutes of opening it. The book revolves around a mother, Barbara and her four daughters. The mother dies of cancer but she still feels there are things that she always wanted to tell, share and teach but will not be able to do so because of her illness. So she writes each daughter one letter and leaves her journals where she has penned down every phase of her life.

Lisa is 37 and still commitment phobic. Jennifer, 36 is dealing with an unhappy marriage and can’t share it with anyone. Amanda the traveller has been an escapist all her life until she finds herself in love and begins to confront things. And Hannah is the teenager who is just exploring her adulthood after going through her mother’s illness for two years. Amidst all the girls is Mark, Barbara’s husband and Hannah’s father. He too misses Barbara deeply and is confronted by his moral guards when he decides to date again. Barbara’s letters and journals give them the common thread to bind their lives together once again.

Overall the story is simple but with an impeccable narration. I would like to quote the opening line on the book’s cover,” I laughed, I cried. I could not put it down.”