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    The Color Purple
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    The Color Purple
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    The Color Purple
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Color Purple

    Published by Recorded Books Audio

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.

    Editor's Note

    An American classic…

    A Pulitzer Prize winner, a film, and a Broadway show, it’s no wonder that “The Color Purple” made it onto the list of America’s favorite books with PBS’s “The Great American Read.” It follows the story of Celie, a poor black woman in rural Georgia, and her attempt to rise above the unlucky hand she’s been dealt.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2010
    ISBN9781440792496
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Color Purple

    4/5

    4,949 ratings173 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great book. Horrible movie.
    • 5/5
      Can we talk for a minute about how this is one of the most brilliant books I've ever read? Immediate love.
    • 5/5
      This is an epistolary novel with letters written by Celie, to God, asking about her condition. The story takes place in rural Georgia from about 1900-1936. African-Americans weren't officially slaves anymore, but times were tough and things for women really hadn't changed too much. The book focuses on growth, change, redemption and forgiveness. Very graphic as to both physical and sexual abuse. A very moving book. The title of the book comes from a line near the ends of the book, "God gets pissed when you walk by a flower and don't notice it's beauty." (It was a field of purple flowers) 295 pages
    • 3/5
      I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. It was quite a heartbreaking story all around. I loved Nettie (who was my favorite character) and I really enjoyed hearing about her trip to Africa. I thought it was interesting how the village held the roof plant as a sort of deity. I had a harder time getting through the other chapters because of the way that it was written. It was a good way to create a voice for the character but it was just not my style.
    • 5/5
      What an amazing book! The story is of Celie who has suffered so much abuse in her lifetime first by her father then her husband. Celie has no one for the longest time, her sister fleas to get away from their dad, she's forced to take care of ungrateful children, her two babies she had with her father are taken away from her and the town thinks she's trash for having babies so young. Women look down on her for being so passive and make comments about this to her face all the time. Her life changes when she meets Shug, a woman her husband is in love with and Celie can see why he does love her. Alice Walker is a fantastic writer, her characters are so well done and she uses letters to tell the story and it just works so good. The way the story unfolds at a steady pace keeps the reader interested. There are parts that are hard to read, the abuse, Celie's feelings about herself and religion, but all of it is worth it. Such a strong emotional read.
    • 5/5
      This is a spectacular book, isn't it? As a white Australian reading this in 2016, I am so far removed from the world of the novel for it to be an anthropological text. Walker's literary skills are superb, leading the reader on despite the often disheartening subject matter. And I can't even explain the thrill that ran up my spine reading sister Nettie's letters about her intellectual awakening in Africa. A classic.
    • 5/5
      I devoured this book. A very visceral, vivid read, quite difficult at times. Absolute highest recommend for any and all to read.
    • 5/5
      I have just had the pleasure of reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker for the second time. I first read it in high school and have found that it has a deeper meaning to me now, as an adult woman. The story reads to be more about the struggle of women in a time of deep oppression than I remember, although it largely about the oppression from prejudice. The novel speaks loudly to my heart and has given me a realistic look at what it meant to be a black woman during a time when anything other than submission could mean the difference between life and death.Celie tells her story with amazing honesty, showing every thought and feeling in a way that makes her one of the most real characters that I have met. In addition to Celie, there are numerous woman with different pasts that have shaped them into the women who they are. Nettie, Celie’s sister, is the only person that Celie has left who loves her and her disappearance leaves Celie alone, in a cruel and loveless world. Selia, a woman who will cower to no one and suffers some horrible consequences for speaking her mind. Shug is a woman who lives a life that is unacceptable to most of society. Shug is a harsh talking and mean-spirited woman who is comes into Celie’s life in an unexpected way and the relationship between the two women becomes precious and life saving for them both.The Color Purple is a thought-provoking saga of generations of abuse, the effects, a realistic look at the effects of prejudices, healing, love in the most unlikely places, self discovery and redemption and the one book that I have read that I believe should not be missed by a single reader. If you have watched the movie, you still need to read this book. The relationship that is built between the characters and the reader is like no other.
    • 4/5
      A good book. My memory is a little foggy, but I do remember really liking it and reading through it rather quickly.
    • 4/5
      Not at all what I expected - a book that grows on you as you get deeper in. Told in letters, firstly from Celie to God and then between the sisters Celie and Nettie, The Color Purple tells something of what it was like to be poor and black in the USA between the wars. And of how humanity and love can triumph in the darkest of circumstances. I found the beginning very confronting but as I grew to know the characters I grew to love them. Indeed it's a book about growth and change for no-one in the book remains static. It also reminds those privileged by way of our race or social standing that introspection and love can be found wherever there are human beings.
    • 4/5
      I'd never read this modern classic Pulitzer winner before, and on reflection I certainly see why it's important despite not really loving it. I suspect at the time it was published it was something like a bolt of lightening--not unique or first but certainly striking and electrifying. I didn't care much for the style (and one stylistic choice--using a dash for a man's name--annoyed me enough to jolt me out of the story occasionally, even after I'd told myself to stop mentally whinging about it and carry on). I desperately wanted all of the characters to find some happiness or contentment or peace without, somehow, really caring about them as individuals. A book I will always be glad I read but not one which has settled on my heart.
    • 5/5
      What an amazing book! The story is of Celie who has suffered so much abuse in her lifetime first by her father then her husband. Celie has no one for the longest time, her sister fleas to get away from their dad, she's forced to take care of ungrateful children, her two babies she had with her father are taken away from her and the town thinks she's trash for having babies so young. Women look down on her for being so passive and make comments about this to her face all the time. Her life changes when she meets Shug, a woman her husband is in love with and Celie can see why he does love her. Alice Walker is a fantastic writer, her characters are so well done and she uses letters to tell the story and it just works so good. The way the story unfolds at a steady pace keeps the reader interested. There are parts that are hard to read, the abuse, Celie's feelings about herself and religion, but all of it is worth it. Such a strong emotional read.
    • 5/5
      ?The more I wonder, the more I love.?

      Celie is an African-American women who endures the effects of poverty and segregation in the American south. She is rejected over and over by family and society. She is raped, her children are given away, and she is separated from her beloved sister Nettie. You follow Celie's story from when she is a young girl and through her life. The brutal reality of Celie's life is heart-wrenching. Celie meets Shug Avery, another woman, but who is more in control of her life. In spite of her verbal, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, Celie still discovers love, joy, and strength.

      This book is amazing, it honestly leaves me speechless. It's so raw and honest and heartbreaking. It is full of strong female characters, exploring sexuality, sisterhood, and and self-realisation. You will be devastated from page one, and you will root for Celie every step of the way.

      Alice Walker expertly demonstrates the harsh reality of African American lives. While this is just one books, you are shown many character's stories and their lives, the choices they make, and what they risk. At the end of this novel, I felt a hole was left in my chest.

      There were many points of wisdom, showing the characters inspiring gratitude and optimism, in such a painful world.

      ?I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.?
    • 4/5
      After a slow start, I really enjoyed this book. I had no idea what to expect as it is usually not the type of novel I would read, but it surprised me with how interesting the story was. The novel is basically two stories. The first is about a black family in the South during the 1930s. The second is about a black missionary in Africa during the same years. I really enjoyed the parts set in Africa, and came to enjoy the parts set in the South as new characters were introduced. The issues of love and the treatment of women were very well done and I felt immersed in the story by the time the novel came to an end. I would certainly read more by this author.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one.
    • 4/5
      A good book. My memory is a little foggy, but I do remember really liking it and reading through it rather quickly.
    • 5/5
      This book tells the story of two African-American women: Nettie, a missionary in Africa and Celie, a child-wife living in the South in 1930's Georgia. They correspond with letters which Celie begins 'Dear God'. Celie is in a brutal marriage and separated from her sister......with their faith in each other they survive in this wonderful novel.
    • 5/5
      Nobody warned me about the amount of crying I would do while reading this book - sad crying, happy crying, this book just really played on my heartstrings! On the one hand, it was awkward since I brought it as my airplane read for a business trip, but on the other hand I'm glad I had such an immersive, addictive book to take my mind off airport terminals and delays. The one-line summary would be something like "epistolary novel about a poor black woman who is basically traded off into marriage by her father to a terrible guy but who survives through her friendships/romantic relationships with the women in her life" but it really is so hard to capture exactly what it was that made this book so enthralling; the writing was excellent, the characters were excellent and all interesting and easy to relate to even as you watched them hurt each other...it was just one of those books that flew past in a couple of hours but also is still sitting with me mentally/emotionally. It's rare for a book to be so incredible in terms of depth and complexity yet also so incredibly easy to keep reading from page one, almost no ramp-up required before I was totally immersed and invested.
    • 4/5
      A heartbreaking an moving story. It will make you cry. A must read!
    • 3/5
      A moving story about the life of an African American living in pre-war South. Celie narrates the story of her life and all the hardships that encompass her. Alice Walker maintains the Southern flavor with the rural grammar of Celie and the other characters. The setting evolves beautiful scenes with flowers and marvelous fragrances. Food shines throughout the story, even though the families seem dirt poor. The friendship of the women cement the story, with their protection of one another. Alice Walker shows sub-human, mostly crazed animals as the men in the story. No man stands as a likeable character. The story concludes with all the loose ends sweetly tied.
    • 5/5
      What can I say about THE COLOR PURPLE? Wow. It's the ultimate story of survival, even when everything in life is stacked against you. When Celie tells her sister Nettie to write, and Nettie responds "Nothing but death can keep me from it!" well, that's when the tears start flowing. I've loved this book for 25 years, and just recently did I get a chance to listen to it on audio. It's narrated by the author herself, Alice Walker, and her voice was perfect for Celie. I enjoyed it so much, and I think everyone should give this book a read or listen. Powerful!
    • 4/5
      Compelling reading for the challenging subjects of child sexual abuse, desertion of children, genital mutilation, African American livesin the rural South, Africa after slavery, and more -Alice Walker deals with all of this while unfolding Celie's existence and awakening in many beautiful and unexpected ways.She does not flinch from delivering no decent males until Samuel and Adam, with God and Love in their hearts, step up.Book would flow better if "Mr. ___________" was simply replaced by "Mr. (any name or letter)."
    • 5/5
      One of my favorites
    • 5/5
      Powerful, serene, and equal parts tragic and uplifting, it is undeniable that The Color Purple deserves its place among the greatest American books.
    • 4/5
      This was a really good book. I would definitely recommend this book to others, and wish I hadn't waited so long to read it. I have to admit that it started out pretty slow for me, but once I got past the first several chapters I was hooked. The Color Purple delved into some pretty serious issues such as child abuse, racism, missionary work and relationships people develop over time among the many in here. I think Ms. Walker did a good job of covering these topics, too. She didn't really sugar coat them or throw them in your face. They were simply there, and the characters had to decide how to deal with them (or survive them). What really made the book, though, were the characters far more than the world they lived in. They seemed very real to me. Not only did the book cover a rather long span of years, but the characters came and went as you would in real life. They also changed. They were not static creatures whose values and ideas remained perfectly still. They lived and learned with each new year and new situation. My favorite line from the book: "Time moves slowly, but passes quickly."
    • 5/5
      Utterly brilliant and breathtaking. Rarely does an author create a narrative voice so compelling, so poignantly sad and simultaneously strong. The is a story of the triumph of faith and love over racism, misogyny, and economic enslavement. Published 35 years ago, but as relevant and resonant today as it was in 1982.
    • 2/5
      I don't really understand the hoopla surrounding this book. The blurb on the back was totally misleading. Maybe the movie is better....
    • 5/5
      I have no good reason as to why it has taken me so long to read this book. I kept putting it aside because I saw the movie several times. I thought there would not be much difference between the two. I was totally wrong. The movie was not a total shot in the dark but like in most cases the book is much better. Walker presents her characters with so much clarity. Disappointment and misery were Celie's companions early in life. She was molested repeatedly, forced to marry as a teenager, and torn away from her children and sister. All these tragedies were forced upon her by men which led to her life long disdain for them. There was a certain inner strength that Celie possessed that would not allow you to pity her. The same was true for Sophia. Shug was the most celebrated of the women. She could be likened to a strutting peacock. Behind all that show and celebrity was a weak woman. Of all the characters my opinion of Mr. changed the most. Contrary to how the movie depicted him, Mr. did not remain a lazy, abusive, self centered individual. When faced with severe loneliness, he began to examine his life and made the necessary changes. Mr. and Celie were able to build a friendship later in life which was a true test of the human spirit. Walker did not allow the reader to lose touch with Celie's sister, Nettie. Lives were taking shape and new relationships blossoming in America and Africa all while each sister thinks the other is dead. Even though Nettie and Celie were separated for years and unsure of the other's plight they never gave up hope. Their love saw no end. The Color Purple demonstrated how love will cover a multitude of faults. Walker's writing style reminded me of J. California Cooper. Celie held this story together because she refused to be broken.
    • 5/5
      "The Color Purple" is one of the strongest statements of how love transforms and cruelty disfigures the human spirit that this reviewer has ever read. Alice Walker gives us Celie, 14 years old when the book opens, who has been raped, abused, degraded and twice impregnated by her father. After he takes her children away from her without a so much as a word, he marries her off like a piece of chattel to her husband, who is so cold, distant and inhuman to her that she can only refer to him as Mr; and this person deprives her of her sister Nettie, the only one who ever loved her.

      Celie manages to survive by living one day at a time. Her life is a series of flat, lifeless panoramas painted in browns and grays. Into this existence, if you can call it that, comes Shug Avery, her husband's mistress, who shows Celie her own specialness and uniqueness. A lot has been made about lesbianism in this book and all of it is beside the point. Celie isn't a lesbian, she is a human being in need of love and Shug Avery helps Celie realize that she is somebody worth loving and caring about. When Celie hurls her defiance into Mr's face -- "I'm poor, I'm black, I may be ugly... but I'm here", she is making an affirmation not only to him, but to the whole world; the reader can only say, along with Shug Avery, "Amen".

      When Celie finds the strength to leave Mr, he is left to face the reality of himself and what he sees isn't pretty; his transformation humanizes him and allows Celie to call him Albert, recognizing him as a person, as he finally recognizes her as one. The last chapter makes many readers go through half a box of Kleenex (Stephen Spielberg once said in an interview that he "cried and cried at the end" of the book), but Walker doesn't play cheap with the reader's emotions; she has a powerful story to tell and she tells it with such consummate skill and sensitivity that she brings us into it and makes it ours. This is a book to be treasured and read over and over again.
    • 5/5
      This was a book that I had to put down from time to time -- to think about what I had read and "inwardly digest" it. I don't think Walker has ever produced anything close to how good this book is.