Fathima Nazarin

The Color Purple is a true celebration of all that it means to be a female, to be a black female and more than that, it's clearly a honest one. It's the tale of Celie, a non so educated, young black girl, born into poverty and segregation. The person she calls Father, who raped her repeatedly and Mr_______ , her husband who treated Celie like a slave, made her life a hell. She has two children taken away from her, separated from her beloved sister Nettie and was living in this hell without any protests until she meets the galmorous Shug Avery, a singer and magic maker, a woman who has in charge of her destiny and lived a dream life. Gradually, Celie discovers her true self, percieve the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves. Celie was afraid of everything in her life. The women she met in her life, her Ma, her sister Nettie, Sofia, everyone told her to fight back, to be herself. But her notions were that she doesn't deserve happiness and freedom. She was thankful for being alive, nothing else. Celie was a wingless bird, sick of her life, but always keep a faith in God. It was Shug who taught Celie to fight, to embrace her freedom, to be happy. Celie found the essence of freedom, her true self. She explored a new world around her, felt a dazzling power inside her. Shug is a warm and witty character who believed in the love of god and herself, a woman who is aware of her powers and desires and who dared to live a life of her wish. Alice Walker didn't mention Pa and Mr_____ by their names, because they are filthy and unimportant . This is such a good book, a mind blowing one. I love this book to the moon and back😭😭. I found something in this book, that I've been searching for a long time and now I feels like this book filled my heart. A phenomenal and haunting read, yes..the story is truly haunting and stunning!! The immensely talented Alice Walker has written the finest novel filled with joy and pain, humor and bitterness, and an array of lively and fascinating characters. This book is so inspirational and thought provoking, a book with contemporary significance and permanent importance. This is a must read for everyone, since it's unique blend of serenity and immediacy makes your senses ache, and when you finally discovers the true meaning of the title, it's something mystical, memorable and brilliant!!!

Some books, as soon as you finish them, start to follow you everywhere. Because you didn't want it to end nor did you want the characters to fade away from your life. Nevertheless, you know that the ending was inevitable and enough. One Hundred Years of Solitude made me feel like this! MASTERPIECE, people!! I left this book so long on my shelf, untouched. I was scared to read it, as I heard that this is a complex novel with an intricate narrative, one of the most difficult ones to read. But now, after reading this, I believe that this novel is an essentiality of human race, that everyone should read and experience the creation and disintegration of Macondo and Buendia family. A multi-generational family saga, historical fiction, magic realism, epic fiction: this novel is everything. I feel like I have so much to say about this novel, like the fictional town of Macondo, the arrival of gypsies which blurs the genre line between reality and magic, the strongest Ursula Iguaran who is the most sensible person in the novel, the plague of insomnia and amnesia, civil war which is an important event in Latin American history, the unrequited love of Meme and Mauricio. Perhaps the difficulty that some people experience in reading the novel arises from the exposure to a new genre, magic realism and its distinctive characteristics. History, relationships, solitude, magic, all are presented so beautifully and extraordinarily through a labyrinthine narrative. I wondered, when I started reading the story, how could someone portray all the characters in a novel as indulged in solitude and I was too stunned to speak when I finished reading it, because Marquez was successful in giving each character their own unique, mysterious, depressing aura of solitude. The blend of science and religion, reality and magic, and past and future fabricates the ambiguity and subsequent complexities of the novel. This is one of my favourite reads of the year and of all time and I really really want everyone to visit Macondo, witness the magic and make acquaintances with Buendia family, because you'll be doing yourself a favor.