The Color Purple by Alice Walker
My Goodreads rating: 4 stars
One of my favorite films is The Color Purple. I actually didn't realize it until recently, as I was reading the book and it just happened to come on cable. I proceeded to watch it twice during the time of reading the book and I remembered how much I loved it. Well, the film in no way prepared me for how wonderful the book is. The film and the book are actually pretty close until it gets closer to the end. The ending in the book blows the movie away. The Color Purple is not just a story of a black woman who struggles with an abusive husband and missing a sister who she felt was the only person who ever loved her. It's a story of a community of black people who try to exist in a world of the white man's disdain and oppression. What makes the book so much better than the movie is that Walker allows the characters to grow in the end. There is a feeling of redemption for all of the characters, not just Celie. I liked it much better. Once again, the book prevails over the movie. Go figure. ;O)
Reading Challenges:
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
My Goodreads rating: 4 stars
This is a really short read, but no less impactful. Wells really was ahead of his time in the prediction of man's future on earth. Yes, certainly, what he predicted for our future has not happened...yet...and we will never know in our lifetimes (or our childrens' lifetimes) if it will happen this way. But I believe the future of our world is bound to end up similarly, especially if mankind doesn't start changing its ways now. And, of course, it's a question of evolution as well. Wells was an expert craftsman in his depiction of the starkly different characters of the Eloi and the Morlocks. Again, for a very short book, the story packs quite a punch. I listened to it on audio and it was very easy book to listen to in this way.
Reading Challenges:
I loved The Color Purple and was just amazed by it. I have yet to see the movie... but I promise I will!
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