August: Segregation and The Colour Purple

This month we took advantage of the Library’s multiple copy collection with some members reading The Colour Purple by Alice Walker. Others chose books with similar themes of race and segregation.

The novel was written by Alice Walker, published in 1982 and won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize.

It is an epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.

Connie:

She found it interesting the way the author told the story through letters, and was disgusted by the behavior of the men towards women. She felt great sympathy with the people and the times they lived in.

Jo:

Jo loved the book, once she became used to reading the letters and colloquial language used by the author.

Sheila:

Sheila felt that Celie was a very strong character, but that it was an awful state of affairs when many accepted their situation. The incest and the beating of the women were horrendous. She thought the only way for this to change, was to educate the women. She was happy with how the book ended.

Judy D:

Judy liked the letter style of writing and thought the relationship between the 2 sisters was very heartwarming. But there were so many other horrific things that happened in the book.

Charis:

Charis called it a ‘woman’s book’, the letters were written between the two sisters who were both powerful characters and their attempts to get their families together again after being separated so long before. She commented on the interesting way that Celie’s faith developed for her. Both sisters had strong faiths.

Pat:

Pat thought that the behavior of the men was a learned behavior. She gave the example of Harpo who wanted to be like his father in the way he controlled his wife.

Celie developed as a character, accepting of what happened to her, until she met another strong woman.

Pat found it hard to read, but enjoyed it.

Judy J:

Judy commented on the languages, grammar and short sentences that the author used. This gave the book more authenticity.

The title comes from a comment by Shug to Celie that God would get angry if you walked past the colour purple in a field and didn’t notice it, referring to people who ignore the good and beauty in the world.

Tam:

Tam thoroughly enjoyed it, she liked the language that was used as it felt part of the characters.

She thought Shug was the catalyst to get the other characters to change.

Great book.

 

Wendy L:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

In 1951 Henrietta died of cancer in a segregated hospital. Following her death, the hospital kept cells that had been taken for a biopsy and started to experiment with these . Permission had not been given and the family were never told. It happened that her cells were quite different from others and very reproducible.

The book is part biography of Henrietta, part expose of the science community and part detective story to discover what really happened.

Wendy described it as honest and intimate prose backed by strong research. A great read!

Wendy J: The last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

Honor Bright is a young English Quaker who migrates with her sister, to Ohio (USA) before the Civil War. Following several family tragedies, Honor is alone and gets drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom.

Wendy was interested, as she became a Quaker herself.

Diann: Short Stories of Apartheid by Ilan Ossendryver

The author is a photojournalist who grew up in South Africa during the worst years of apartheid. He has compiled a collection of stories from this time.

Family Reunion is the story of the small village Lwako. One day the chief receives a visit by Government officials who hand him a letter and advises him that the families must be ready to leave in 3 days as the government is taking their village. The chief is illiterate, but plans with his people to defend their homes.

The police and government officials arrive, and following a brief resistance, the village is destroyed and the people removed. When the chief’s son returns to see his father, he finds the letter and reads that the wrong village has been targeted!

Pamela: Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner

The story concerns Thomas Sutcliffe who could be considered as ‘white trash’ but he makes good in Haiti and marries a planter’s daughter. She proves to be an unsuitable wife, so he leaves her and returns to the south with 100 Negroes. Here he lives a respectable life, and fathers  two children with a married woman.

The story is very complicated, told by several narrators, very few chapters and very long sentences. 

Pamela described it as the most haunting book she had read, brilliant but irritating. It makes you understand the terrible problem of racial intolerance in the South

Kris: Small Things Great by Jodie Picoult

Three characters narrate the story. Firstly there is Ruth, a black midwife, well respected and 20 years in the job. Secondly, there is Turk, an obnoxious white supremacist who demands that Ruth does not look after their baby. When the newborn dies, Ruth is blamed. Finally there is Kennedy, the white Public Defender in the case.

Kris thought the characters were interesting, but the writing was too wordy with a tendency to describe everything in such detail.

The book was written from a white position and makes you question position, power, race and privilege.

Rosemary: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Written in 1964, the book has themes of racism and prejudice.

Rosemary enjoyed the book, commenting that it was full of insights, including that prejudice can go both ways.

Pauline: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Her comment was that the book was rather nice and quite humorous. She enjoyed their adventures down the river. It was interesting that 14-year-old Huck and Jim the black slave, who was 21 years old, and married with children, got on very well. They were both accepting of the role and position of slaves having grown up with it.

 But their relationship changed when they met the ‘nigger hunters'.

A classic book, well worth reading.

Judy A : There There by Tommy Orange

This is the complex story of 12 characters who, all for different reasons come to Oakland (California) to attend the Big Oakland Powwow. What once was a beautiful suburb is now an urban slum. The city mirrors the sad demise of the American Indian.

Judy liked it, but didn’t love it!

 

SEPTEMBER:  Your choice of an autobiography or biography

OCTOBER:  As Willa Cather books were difficult to obtain we will have a different author for our October meeting.  We will be reading Susan Fletcher, a British author born in 1979

Four titles have been chosen:

Eve Green
The Silver Dark Sea
A Little Love
Let Me Tell You about a Man You Know.