See what I mean? Consistency really isn’t my strong trait, although it’s something I want to have and will develop.
Having missed a few days of posts, I can’t help but wonder why I would miss posting a daily blog. My only conclusion- I was trying way too hard and being too ambitious with it. I only needed to post a few sentences and paragraphs, and the topic can be kept simple, unless I had a strong topic to write about. Instead, I tried to come up with something substantial for each post, and I got tired mentally doing it. My pessimistic brain already tells me, “it’s too hard and too tiring”, and the rest is history. But I realise that it’s a mindset I needed to get out of, I just need to start simple and be consistent with it.
Less is more. Isn’t it? So, here I am, back again.
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I just finished reading a book I started several weeks ago, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. At first glance, I thought it would be a book that I could get through fairly easily because of its writing style, in the form of letters written by the main character (and eventually, her sister as well) in American deep South colloquial language.
Boy, was I wrong.
Set in the deep South (of North America) in the 1900s, it's a tale of a 14-year old girl, Celie, who basically has a rough life but eventually learns to find herself through meeting a jazz-and-blues singer who she meets, Shug Avery. The transformation that happens after that is nothing short of beautiful and touching. For some information about this book, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52892857-the-color-purple
Ms. Walker wastes no time in putting the reader right smack into the harshness that Celie had to go through. Even with my limited knowledge of the actual conditions of the Deep South in America, to read a first person account of one's experience is no easy feat for the stomach and the heart. Even if it’s a fictional story, the feelings and experiences of this community that inspired this story are most certainly not. I've had to put this book down after the first few chapters before I could summon back the strength to get back into it.
It's a great story and it's a book worth reading if you are interested in Black American stories and experiences, as well as culture. Highly recommended.
I also just found out there was a movie adaptation of it - I will most certainly check it out.
Have a good day, all. Thanks for reading.
- JC