Alice Walker - Possessing the Secret of Joy

Pros: Beautiful, simply and to the core.

Cons: -

The Bottom Line: Simply one of the greatest novels.

Review: Reading Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy was a most holy experience for me. Alas, this book had such an impact upon me that I made the book part of the subject of my senior capstone thesis when I was in college.Alice Walker is by far my ...

Pros: characters, message, imagery

Cons: will be upsetting to most readers--but it should be!

The Bottom Line: Important political issue rendered with power and flair. This book can't help but touch you.

Review: Alice Walker is known for powerful prose which challenges us all to face the effects of our world’s racism and sexism head-on. In Walker’s renditions, we cannot avoid seeing the humanity in the victims of slavery, domestic violence, and other racist and...

Pros: insightful, powerful, compelling

Cons: sometimes it hurts

Review: No matter how much you think you know about the horrifying procedure of female circumcision, you don't know enough! Alice Walker has created a phenomenal character who has experienced this terrifying and confusing procedure, one based on what could...

Pros: Powerful story. Very disturbing topic.

Cons: Very complex, can be difficult to follow if you don't pay attention to the sub-plots.

The Bottom Line: A powerful, moving, and at times very disturbing story.

Review: This review reveals some of the plot details

What a powerful and moving story; it is just sad to know that those who need most to read a story like this one will not. Female circumcision is still to this day widely practiced and...

Pros: everything

Cons: none that I can think of

Review: This is the first book I have read by Alice Walker (though I know she did The Color Purple), and it definitely won't be my last.

The narrative is told in an imaginative, and at times painful manner. Themes such as revenge, immigration, lack...

Pros: opening needed discussion

Cons: not enough homework

Review: With this excellent novel, Alice Walker has done for the subject
of FGM (female genital mutilation) what Thomas Hardy did for that of the
seduction of young, poor women. Until "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" was
published,...

Pros: Brings light on real issues Dear and near to the author's heart It is felt

Cons: a little too descriptive - unneccesary

The Bottom Line: I highly recommend it. Resistance is the Secret of Joy

Review: Alice Walker, author of POSSESSING THE SECRET OF JOY tells a story of female circumcision among a group of people in which the whole concept is based in tradition and female domination.

This tradition is brutally abusive and detrimental to...