Customer Reviews

The Same River Twice: A Memoir

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This book is not for everyone. I found this book extremely intimate and amazing. Why? I enjoy "getting to know" my favorite authors in a way that depicts them as "human just like you and me." Alice Walker let's us into her mind and emotions. She shows us that behind her great literary talent, she too goes through self-doubt, worry about what "other people think", etc.
I remember when The Color Purple movie was released and the backlash it got from black men in my community who perceived it as "male hating." I always wondered what it was like to put your heart and soul into a literary piece, have hollywood create a visual experience out of it in a way that you didn't expect, then sit through people "attacking" you as a "black male hater." Well, this book reveals what Alice went through, emotionally, spiritually and psychologically. We get to read exerpts from her journal. Furthermore, I felt more connected to this book than perhaps other readers because I myself am a novelist writer trying to publish my first book. Alice Walker brought up "controversial issues" in the book, The Color Purple (the most controversial being the "lesbian" relationship between Celie and Shug). My own work brings up "taboo" subjects within the black community. Reading Walker's intimate experiences with the public's (and her family and friends') reactions to her work and her bravery to "keep on keepin' on", inspired me to continue writing about subjects that have often been "silenced" within my own black community. The Same River Twice is an excellent book for someone such as myself who is often intimidated and worried about how their community may respond to their literary pieces.

Extracted from Bracket vol.2 no.1, 1996

The book emerges as a quilt, not unlike Celie's in The Color Purple that has evidence of both happier times with Celie and Shug and the pain of abuse. This format allows for the co-presentation of both the joyous and painful events which characterised The Color Purple. Photographs, letters, newspapers reviews and three new essays are threaded together by Walker's journal entries. The book is a detailed exploration of the unfolding of the production of the film. In it she judges too the impact of the film on her person as a writer and on her audience. It successfully blends the public and the private cconsequences of the novel.

Walker explains her initial and subsequent responses to the film directed by Stephen Spielberg. The roles of both Spielberg and Quincy Jones as artists are centred as Walker conceded that the film and novel could not have been the same. The screenplay that was never used resides side by side with the reponses Walker has encountered since the release of the film. Juxtaposed with the laudatory letters of support for the novel and film, are antagonistic articles on both versions of The Color Purple. The hostility generated from certain quarters of the Black community is explored in detail. Manifestations of this enmity range from a dismissive article written by a reporter who had not seen the film, to accusations that Walker hated Black men.

The film facilitates a process of personal growth for Walker and she is ultimately able to say, "Now I see its flaws, but love it for its own sake, and love the people, too, who made it and made it from where they are."(214)

The book then is remarkable and accessible to Walker devotees both inside and outside academic research fields. It is a combined presentation of several areas that Walker is renowned for - her creative writing, intellectual and spiritual sensitivity and her ability to combine the "high and low culture" of art in academia. Honoring the Difficult is once again an affirmation of herself as "author and medium".

Reading Walker's prose can be like talking with a live person face to face. There is no aloof distance between Walker and the reader, one feels that she is addressing them personally; the drawback to this is that when she says something you may not agree with, you can feel a little hurt or even betrayed. The Color Purple is a story that so many people lay "claim" to, and is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. Readership of the novel has only grown since its initial publication in 1982, and it's no wonder that Walker feels such a bond to this story of hers. The problem is that the rights were sold to make a movie version and Walker wasn't entirely pleased with the results.

While I am sure any writer would feel very ambivalent about a film version of their novel (as Ken Kesey did for "Cuckoo's Nest"), when one signs the film rights away, they should brace themselves for the disappointment. Walker takes us step-by-step through the disappointment but the final conclusion is a feeling of ingratitude. What is important to me is that because of the movie I became aware of the book and thus began my love for Alice Walker. As a teen I loved the movie, but being older now I do see many moments in the film as rather embarrassing. But again, had it not been for the film I would not have read the book.

But why did Walker choose to write this book? Parts of it are very interesting, but much of the book is just a bunch of journal entries and news clippings. Walker does submit her entire screenplay that she proposed; Her screenplay is actually less streamlined than the script that made it to the screen and has too many moments involving the patterns in a quilt that stop the story dead in its tracks. For all the flaws of the screenplay that was adapted, (and there are many), it's a much less rambling script than Walkers.

Despite Walker's intentions, the book comes off as ungrateful. After all, she was able to make a nice home for herself. But this book is interesting to see the author's point of view. Had Purple been made in the 50's, it would have been damaged beyond repair and probably taken the point of view of one of the minor white characters ... if it would have been made at all. We've all seen movies that ruined a book, Walker is one of the only ones who has been voal about it.

But Walker should also take heart, at least she didn't write "Beloved" and watch that transition to the screen.

I love Alice Walker. Most of her novels have made a huge impact on my life, The Color Purple included. Having said that, I must confess that Same River Twice disappointed me. It contains journal entries that I'd be just as happy not knowing about, Walker's version of her screenplay adaptation of Purple, and numerous insights about death, dying, and spirituality. She writes somewhere that her daughter, Rebecca, had urged her to publish this book as a small, quiet tome, with little or no publicity, for those only interested in knowing every personal detail that went along with producing this infamous movie. I wish she had followed this advice. It is a sweet book, especially for those who have suffered with Lyme Disease, but those interested in Walker's immense literary talent, this is not the book for you. Celebrity tidbits, morning affirmations, and light-weight commentaries on being an African-American mother, daughter, woman are its strengths.

"The Same River Twice" was a very good book and it gave so much insight into who Alice Walker is as a person. I never knew that Ms. Walker has Lyme disease and that she loved to garden. The casting of certain individuals in certain roles shocked me it never dawned on that Tina Turner was their first choice in playing Shug Avery and that Lola Folana and Diana Ross were also considered for the part. Also I did not know that Ms. Walker had a problem completing the screenplay for the actual movie due her disease. Ms. Walker is one of the best authors of our time and it is a shame that people cannot see the beauty in her work.

I do remember all of the controversy surrounding "The Color Purple" when I was a teenager and how I was forbidden to see the movie. When I finally saw the movie after it had been out on video cassette three years later I was shocked and enlightened all at the same moment. I was shocked at seeing two women kiss and enlightened to see Celie break away from her abusive husband and flourish as person. The book and the movie are different and people should read the book before passing judgement on Ms. Walker's character if they have only seen the movie. I know now Ms. Walker had somewhat of a different vision of her book being made into a movie than Steven.

I felt this book was one of her most personal, and from the start I could not put it down. The Color Purple was the finest book (and film) I have yet to see, although a better book than The Color Purple I don't think can be found. I am very grateful to Alice for publishing this book, as it gives insight into both the book and herself, and I feel it is the most revealing of all her books (so far). Reading it opened a window onto her life, albeit a small window, a window none the less, and for an author, I feel that is one of the bravest and most honourable feats. It allows you to step into her life for a brief moment, which can also heighten the journey taken in some of her other novels. Such as The Temple of My Familiar, which takes you further into the lives of the characters from The Color Purple, and knowing the motivation behind the novel from Alice herself, opens up a whole new aspect of Temple. I feel that to be a true Walker fan, this is a must read.

Several years ago, I had a conversation with a group of filmakers who angrily debated the merits of "The Color Purple". Chiefly, we all wondered "What did Alice Walker really think of the movie?"

Well, she tells us here. In the most dull, pretentious and boring prose I've ever read. Self-serving and rambling journal entries. Tired cliches about what it means to be a black bisexual woman. Overreaching liberal claptrap that is better suited for a late-night college bull session than a serious piece of literature.