Sunday, February 8, 2009

Push


I've always considered reading as one of my favorite past times (my mom had me reading at a young age), and since I'm always traveling the best way to get through a flight is through reading (besides sleep). Most of the books I read are through recommendations, book reviews or the synopsis on the back cover simply pulls me in. However my latest read, Push by Sapphire, was based on recent reviews from the movie's premier at the Sundance Film Festival.

Set in the '80s, topics of incest, abuse, teen pregnancy and illiteracy are at the core. The central character, Precious, is 16, pregnant with her father's second child, abused by her mother and illiterate. Kicked out of school, she attends an alternative school to help her boost her reading and writing skills in order to obtain her G.E.D. that she hopes will help her make a better life for herself and her children.

Since rape can be a difficult to simply discuss, reading it is no easy task. Several times through the book, my heart just saddened. Even though it is a work of fiction, these stories happen far too often in this world let alone in our communities today. Sapphire writes the book in the same speech used as Precious (i.e. mother = muver, father = fahver), and really takes us through her mind and hardships.

I'm totally looking forward to the movie and hear that Mo'nique gives an Oscar-worthy performance, and that the film will be funded by Oprah and Tyler Perry. Peep the snippet below and let me know your thoughts. (If you decide to read, I'd love to discuss with you :))



4 comments:

suga said...

I saw that clip below last week and nearly rushed to the theater. But I told myself that I would read the book first, since the book is usually always better than the movie. I too, heard that Mo'Nique's performance was Oscar worthy. And the snippets within the clip are very interesting. So I'm giving myself a week to read the book before the movie leaves the theater.

PyT said...

Def read the book! I finished it within like 3 days.. it was great.

T said...

Thanks for the reco, we definitely need to get a book swap going. P.S. there's a bookshelf on 13 that people just leave used books on. I just found out about it this weekend, but I will be hitting it up, so I can get my read on... on a budget. LOL!

PyT said...

That is so what's up. I'm def going to have to check it out!