|
Push: A Novel |  | Author: Sapphire
Publisher: Vintage
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $0.67
as of 7/30/2010 07:43 PDT details
Seller: internationalbooks
Rating:  571 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: First
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0679766758
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679766759
Publication Date: April 29, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Tell A Friend
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780679766759 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Publication Date: 4/30/1997
ISBN: 9780679766759
Ean: 0679766758
Paperback: 192 pages
Language: English
Physical Info: 5.23 x 0.52 x 8.04 inches, (0.39 lbs)
Categories: African American - Contemporary Women | African American - Urban Life
LC Subjects: Domestic fiction, Bildungsromans
Dewey: FIC
LCCN: 96016516
Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this "horrific, hope-filled
story" (Newsday) is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones,
16 years o...ld and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a
determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of
transformation and redemption.
Amazon.com Review
Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. So what better way to learn about her than through her own, halting dialect. That is the device deployed in the first novel by poet and singer Sapphire. "Sometimes I wish I was not alive," Precious says. "But I don't know how to die. Ain' no plug to pull out. 'N no matter how bad I feel my heart don't stop beating and my eyes open in the morning." An intense story of adversity and the mechanisms to cope with it. Precious is now a major motion picture based on the novel Push by Sapphire, starring Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz. Enjoy these images from the film, and click the thumbnails to see larger images.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 571
 Great book! July 28, 2010
Melissa Hernandez (El Paso, Texas)
I absolutely LOVED this book! I had seen the movie.....and had to read the book for a pedagogical class. I must admit this gave me a greater perspective on what I can expect as a teacher and made me re evaluate my own life and how good I had it compared to some people. It really made me appreciate my own life and want to help others more.
 hard to rate this book July 26, 2010
gardener97 (Atlanta)
I wish I had not started listening to this book - maybe the printed version would have been easier, but I think not. Once you begin, you have to finish - like being the wedding guest and hearing the Ancient Mariner tell his tale...
But I feel as if a cheese grater has been used on my brain. My mother used to say: consider your reading, there are some images you do not want to live in your mind.
My heart breaks for this girl but I think I would rather have not known.
Reviews by students at California State University, Northridge July 15, 2010
Ian Barnard (Los Angeles, USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Here are a few reviews from my students at California State University, Northridge:
"Precious" Review:
This story opens the reader's eyes to what really goes on out there within our communities. The picture is clear, Precious is in the ghetto, somewhere in Harlem, where crack addicts lay at every corner, and having a better way of life won't be easy in New York. It was great that Sapphire decided to write this novel because people should know that things such as incest and abuse in the home do go on, and that it is wrong. Precious is an inspiring novel because the protagonist undergoes a lot of pain and suffering and still does not give up hope, her hope is what keeps her going, not losing hope and following her dreams is what makes her a better person. This novel can give confidence to those who find themselves in similar situations. No matter how bad Precious' life is she still finds the courage to stay in school and fights to learn something to prove herself. It is simply very inspirational because she keeps working on it, thru thick and thin. I came across this when she says, "I always did like school, just school never did like me" (36).
It touched my heart to see how others, in one way or another, were comforting towards Precious and decide to help her thru this journey. I believe Ms. Rain is the best example of this, and I really admire her determination in really helping Precious thru all this.
This story is hard to read not because of the language or the grammar, but because it is hard to keep your eyes from watering as you read the conflicts and struggles that Precious undergoes. However, it is quite hard not to get confused with what day you are reading about because of the frequent flashbacks throughout the book, flashback start by a word `push'. Although this may be hard, the story can still be followed, and it is a very interesting one, a page turner, it just keeps readers wanting more. This story can make you want to ask what will happen next, because of the many events which continue to simply show up, time and time again.
What is more admirable about this novel is that it is very realistic, it is intense throughout every page every paragraph, it is shocking and very powerful, it is not a fairy tale story, it tells about things that do go on. I think it was simply amazing the way Sapphire incorporates such foul language and yet is able to make it very poetic in so many other ways. I believe she definitely accomplishes her objective of making Precious a real example for the world. She does a great job in showing the readers the story through Precious's eyes rather than as an outsider, showing what she is thinking, and most of all what she is feeling.
Review written by Ernesto, Nancy, Abdul, and Simon
"Murphy's Law"
Precious Jones lives a horrible life in the city of Harlem. The author Sapphire portrays the main character, Precious Jones, as an illiterate sixteen-year-old who is raped by her father and beaten by her mother. Throughout the novel we see Precious protect herself by using her only defense mechanisms, her bad attitude and her scary appearance. She is suspended from high school when her principle finds out that she is pregnant with her second child which is fathered by her dad. She then enrolls in a Pre-GED program. With the help of Ms. Rain, her teacher that thinks highly of her, Precious begins a journey of education and open-mindedness.
Even though Sapphire did give the reader a sense of hope and urgency while reading the novel, she also implied the good old "Murphy's Law" on the readers. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Sapphires language throughout the novel gave it voice and tone but also at times it became confusing and difficult to comprehend. Her flashbacks at time were quite interesting, yet it became repetitive and also hard to follow. Even though Sapphire has the reader feeling remorseful towards the character Precious, we were never given a definite vision of Precious being happy. The way that Sapphire ended the novel gave the reader a bitter taste in their mouth due to the fact that it was an insufficient ending. We did not find out anything about her first child, how she would handle having the virus of HIV, or even finding out if her relationship with her mother became better.
In conclusion the author Sapphire presented the main character Precious Jones as a soul of hope and determination, surrounded by a horrible life, filled with physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Sapphire illustrated a vivid image in the readers mind creating a sense of emotion as if we are in the shoes of Precious. Everything that that could go wrong did go wrong outside of her control, which goes to show you life doesn't always give you the freedom to choose. Even though the novel gave the readers a sense of emotional connections, it still left us without a positive outlook on Precious. Sapphire had us on a emotional roller coaster, which ended with a lot of question marks. Is Precious happy? We don't know if Precious' life became any better or have became worse.
Review written by Jessica, Edwin, and Joshua
Precious' realistic hardship built in one book! July 14, 2010
Amor
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Sapphire's book Precious shines a light on unpleasant issues many dare to speak or want to ever experience. It can also be arguably positive to be graphic and make the readers uncomfortable in order to avoid sugarcoating something unpleasant and to make the readers really care about something that shouldn't be taken lightly. But Precious goes far beyond those first two goals and aims for pure shock value and emotional manipulation and twisted titillation. Some of us have never experienced growing up in the 1980's in Harlem where living in the "projects and surviving off of welfare was the way to live. By reading this book, many are able to absorb this concept through reading this book.
Dope dealers in the streets while crack addicts wonder the streets making this type of neighborhood unpleasant for any child to witness. Precious lived in an environment that was not favorable for her. Her life at home was full of abuse and depression. How does one cope with such a horrible life? It is amazing to see how precious deals with her unfavorable circumstances. Precious got involved in school and used education as a copping mechanism. From the help of her new teacher, Precious was able to understand that education was important, rather than depending on welfare. It amazes me to see how Precious grasps the concept of life when she said "I'm going to break through or somebody going to break through to me". This statement shows a sense of hope and strength in Precious that helps build her character throughout the story. Who can become successful at anything if you are surrounded by such negativity? This book is definitely fiction but realistically people do experience this every day. To anyone including Precious, it is a live or die situation.
The book embodies a feminist point of view rather than the taboo of incest. In a series of flashbacks, Precious reflects on an erotic love story with her dad, which ultimately led to the birth of her two children. Unlike other love stories you would ever read, this one introduces a different tone and subject matter that portrays a feeling subjectively addressed to the listener. She smoothly leaps onto financial issues leading to life's tragedy of HIV. Precious use of "I" throughout the text was not particularly addressed to her baby father (Carl), but rather an opinion which depicts her feeling. She describes aspects of human body like the "human tongue," with the concept of a "snake" to represent something troubling.
Precious had such an ingenuity in describing the characters in the novel. She effortlessly finds an organic structure to enlighten her audience about the depravity in an abusive incest seeking to change the power relation between men and women within a patriarchal society. Moreover, she freely expresses a passionate desire in keeping with the creation of Adam and Eve. I would add that there was through education and social welfare activities, a paradigm shift which led to a maturity of love in her family.
[PRECIOUS] July 14, 2010
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Precious is a work of fiction that will leave a long lasting impression. The author Sapphire uses first person writing through out the novel, helping the readers see through the eyes of the main character gPrecioush. Sapphire makes this happen by using improper grammar, and fragments. She illustrates the minimal education Precious has. The way Sapphire uses improper grammar and fragments may make the novel a little difficult to understand. Once getting passed the grammar and fragments, this novel has a story line that will keep you reading from the begging to end.
The 2009 novel Precious is a newer version of the novel Push also by Sapphire. In the story, Precious, we are taken on a journey with sixteen year old Claireece Precious Jones, who has had to grow up through a life of horrifying experiences and disbelief. The misery that Precious has to go through is unlike anything most Americans will have to endured. After getting kicked out of her Junior High because she was pregnant, Precious is sent to an Alternative school (Each-One-Teach-One). After being sent to this school, Precious finds a glimpse of hope through her teacher Ms. Rain, who teaches her the beauty of reading and writing.
This narrative will take you into a new world you can't imagine ever existing. Over all, this story is by far unlike any other novel you will ever read. Due to the harsh language and vivid details, it should not be read by young children. Precious was such an emotional and well expressed novel that it was recently made into an Award Winning Major Motion Picture. Precious is a one in a million book, which can be read again and again. This novel comes highly recommended.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 571
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
