The Color of Water 10th Anniversary Edition | James McBride

The Color of Water 10th Anniversary Edition | James McBride | A Great Read

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The Color of Water...

	The Color of Water 10th Anniversary Edition James McBride Riverhead Trade, 2006 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Shades of gray

I feel almost silly adding another review when others have said so much already. So, I'll keep it brief. This is an extremely well written book. It flows seamlessly back and forth between time periods and generations until, before you know it, it's over. And, contrary to what some others have written, it is not obsessed with race. Race, as McBride presents his struggles, can be seen as a metaphor for exclusion. McBride's experience brings to life the consequences of the unfortunate human tendency to separate people into in-groups and out-groups, and to denigrate those who belong to any out-group. Most of all, this is a heartwarming story about the power of love to overcome trauma. I recommend it to everyone, and most especially to anyone who has ever felt that they didn't fit into someone else's dichotomous box.

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A Great Read

This may be my favorite book. It's a beautiful, engaging story. Several friends and I read the book around the same time and all agreed that we hated to reach the end. If you just want to enjoy a great story, read this book.

Uplifting and Inspirational

This was the second copy of this book I purchased after the first disappeared into circulation among my friends. A timeless story interstingly structured and skillfully told. A worthwhile read.

A soaring celebration of familial love

Some reviews here say it all. This is indeed a remarkable biography/autobiography, so I would only add my praise for such a loving, touching homage to a very special lady and her remarkable family. I loved the forthright descriptions of this numerous mixed-race family and was touched by Mrs. McBride Jordan's personal tale, kept inside for so long. Her buried past and the author's own reminiscences entwine flawlessly, making this an emotion-stirring book. By writing it, James McBride is finally able to piece together his own past and that of his mother, thus quenching his desire to learn more about his origins.

The difference with the original edition is an interesting Afterword, summarizing the 10 years since its first publication (1996) and the impact its success had on the author himself, his family and, above all, his mother. I shall not disclose anything here, but it is worth to look into.

I truly think this is a standout among the various memoirs I have read so far, an inspiring and remarkable contribution to race-related literature.

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A Story We Can All Learn From

There are many people today who live their lives completely oblivious to different parts of the world and the unique histories that have brought us to where we are today. I'll be the first to admit to this naivety. I have lived my whole life in Arizona. It was quite shocking, as a result, to read James McBride's memoir. McBride attributes this memoir to his mother and opens the reader's eyes to the hardships and struggles of both religious and racial discrimination in the twentieth century.
James McBride was born in 1957 to an African-American father and a mother who was not only a Polish, Jewish immigrant, but white. McBride delves into what life was like growing up, and also reveals the many struggles that his mother overcame. Throughout the memoir, McBride describes the unique character of his mother and triumphs when he finally is able to uncover the past that she tried all her life to hide from. It wasn't until James was in college that he finally learned the truth of his mother's past and how hard it was for her as a Jewish immigrant living in Virginia in the 1920's and 1930's. Her childhood was hard enough growing up with an abusive father and discrimination against her Jewish family, but she eventually ran away to Harlem, New York to marry an African-American. She survived the death of two husbands and was left to care for a total of twelve children all on her own. And yet, she sent every one of them to college where they each got degrees and grew up to lead very successful lives.
James also relates what it was like growing up in a chaotic household of twelve children with a single mother. He reveals the racial discriminations promulgated toward his black siblings and white mother. He also opens the reader's eyes to what it was like to live in hunger and poverty. But if there was one thing James' mother instilled in her children, it was a belief in Christianity and the importance of an education; and even though they were constantly scraping by for food, they all made it through college with the value of education and with divine help. It is a true story of fulfilling the "American Dream."
One of the very unique aspects of McBride's writing is his original organization. The entire memoir is a puzzle. With each chapter, the point of view shifts back and forth between his own personal story and his mother's in her own words. This creates a fascinating effect as the reader seems to inch along through the discovery of James' mother's past just as he inched along throughout his whole life. It's almost like reading two separate memoirs; and yet they intertwine so skillfully that they aid each other.
McBride's style of writing also adds to the memoir and reveals what he has gone through and how far he has come. He has a great balance of comical facts and intense judgments of life. Before I was even through the first chapter I compared McBride's style to that of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Even though this novel is not a memoir, it takes the reader through the life of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield who is also trying to find out who he is. Both of these works relate to each other and have a similar style. They are both very blunt and the honesty shows through as they just "tell it like it is." Both works also follow characters through their lives and their different struggles and trials that they had to overcome. They both deal with issues of education, personal morality, values, and self understanding. However, McBride adds racial and religious discriminations, poverty, and death to the list of issues.
The Color of Water is not only educational in describing life in the north and south during the early years of America, but it is an inspiring book. There are many instances where McBride will step back and give his views and beliefs on different issues. "Given my black face and upbringing it was easy for me to flee into the anonymity of blackness, yet I felt frustrated to live in a world that considers the color of your face an immediate political statement whether you like it or not. It took years before I began to accept the fact that the nebulous "white man's world" wasn't as free as it looked; that class, luck, religion all factored in as well...Yet the color boundary in my mind was and still is the greatest hurdle." The unique racial insight that James McBride exposes is something every human being should be aware of. It is also good to know the different kinds of hardships that many people face in our country's history and how they can pull through hard times and still succeed. As a whole, The Color of Water wasn't the most thrilling or romantic memoir. It is honest and tells things as they are. But it also draws out deep emotions from the reader as you sympathize with those who have to live through struggles yet conquer them in the end.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6

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