Rating: 
Summary: Powerful!
Review: Powerful! How else could one describe James McBride's moving and emotional recount of his life and the live of his indomitable mother, who refused to be defined by race, religion, or station in life? Spanning two generations, The Color of Water outlines in piercing detail the life of James McBride, yet the true essence of the work is found in his recounts of the stories and family history his mother Ruth immerses the family in as she raises her twelve children in the midst of social upheaval and discontent. Ruth, born to a Jewish rabbi in Poland, was raised in Southern Virginia before "escaping" to the sultry streets of Harlem in New York City in the 1940s, where she met and married a black man. Born to a cruel racist who despised black men and treated his daughter Ruth with disdain and violence, Ruth eventually married two black men, bore twelve children who all attended college, founded a Baptist church, and overcame all the barriers and challenges placed before her. Gripping dialogue, combined with the power of the message that inner strength and inner peace will truly define individuals regardless of the norms and mores of the day, makes this book a must-read for anyone searching for literary prowess or the triumph of human dignity over human frailty. McBride takes the reader through his life as his mother explains, "You are human," when asked what color he is. He also, however, weaves poignant passages directly from his mother about her life and Ruth's insistence her children be educated and spiritually fulfilled. The combination of these two literary paths result in a work that demands even the laziest reader take note of the power of one woman to overcome. Although upon first glance the book may appear to focus on religion, race relations, and the inner workings of a family led by a strong, independent woman, the genius and power of The Color of Water is the unyielding will of a mother to ensure her twelve children obtained an education and defined their spiritual center through the Christian church.
Rating:
Summary: A super "Mother's Day" read!
Review: "God is the color of water" was the wise response given young James by his Mother, Rachel (Ruth)Shilsky McBride Jordan, when he asked her "What color is God?" This is a moving true-life story of a family that succeeds in transcending our American preoccupation with color and ethnicity. "Color" interweaves the life stories of mother and son in a beautifully written historiography. I cried and I chuckled, reading this book during my daily commute to and from work. My fellow commuters must have thought I was schizo because I just could not contain the emotions that bubbled up. With every challenge that life meted out to Ruth Jordan she managed to survive and instill the desire to succeed in her 12 children. She overcame the difficulty of being an immigrant to this country; survived a childhood of poverty and physical abuse; triumphed over the exclusivity of religion; grieved and trudged on after burying two husbands and graduated at the age of 65 with a degree in social work administration. This book is truly a treasure and comes with my highest recommendation. Read it for Mother's Day--you'll appreciate your Mother for her own sacrifices when you've finished this easy, but poignant read
Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend of mine who just raved over it (a Jewish white male). I'm white & my boyfriend is black. We share many values, but we certainly have some cultural differences as well. So, I figured there would be some pearls of wisdom to be gleaned here and there. I got a lot more than that and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Mr. McBride's story reflects human reality, with all of the contradictions that go along with being true to oneself, even when the truth itself must be buried to do it. If you are interested in issues of spirituality, identity, values, sheer willpower, and, of course, motherhood and family, you must read this book. It's amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Inspriational and Brilliantly written!!
Review: THIS BOOK WELL DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST OF 100 BEST BOOKS EVER! It should be read by every highschool and college curriculum! It would be well worth reading over and over again. It touches a part of every human soul and gives insight into economical, cutltural and humanistic differences. The book is brilliantly written and as well as being an inspirational story for all mankind, provides a historical insight to the time period which may not be documented in thje text books. I was amazed by how simple, yet outstanding this story was. It provides a different look at our world than that which was familiar to me and serves as a window into emotions and minds of personalities and people growing up in the 60's. It parallels race, gender and age and relates to so many different aspects of American Society. The mother serves as an icon for motherhood, love, religion and it is unbelievable that such an astounding person is not fictional. The author takes us through the struggle and dispairment of his childhood and search for himself and his family in such a powerfully emotional style. Through all of the tribulations he faced, I always felt his extreme love of family and humanity. It is undeniably one of the classics of our time!!
Rating:
Summary: A super "Mother's Day" read!
Review: "God is the color of water" was the wise response given young James by his Mother, Rachel (Ruth)Shilsky McBride Jordan, when he asked her "What color is God?" This is a moving true-life story of a family that succeeds in transcending our American preoccupation with color and ethnicity. "Color" interweaves the life stories of mother and son in a beautifully written historiography. I cried and I chuckled, reading this book during my daily commute to and from work. My fellow commuters must have thought I was schizo because I just could not contain the emotions that bubbled up. With every challenge that life meted out to Ruth Jordan she managed to survive and instill the desire to succeed in her 12 children. She overcame the difficulty of being an immigrant to this country; survived a childhood of poverty and physical abuse; triumphed over the exclusivity of religion; grieved and trudged on after burying two husbands and graduated at the age of 65 with a degree in social work administration. This book is truly a treasure and comes with my highest recommendation. Read it for Mother's Day--you'll appreciate your Mother for her own sacrifices when you've finished this easy, but poignant read
Rating: 
Summary: A question of identity
Review: James McBride, the author, knew very little about his mother's heritage before he began writing this book. One thing he did know was that she was different. Different from his father, his siblings, himself, his friends, and his neighbors. When he would ask her if she was white, she would avoid the question or answer that she was "light-skinned". When he once asked her what color God was she replied, "He's the color of water. He has no color". This is the way Ruth McBride looked at the world. When her Jewish family acted in an unloving manner towards her, she turned to black friends, who were more accepting of her. James loved his white mother, whom he calls "Mommy" in the book but was also embarrassed by her racial differences and was confused by a lack of knowledge of her roots. This book seemed to be a catharsis for him as it allowed him to contact some of his mother's relatives and old friends whom he had never met. Ruth McBride considered her greatest achievement to be the many college degrees which her 12 children earned and their professional occupations. This is an interesting story of a woman who did not ever let life defeat her and who held high educational and behavioral standards for her racially-mixed children. It is also the story of a search for identity.
Rating:
Summary: Read, Read, all about it. It's emotional and inspiriational.
Review: The color of water should be read by every high school student and by every race. The color of water is very well put together. I had a true emotional feeling when I read this book. This book is a inspiriational story for all mankind to read. The author of the book who's name is James McBride, takes us through the hard times in his life. Mr. James hits every piont of view in his book. It teaches us the true meaning of love and what family really means. Love is the keyword in the color of water. I can sit and read this book over and over again because it's just that good. The color of water should be wriiten as one of the classics of all time.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend of mine who just raved over it (a Jewish white male). I'm white & my boyfriend is black. We share many values, but we certainly have some cultural differences as well. So, I figured there would be some pearls of wisdom to be gleaned here and there. I got a lot more than that and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Mr. McBride's story reflects human reality, with all of the contradictions that go along with being true to oneself, even when the truth itself must be buried to do it. If you are interested in issues of spirituality, identity, values, sheer willpower, and, of course, motherhood and family, you must read this book. It's amazing.
Rating:
Summary: A must read by people of all race
Review: This is a beautiful tribute to the author's mother, who is an extrordinary woman.
Rating:
Summary: The Life of Differemt Race Parents
Review: The Color of Water is by a black man and it is a tribute from him to his white Jewish mother. The black man, James, tells his life and what it was like growing up with a white, Jewish mother in the mid 1900s. His mother, Rachel also tells her life story. Both of them did not have the most fun or easiest childhood. They both went through hard times but stuck through them all.
Rachel was a Jew who immigrated to America with her family. She was afraid of her father because he was not that nice of a man, and her mother was crippled. Her father did not love her mother. Her mother knew it, but she had a commitment with him and would not divorce him. Rachel's father would get in bed with her at night and touch her but she couldn't tell anyone because she was so afraid of him. Rachel got pregnant by her secret black boyfriend when she was 15 years old. So she moved to New York with her grandmother, where she had an abortion. She later married a different black man and had eight children. He died from cancer and years later she re-married another black man, and had four more children for a total of 12 black children. Her husband died years later and she never re-married, but continued to raise her children.
James was a black boy with a white, Jewish mother, Rachel. James was ashamed of his mother being a different race and avoided going out into public with her. He was always afraid of kids from his school teasing him, even adults gawking at him and his mother. He never met his biological father because his mother was still pregnant when his father died. When she re-married he considered his stepfather his dad. He called him Daddy and loved him very much. When Daddy died, James didn't know how to react to losing someone that close to him so he got into the wrong crowd. He was gone every night, out with his friends getting high, drunk or stealing. He went and lived with his sister where he realized that doing drugs is not helping him with his problems. He finished school and became a reporter. He then decided he wanted to find out who he was and to do that he needed to find out who his mother was. So he went to the south, where his mother grew up, to find out about her family. When he got back, he interviewed his mother and wrote this book about the two of them.
This book was a good historical book; it taught me a lot about the immigrants and different races in the early to mid 1900s. I learned a lot about their feelings and how much they went through during their one life. This book was educational but interesting at the same time.
At the beginning of the book, I didn't understand who was who and where the book was going. I was very confused and almost didn't finish the book. As I continued to read, it got less confusing and more interesting, but sometimes I would have to go back towards the beginning because I was confused about something.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has someone in their family of a different race so they can learn more about what that family member would go through if this were the mid 1900's. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the racial problems America had in the early to mid 1900's. It was a really interesting book, and I learned a lot about the reality of racial difference.
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