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Summary: This book was great, and I recommed it highly to teenagers.
Review: I had no idea what this book was about, but when I started it I couldn't put it down. It was very easy to read and to understand. This book sends a good message that if you work hard, you can make something of yourself. Also that complaining and waiting for someone to do it for you wont't make it better. The way that it switched back and forth from the mother to the son was great, I couldn't wait to finish one to get to the other. You can feel the respect the children have for the mother, and the pride she has in them. I think this book should be a required book in more highschool english classes, it might wake some people up. I recommed it highly.
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Summary: remarkable and recommended for all
Review: The Color of Water by James McBride is a beautiful tribute to his mother. His mother, Ruth McBride-Jorden is an exceptional woman. She has had an unbelievably difficult life, but has conquered all by putting her twelve children through college. She has proven that anything is possible. This book, by far, was the best book I have ever read. It kept my interest and I read it in one sitting. I could not put the book down. I was very moved by James McBride's novel. I recommend that everyone read The Color of Water.
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Summary: What a jewel!
Review: Our book club read this book and I would consider rereading it. We also had the delightful experience of enjoying a TV intereview Mr. McBride did with other authors who have recently written autobiographies. I would LOVE to meet his Mother. She is one-of-a-kind. His account contained, all the elements of a great book -- humor, satire, life/death experiences, struggle, joy, sadness, etc. Looking forward to Mr. McBride's next book!!!
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Summary: A must for mothers who think overwhelmed.
Review: "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" James McBride's book is a gift of love to his mother, an orthodox Jew. The author's intertwines his mother's voice with his memory of growing up with eleven siblings in the inner city of Brooklyn, New York. He chronicles his mother's journey from a small town in Virginia to become the mother to twelve children in the Red Hook Projects. Also, McBride tells of his mother's bravery, being a white woman in a predominantly Black neighborhood and being a co-founder of a church. Through faith, she rears her children with a strong sense of family and the value of an education. Armed with those strong beliefs, all of her children received college degrees. Moreover, McBride candidly recants the humorous details of the growing pains of having older siblings, like how they told him that he was adopted and how they shared beds, liked sardines packed in a can. This book is a must for mothers who think their troubles are neverending.
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Summary: AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT BOOK THAT I'D RECOMMEND TO ALL!!!!!
Review: This book combines both black and Jewish issues. More than anything it should teach both communities that in many ways we have a very similar history and although blacks and Jews seem to have a love/hate relationship to each other, we are infact more similar than we think. This book is testament to the fact of what marvellous and inspiring people can be produced by a black-Jewish cultural upbringing. I am proud, as a Jewish girl, to see that the bridge between blacks and Jews is slowly being lessened and that our two communities are starting to realise that neither is evil. We are all human and we all have good and bad qualities. The mixture of good qualities though, can produce authors like McBride, whose writing is beautiful, melancholy, yet stunningly truthful.
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Summary: One day read
Review: I could not put it down. One of those books that the story will stay with you forever. Well done!
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Summary: Buy this book for your mother!
Review: This is one of the best books i have ever read! the racial issue between a black man's perception of his white mother is presented equally with the outpouring of love and respect he has for her; simply as a mother of 12 children in Harlem who put all her children through collge and grad school. the stories about trips to church, to camp, riding public tansport, getting homemade haircuts, and how awful a cook his mother was are universal and are presented evenly with the tender moments of love and respect and joy he has with his mother. the other half of this book is his mother's autobiography; the story of a young polish Jewish immigrant living in Jim Crow Virginia, abused by her father. the thinly veiled pain and anguish of memory that McBride's mother reveals futher illuminates his respect for his mother in his own chapters as he describes his mother founding a Baptist church in Harlem with his father. this book is a gift to mothers everywhere!
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Summary: marvellous
Review: A beuatifully written book about a mulatto son and her white mother, The Color of water stands out as one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. It shows how through courage, a sense of direction, unity and sacrifice, a person can achieve sucess in present day America.
Also recommended: THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER,THE GODFATHER
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Summary: A great tribute
Review: When I first picked up "The Color of Water", I never thought it would be such a moving story. In fact it is one of the most gripping and inspirational books I have read. I adore it. I read it over two years ago and still remember its first impact. The book is a combination of two profound stories coming from a white mother and her black son. It is actually about an Orthodox Jewish girl who emigrated from Poland with her family to Virginia and escapes the life she had ever known to New York, where she ended up marrying a black man and living in the black community. In all, she raises her twelve children from her two marriages and despite the odds against her and children successfully managed her family into a success story. Flawed but genuine, strong and committed she served as an inspiration for people in imperfect circumstances. The author's voice is strong, captivating and authentic. His intelligent mind served as a perfect repertoire to make this book the compelling read that it is today. I read it again when I had finished, so as to get the complete feel of the book . This story is sweet, intimate and more. It can make you cry and still be strong. I strongly recommend this beautiful work.
Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, EFURU
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Summary: A Heartfelt Tribute
Review: I really enjoyed this book. James McBride tells the story of his mother and of his own life, intertwining chapters to give you an understanding of his mother's struggles and how she has affected and impacted him. James McBride's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who never felt completely accepted by others. To whites, she was different because she was Jewish, while to blacks she was different because she was white. She moved to New York when she was 19, married McBride's black father and had 8 children. After her husband died she married another black man and had 4 more children.
This book is a tribute to James McBride's mother, but more than that it is the story of a family who was able to achieve success and prosperity. McBride's mother was one of few whites in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his family one of the few bi-racial families at the time. His mother made education a priority and all 12 of her children went to college. McBride's writing makes his love and admiration for his mother clear, and the writing is quite moving. I really enjoyed it.
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