Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining to read, but excessively shallow and preachy...
Review: I read this book on the advice of a friend. For the first 3 chapters, I found the story of 'Rachel' Shilsky and her son James McBride deeply moving. After further reading however, the writer revealed himself to be race-obsessed if not racist and anti-semitic. The author(/s) knew the expectations generally placed on books with this subject matter and did not fail to deliver - a contrived and self-contradictory tale of strength in the face of oppression. While McBride delivers a beautiful story about the colorless nature of god and importance of equality and forgiveness, almost all of the hardships faced by the McBride family are blamed on oppression caused by 'the white (and jewish) man. Furthermore both McBride and his mother refuse to take responsibility for their actions. They are able to justify all manner of behaviour: prostitution, stealing, drug-use and abuse by blaming others for their position. ie Repeatedly approaching to ask a well-known pimp for work as a prostitute, then moving out of his apartment to her family's residence to escape his evil 'clutches'. Ruth McBride unquestioningly suffered at the hands of her father's abuse. She went on to abandon her mother and sister (and arguably her children) all the while feeling pity for herself and blaming her family (and collectively white people and jews) for her uncaring and irresponsible actions. Any hardships she faced at the hands of black persons is ignored and justified on the basis that white oppression forced their hand. Perhaps the story of Ruth McBride and her son would be better told by another sibling who was not so embarrassed by their childhood that they needed to blame all their problems on the actions of others.Regardless, the color of water is an interesting book to read, if only to look for contradictions and obvious ploys for sympathetic responses... Read this book so you can tell others not to bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Remarkable
Review: The best word I can use to describe this book is Remarkable! I truly loved reading this book and all throughout the book I couldn't help saying to myself what a Remarkable person Ruth Mc Bride Jordan really was to raise all of those children under the worst circumstances, to receive no help from any of her family and still have every one of these children educated and professional people. I truly admire this woman and I don't know if I would have never been able to do the same under those circumstances. She is an inspiration to all mothers everywhere. One of my most favorite scenes in this book is when he is questioning his Mother about God and what color he is, and his mother tells him that God is the Color of Water. This was the perfect answer and that scene will live on in my head forever. James Mc Bride is truly a talented writer and I look forward to reading many more books by him in the future. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable true story of a remarkable woman's son
Review: Required reading in an introductory class at my college, The Color of Water was first a "had to read," and then a "love to read." I was incredibly fortunate in that James McBride had been invited to speak at my college as a part of the Orientation events. The book that had struck me as powerful before meant all the more to me after listening to him speak. The gritty reality, the humor and wit, the refusal to give up; it is an inspiring true story that I recommend to all. Skin may have a color, but the human spirit is, like God, the color of water.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorite Memoirs of All Time
Review: I love this book! McBride's words bring his mother to life, and you begin to feel you know this complex, zany, inspirational woman, who described her color not white, but "the color of water." Her life was full of trials, beginning with an abusive childhood. As a member of a Jewish family headed by a Rabbi in the rural south, she was already set apart from the surrounding community, but displeasing her tyrant of a father also set her apart from the family. In fact, she became "dead" to them. She continued to be an outsider throughout life, living as a white woman in a black community. This meant that in difficult times, such as the death of her husband, the only support system she had was the strength she found inside herself. Despite her trials, she never gave up, and the children she raised to be well-educated, productive members of society are her triumph and a testament to her strength. How she persevered through it all is a story you won't want to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: The Color of Water
Review: The Color of Water is an excellent book. In it, the author explores the life of a woman who, for whatever reasons, refuses to give up and live what might be considered to be a "bad life" simply because she came from a dysfunctional family, because she became pregnant out of marriage, because she was poor, because she had a lot of children, or because her husbands died leaving her with twelve children to raise. She taught her children to be responsible for their own lives and to take charge of those lives simply because others would not do this for them. The style of coincident autobiography and biography is interesting. It gives the reader the opportunity to see what happened to Mom, and how that affected her children. I wouldn't recommend that others copy that style, but it works here. I would recommend this book to students who have begun the process of surrender because of divorced parents or poverty or society's prejudice against their particular ethnicity, sexual orientation or whatever. It offers hope and direction. The Color of Water is easy to read. McBride's vocabulary is intelligent but not overblown, and the points are made without the reader's being beaten over the head with them. The simultaneous stories are easy to keep together and to separate. The Color of Water is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Color Me Unimpressed
Review: The subject of our story, Ruth McBride Jordon - the mother, speaks of dropping babies like a chicken dropping eggs, and boasts that she didn't go to a doctor even once while pregnant with of one of her children. McBride Jordon and her husband lived in a two-room apartment in a housing project while continuing to add to their family for a total of seven children. After her husband died leaving her destitute she went on to have five more. She did encourage all her children to educate themselves and made sure they went to good schools through government bussing programs. But beyond snapping incomprehensible aphorisms like "Never ask questions or your mind will end up like a rock" she too often relied on beating her children to motivate them. It was interesting reading about the author (McBride Jordon's son) coming to terms with his African-American/Jewish biracial identity (the same as Marian Wright Edelman's children if you want a different point of view). As a child he was ambivalent about his mother's "light skin" and fought both embarrassment and fear for her safety as the only white woman in a black neighborhood. The processes that took the mother from her twisted and repressive Southern family home to the black community were complex. While she "became" black she remained critical of negative aspects of that community, from the few blacks she met that looked down on her to political preaching in black churches. Her contempt was spent on the white society that marginalized her at birth for being Jewish while remaining complicit in her further flight from "white acceptability." It might have been her courage and stubbornness that made her take this road less traveled, both traits necessary for the journey, but in truth it was the love and the primarily unconditional acceptance she found in the black community that drove her. While her sacrifices, determination, and successes were and are admirable her means are not what I would hold up to high school students as anything to be emulated. Neither would I point a high school student to the author's style - the prose was plodding and the attempts at sentimentality thin. There are many books that better convey to high school students the important issues explored in "The Color of Water."
Rating:
Summary: A study of racial and religious tolerance for one and all!
Review: I first heard about this book from some fellow educators who were planning to implement it as part of the English curriculum at an alternative high school and I decided to check it out for myself. This is a non-fiction memoir written by James McBride about his mother. This is unique because Mr. Baldwin is black and his mother is a white woman of Jewish descent. Sometimes real life creates the most amazing characters, and Ruth McBride Jordon (formerly Rachel Deborah Shilsky) is one of the most incredible women I've read about in modern literature. Her amazing odyssey from her Orthodox Jewish family in Suffolk, Virginia to her life with her black family first in Harlem then in the projects of Brooklyn was like nothing I have ever read! After reading this amazing memoir, I can definitely see why it is rapidly becoming required reading for high school and college student across America. It shows how one can overcome drugs and racial discrimination to become successful. It also teaches important lessons about racial acceptance, religious tolerance and the discovery of hidden family background. The latter especially fascinated due to my interest in genealogy - James McBride went in search of his mother's true background and discovered his unknown Jewish heritage. FANTASTIC!
Rating:
Summary: It was an inspiration
Review: In a world where we think that everything revolves around ourselves, out comes a book that reminds us of what the true meaning of sacrifice and love are really all about. Just when we think that we've done everything we can, we read about a woman who goes above and beyond the call of duty. This book is an inspiration and a guiding tool for hard work, dedication, and respect for the human race!
Rating:
Summary: An "Unforgettable Memior"
Review: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, written by James McBride, was an outstanding and touching memoir. This unforgettable memoir takes you through a journey where race is just a part of the equation. It tells a story of the reflections of James McBride and his mother. It begins with Rachel's side, a young girl who grows in an abusive lifestyle, with her strict father and crippled mother. She later moved to New York and changed her name to Ruth to forget her painful past. Throughout her life, she meets and marries two wonderful colored men, although in her time, it is illegal to have interracial marriages. Between them, she has twelve children, and struggles with the death of both of her husbands. James, however, leads a very different life. He struggles with having a white mother in these hard times when he is colored. Ruth's story ends when all twelve of her children take on such different lives than she had, every one of them goes to college and becomes successful, even James, after he takes a small detour in his life.
The memoir was inspiring in so many ways; so many American's did and still are experiencing the same difficulties all across the world. I thought that this book was a well-written account of being a multicultural family. Reading it, I felt as though I got to know James and Ruth very well. I would suggest this book to teenagers and adults. I believe that it would be too much for a child to read. The author really gets into the hardships and gets personal with the characters. It also gives the reader two totally different perspectives of two opposite lives developing in two unlike time periods. An important aspect of this book, is that it has something that not every book entails...REAL LIFE, this memoir tells it exactly how it is.
"Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody." A quote said by Ruth more than once. She repeatedly reiterated this to her children, for when they asked if they were black or white, she would simply reply with this. I think this is the main point of the book. It clearly states that it doesn't matter what color you are, or aren't, as long as you get a good education you will be fine. There is even a little foreshadowing in this statement. At the end of the story, majority of her children goes to college and become successful. Take on the life that she couldn't. I believe the authors purpose was to get this message through and he did a very good job in getting it across to readers. For those people who live in Swampscott, or other towns where they don't get to experience interracial situations, this book really lets you see the truth of what it was like and understand the difficulties others have to go through. It is a good learning experience for those who don't get the real life opportunities. The way the author expresses different emotions gives you the full effect.
In conclusion, this memoir contained a good statement about racism and clarified that family love can guide you through life. A family only functions properly with love and support. This story is a reflection of both lives that eventually combine and intertwine together to end the book. The only flaw I notice is that even though James is considered black, he is half white and doesn't acknowledge that factor, he should have some pride in his white side.
Rating: 
Summary: the color of irresponsibility!
Review: This book is written from two perspectives. James McBride,a biracial man, who was raised as black, searching for his identity,and Ruth McBride Jordan, who was trying to forget her past and create a new identity for herself. To me,Ruth Mcbride Jordan seemed to be an emotionally disturbed and self hating jew. Her hatred of her past was caused by her abusive cruel father, who happened to be an Orthodox Rabbi. The problems the Shilsky family had were independant of their religeon.
When I read the the book I had great concerns about the negative picture it painted of jewish life. Many of the other reviews I have read stated that Ruth's family disowned her because she married a man of another race. It is an old Jewish practice to disown, when someone married out of the faith, however,race has nothing to do with it. I have never met a
modern Jew who agrees with this practice. Another Jewish custom that is rarely practiced today which was innacurately presented, was when Ruth's mother Bubeh "waved" a chicken over their heads and said "You die so I can live!",then they killed it as a blood sacrifice at Yom Kippur. First of all, Yom Kippur is a fasting holiday, no one is killing anything! Secondly I or no one I know has ever seen this done. I spoke to a Rabbi, and she said those who do it, pass the chicken gently above their heads, bless the chicken and thank G-d for giving them food.
She/he portrays black people so warmly and kindly,and white people, especially Jews as money grubbing, abusive, unkind, and selfish. Which I find amazing since most of the people that so kindly paid their children's way to college and were white and Jewish, according to James... but he still had something negative to say about them. It makes me so sad. This book is
clearly written from Ruth's and James's own biases.Which is a totally unfair to most loving accepting Jewish and white families. It is a shame that schools don't choose to assign something more informed or representative of Jewish life. It's too bad Ruth didn't have a warm Jewish exposure. She is a classic example of the cycle of victimization.
This book constantly contradicts it'self with regard to racial bias. When a person is mentioned, James always tells you what race they are. The title of the book implies that race is not important.. but the words in the book always let you know that the person's race is more important than a persons deeds.
To me Ruth is no hero,she is a woman who irresponsibly has 12 children and puts them through hell and starvation, beats them when they don't co-operate, and is almost never home. What she did very well, was to take the right steps to get them into good schools, even if that meant having them bussed to other areas where Jewish people went to school. Somehow, by the combination of her own words,a miracle,other's generosity,and and other's advice, the children get instilled in them the values of getting a good eduacation.
The next puzzle in the book is Ruth's second husband, Hunter Jordan. For 14 years he doesn't live with Ruth and her children. He spends time with them only on weekends, more like an uncle than a dad. He is able to get Ruth pregnant 4 more times, after she already has 8 children. This man who, for 14 years, only made rare during the week appearances,just can't seem to tolerate living with his own wife and children. If Ruth was such a hero, she would have demanded that her husband live at home with the family and set a good example for his kids.Of course having only as many kids as you can afford, taking care of them your self, using other measures of punishment than "beating", and having a husband that comes home every night to be with his family doesn't get you a book written about you does it. That would be too boring. All I can say is bitterness and surviving abuse sells books.
To me the true heros in this book were James McBride and his siblings. Some how they were able to survive the ordeal of their life with Ruth, and still remain a family. In contrast to Ruth's bitterness towards her family, James claims to have a postive attitude about his life and seems to have forgiven his mother for the terrible life that was emposed on him.
When James was around 15, James gets involved in a life of drugs and crime, and drops out of school. Ruth sends James away to live with his step sister "Jack", in order to "straighten him out", there, he gets involved with a group of violent drinking criminals that he meets through Jack's husband. One of his homies there at the corner liquer store advises him that if doesn't go back to school and take care of himself, he'll end up
like them. This is a turning point in James's life. He goes back home and after a period of setbacks, gets back on track.
I think this this book redeems itself. It shows how you can mess up, and if you live, it's not the end and you can still go back and make something of yourself.
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